Our dreams/goals for our adoptive child is for him/her to live a happy, healthy, fulfilling life. We want to teach our child core values of being honest, kind, giving and as the Bible teaches having a love for all men and women. We would like for our child to experience and learn a wide variety of different activities so he/she can choose what they enjoy the most. Learning about science, math, history, nature etc. We look forward to taking vacation trips where our child can not just have fun, but learn as well. Travel to national parks, museums, and historical places. So he/she can see these things rather than just reading them in a book. Our adoptive child can read about something like the Grand Canyon, but also then see it with their own eyes.

We would like for our child to learn how to make good, right decisions...starting with us as parents being an example to them. While life will have its up and downs, we would like for our child to be able to appreciate the good times and be able to overcome the challenges life can throw at them. And of course we want our child to grow up, get married if they choose to, and have children of their own. In short...our child living out their dreams is our dream!

For fun we love to be active. We enjoy going on road trips to national parks where we can walk and hike the nature trails. We enjoy doing a lot of discovery and learning more about how this earth works. On our honeymoon we went to Tennessee and hiked for four hours to an amazing waterfall. We also love to go camping with friends and family. We camped out with good friends at Tybee Island in Georgia not too long ago. This past fall we went to the Florida Keys with Cheri's family and spent a week doing all kinds of activities in the Keys, including snorkeling! We have also done family vacations to the Colorado mountains and to Niagara Falls. We like to make our activities and vacations fun but also educational. Only a few hours away from our home, we enjoy going to Branson, MO and the Lake of the Ozarks. There are so many great activities to enjoy. Our favorite is Silver Dollar City which is like an amusement park, but is based the 1800's. It is like taking a step back in time. Lots of activities for kids, including watching candy being made, a blacksmith, and even a glass blower making glass like they did in the old days. And of course we love going on the lake and being near the water. There is a calmness about it. We can't wait to share these experiences with our child.

For pets we have 3 dogs. Two boys (Dax and Banner) and one girl (Ellie). They are very sweet and great with people. They are all 7 years of age or younger and are small dogs, so we look forward to our child growing up with them. They love coming with us on road trips. Dax definitely knows what a drive-thru is!

They also love going for walks, especially to places where they can run around and smell everything! We enjoy taking them to the dog park where they can play with other dogs. They go to the vet every year so are always caught up on their shots. But of course they do not enjoy going to the vet! We can't wait to see them interact and have fun playing with our adoptive child. We have a lot of love to give a child...and so do our dogs! We are very excited to all be a family together and create many wonderful memories.

We love to play board and card games with friends and family. Some of our favorite games are Sequence and Yahteez. Brian's family is local to us and Cheri's family lives in North Georgia. We enjoy taking road trips to Georgia to see Cheri's family. They live in the country, so we enjoy the fresh air and peaceful countryside. Our favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Good food and good fun with family.

We alternate every other year for spending Thanksgiving with Brian's or Cheri's family. We consider our families special in that we do not get wrapped up in the commercialized part of the holidays, but instead focus on spending quality time with family and having fun conversation (and of course playing family games!). Our extended family and friends are very excited about our adoption plans. They ask us almost daily how things are going and if we are close. They cannot wait for us to have a child of our own and to stop by to see him/her. Sometimes it seems they are just as excited as we are! It will be a great day of celebration once we bring our adopted child home!

We live in the state of Kansas. We have a wonderful community around us. We enjoy talking with our neighbors and we look out for each other. There are two outdoor parks within walking distance from our house. There are many kids in the neighborhood. A family with three small children just moved in a couple houses down from us and the kids play outside all the time. Two of our neighbors behind us also have small children who love to play outside. Our house has three bedrooms and two and one-half baths. We have a living room and a big family room in the basement. Our backyard is large and already has a playground on it. We have a great community pool that is a 5min drive from our house. Also in the area are many options for kids to have fun and learn, like an aquarium, Legoland, Wonderscope for kids, and a science city! There is also an indoor trampoline park just down the road from us. The best part of our house is that it is in a safe neighborhood with many trusted families. Everyone gets along and we all feel like family.

We(Brian and Cheri) were marred in April 2016. We have created many memories during this time and are looking forward to creating even more with a child. Cheri has worked with children for almost her entire career and is so looking forward to caring for her own child. She has developed many advanced skills in working with children from the age of 3 up to teenagers and even into adulthood. The experiences with children that she has comes from working with children in all walks of life, race, nationalities, and developmental stages. She loves teaching in general and has a lot of experience in doing so. She currently works for the YMCA and is chasing around kids all time! Good practice for our child!

We both have very big hearts and a lot of love to give. This will be our first child, but we look forward to adopting more so they can have siblings as they grow up. We both had siblings growing up so we know how much having a brother or sister can add to a child's life. We plan on adopting at least 2 children and are hoping we can add a third child eventually.

We both enjoy taking pictures. Cheri does photography and Brian does videography. Who knows how many pictures we will end up taking of the child each year! We look forward to picking out the best ones and sending them with letters to you so you can see how he/she is growing. Hopefully we can find a way to send video as well so you can not just see him/her but hear them as well. As Brian says, video brings pictures to life!

We are very thankful that you chose adoption and that you want to give your child to a loving family. It is never easy to place a child up for adoption, but we know it is done in love for the child and doing what is best for him/her. If you need a healthy, emotional support system during and after this process, then please know that we can also offer this as well. We want to make it a priority that the child knows that when a baby is placed in adoption it shows a great love for him/her. To give that child a life they may have not otherwise been able to have.

Please know that your well-being is very important to the both of us. During our search for adoption agencies, Cheri was adamant in choosing an agency that really cares about the well being of the expectant birth mother. Cheri herself has went through a lot of emotional loss in her life including several miscarriages and severe infertility. She understands the need for support when going through the many challenges in life. Life is never easy and we want to make sure that we can help in anyway.

If we are blessed enough for you choose us to be the adoptive parents for your baby, we will do our very best to show that you made the right choice. Our priority is to give the child the life you would want for him/her. A life filled with wonder, laughter, silliness and especially lots of love. We know it will be a rollercoaster of emotions in the future (for you and us). We will do our best to make this process as comfortable and easy as possible for you and all who are involved. In the end, whatever family you choose, we know it will be the best one for your baby!

Brian & Cheri