We have one daughter, Anneliese, who we call "Annie." Annie was born from a high-risk pregnancy, and we knew that she would be our only biological child. Annie is four years old and full of curiosity, imagination, and kindness. Annie loves to play and learn new things. Her biggest challenge is overcoming shyness with new faces and situations, but once she becomes comfortable, she turns into a little chatterbox! She is enrolled in all-day preschool, where she tells us her favorite class is recess and that she loves her teachers.

Annie has been included in our conversations about growing our family, and she is super excited to become a big sister! She understands that we will be growing our family though adoption, and she knows what that means to her: a new baby who will be her little brother or sister. Almost every day, out of the blue, she will tell us something she wants to do with the baby or a toy she's saving for her sibling to use in the future. We know that Annie will be a thoughtful role model, fierce protector, and best friend to our adopted child. We cannot wait to see our children grow up together and form the same lifelong sibling bonds that we both enjoy with our own brother and sisters.

Erin is an immigration attorney, and she created her own law firm that provides legal representation at low costs. She works hard to help immigrants and refugees become permanent residents and citizens of the United States, and she even represents people in immigration court fighting against deportation.

Tyler teaches chemistry at our local community college, where many of his students work full-time, support their families, and are the first in their families to go to college. Tyler encourages them on their educational journey, provides one-on-one mentorship, and strives to be a positive role model in the lives of his students.

Outside of work, Erin recently led a community group that helped resettle a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Erin and our daughter, Anneliese, greeted the family of all women and young girls at the airport and provided love and support to them through times of adjustment and unknowns as they got settled in their new lives in the United States.

We would be excited to welcome a child of any race or identity into our family. We will provide our adopted child with unconditional love, being part of diverse community, opportunities to discover and express their cultural heritage and unique identity, and our willingness to learn and grow as parents in life's journey together.

We feel incredibly blessed to have a happy, strong marriage built on love. It's fun to list some of our favorite qualities in one another!

According to Tyler, Erin is an incredible mother because of her selfless dedication to our family. Erin's priority is always placed on others rather than herself. She has a clear set of values that guide her and make everyone around her into better people - especially her family. Family is Erin's top priority, and no matter how busy life can get, she always has extra patience and love to give. Tyler can't wait to see Erin be an amazing mother to our growing family.

Erin feels so fortunate to have Tyler as her lifelong love. Tyler is Erin's biggest cheerleader and supporter and makes it possible for her to balance both motherhood and a career. Tyler is open-minded when it comes to sharing household responsibilities. He does most of the cleaning, dishes, and laundry. Tyler sets a good example for our child as he embodies respect, humility, hard work, and love. Most of all, Tyler's family is his number one priority and it is shown through his dedication to us day in and day out.

We love living in our small, lakeside town in rural Minnesota. We bought our house a few years ago, and we hope it will be our "forever home," where we can raise our family and grow old together.

If you ask Tyler his favorite place in town, he will say our backyard, where tall shade trees, a firepit, and a nice flat lawn right on the water creates the perfect place to play outdoor games or just relax and enjoy the breeze. Erin's favorite place in town is out on the lake, where we enjoy taking family and friends in our pontoon boat to cruise the waves and go swimming throughout the summer.

We live within walking distance of two awesome city parks, one of which has a sand beach and a splashpad. Our daughter's favorite activity any season of the year is riding her scooter down the sidewalk to one (or both!) parks to play.

Our home is in the same town where Erin grew up on a nearby farm, so we are close to extended family, and Anneliese is able to spend lots of quality time at Grandpa and Grandma's farm.

We are blessed to be close to our extended families on both sides. Erin grew up on a farm with two younger sisters. Her parents still farm and live in Erin's childhood home just outside our Minnesota hometown. Erin's younger sisters are both married to wonderful spouses, and Erin's middle sister has a growing family with two young children who are very close friends with our daughter, Anneliese. Tyler grew up in Wisconsin with one younger brother. Since we live within driving distance of Tyler's family, we can easily visit his parents and brother. In addition to our parents and siblings, we also maintain close relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins near our hometown and in Wisconsin. Some family traditions that we continue from our childhood include a weeklong Fourth of July trip "Up North" in Wisconsin, multiple Thanksgiving dinners to celebrate with friends and family on both sides, and even more Christmas celebrations with family – Anneliese opened Christmas gifts for six straight days last year!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us!

Our family currently includes Erin, Tyler, Anneliese, and our dog, Izzy. Erin is a big dreamer who works incredibly hard and isn't afraid to be a leader in making the world a better place. Even with Erin's many responsibilities as an attorney representing immigrants and refugees and as an elected public school board member, she always keeps our family as her top priority, and she always has extra love to give. Tyler loves teaching and learning, building and fixing things, and spending time outdoors. Tyler's top priority in life is being the best dad and husband that he can be. Our daughter, Anneliese, is a happy, sweet, curious, and kind four-year-old who loves exploring the world with us. She cannot wait to be a big sister, and we know that she will be a lifelong best friend to her future little brother or sister. Our dog, Izzy, is a two-year-old German shepherd-poodle mix who loves all people, especially kids, and is always excited to go on walks, play, and give kisses.

Having close friends who have been adopted themselves and friends in our hometown who are adoptive parents, adoption feels like a natural way for us to complete our family. We cannot wait to experience all the surprises, fulfillment, and love that will come with welcoming another child into our family.

Here are some of our favorite things to do together:

We believe that our most important job as parents is providing unconditional love to our children. We believe in raising children who know in the deepest part of their being that they are loved because of exactly who they are. We believe in raising children to use their minds to think for themselves, to use their spirits to inspire others, and to use their hearts to make our world a better place through acts of love.

We will never truly know what it feels like to walk in your shoes, and we know that your consideration of adoption is challenging in ways that we cannot understand. As you consider adoption, we hope that you find what is right for you and your child, whatever that may be. If you choose us to be your child's adoptive family, we would be absolutely thrilled! We are not perfect, but we will always do our best to be honest, genuine, and kind. We promise to send letters and photos with updates, and we would be excited to arrange for in-person visits if you desire. You will always be honored in our home, and your child will always know of their adoption story and the unconditional love you have for them.

Sincerely,

Tyler & Erin