We are excited to embrace whatever level of open adoption a mother is open to - adoption is our preferred way of growing our family, not a last resort, and we feel completely confident we will love a child as much as we would if we were biologically related. Our child will know that their mother made an incredibly brave choice before they were born, and that they have many people in the world who love them. If the mother shares stories about her childhood, family, or other children with us, we will share them with our child along with photos and answer questions they have about their origin story.

We know what an important role the mother will play in our lives, and our child’s lives, forever whether we stay in touch after the adoption or not based on her comfort level with that decision. We want the child to feel loved and understood at every moment of their life, and that includes them knowing their mother cared for them so much to bring them into the world. Adoption will be a natural, normal part of their story growing up, and one that we will do everything we can to make sure is free of stigma or shame.

We enjoy introverted activities while we’re at home - taking our dogs for walks or out on our pontoon on Lake James, hosting and entertaining houseguests, including our extended family when they visit and our many friends from our music days who stop here while on tour. When friends come, we are often going hiking or pontooning, taking them to visit the Biltmore or to downtown Asheville to look at local art. Luke’s hobbies at home include reading historical non-fiction, working on house projects like building a recording studio or gardening, or teaching the dogs new tricks. Shenandoah loves crocheting and doing diamond art. Both of us love an evening cup of hot chocolate, going to thrift stores and antique stores and playing piano.

We also travel together a fair amount and have gotten to go to Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Panama, Hawai’i, and France together. Shenandoah’s business partner is a close family friend and we often travel to see her husband’s band, The Lumineers, perform all over the US, as well as visiting our loved ones on the West Coast and taking many short trips to NYC to visit Shenandoah’s brother, see shows on Broadway, and sightsee (Luke loves Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand on Coney Island and Shenandoah loves going to MoMA or up to the Cloisters, which is a castle that was shipped to NYC from Europe brick by brick in the 1930s.)

To us, being parents means being a constant support and guiding a little one through life (both childhood and adulthood) with unconditional love, safety, resources, and nurturing. In the early years, we are excited to be very developmentally-focused and hands-on, making sure the newborn gets a lot of attention, contact time, has all of their needs met, and has the ability to form secure attachments. As they get older, we are excited to foster independence and what we hope will be a lifelong curiosity about the world. While we are excited to introduce a child to our favorite hobbies and pastimes, and encourage them to explore their special interests in different stages of life, what is most important to us is for them to develop a love and appreciation for all living things, to be exposed to different cultures and places all over the world, and to grow into a confident, creative adult who can achieve their own version of success at whoever they choose to be and whatever they decide to do. We cannot wait to watch this tiny human grow up and are excited to be their biggest cheerleaders throughout their life.

Shenandoah comes from a close family with three siblings, and her parents remain happily together.

We try to do a trip together every couple of years and love playing board games, cooking together, or playing video games like Overcooked. Her dad loves James Taylor and all of her siblings play instruments and sing. Her maternal grandparents are from Greece and she has loved visiting Greece and learning to make Greek food with her siblings, who have been experimenting with using the same cookbook from their kitchens in NYC, Denver, and NC. Her family is excited to add a child to the family!

Luke is the oldest of three boys and has two older half-siblings - they live in Washington and California. His mom lives north of Seattle and she loves going on walks and visiting Mexico and other tropical locations. His siblings enjoy boating and spending holidays together, and his sister always throws a New Year's white elephant party. He has several nieces and great-nieces who are adored by everyone in the family and they are very excited to meet a new addition to the family!

We live in a very family-friendly small town called Marion, NC that is about 7,000 people and we are very close to the bustling town of Asheville (about 200,000 people) which is full of music venues, splash pads, and amazing activities for kids of all ages. Our home is on five acres of woods and we often see deer on our property. We are an easy walk from downtown, which hosts many parades and festivals throughout the year (including the Bigfoot festival - our town is the home of Bigfoot!) as well as a playground, a bouncy house palace, an amazing local ice cream shop, and the community pool. Our home has 4 bedrooms and several rooms for hanging out, although we spend most of our time in the kitchen cooking together or on our back deck grilling, making s'mores, and stargazing.

Luke can often be found playing the harpsichord and piano in our dining room at the end of the day. The kids in our life who have visited our home have loved playing Jenga on the back porch or running around in sprinklers in our yard on hot summer days, or exploring in the woods with our dogs (often looking for Bigfoot.)

Thank you so much for the courage, love and care you're already passing along to your newborn, and for taking the time to get to know us a little bit. We've been together for ten years and got married four years ago and moved from Seattle to western North Carolina. Shenandoah runs a recruitment firm which she runs from home, and Luke is a stay-at-home husband and a brilliant caretaker of our animals (Pawlina, Batman and Stormy) after a long career working as a residential electrician.

We love exploring the woods and trails around our home, going to festivals and events in our small town, and taking our pontoon boat out in the summer. We typically spend anywhere from 8-12 weeks a year traveling to visit our extended family on the West Coast and Northeast or getting to explore new places. We both speak a little bit of Spanish and tend to pick up new languages quickly. Our home is on 5 acres of woods, and we are often visited by deer, especially in the spring. We've picked up gardening since our move and love cozying up on our back patio with a fire and s'mores on fall nights. We also host visitors often and have loved it when our close friends from NYC or Chicago come visit with their kids, who love running through sprinklers in our yard, visiting nearby caves or gold mining sites, or a nearby Highland cow sanctuary.

Both of us grew up in loving households, and the core of our parenting philosophy is rooted in unconditional love, a thirst for knowledge, and fostering independence and autonomy. We both play guitar, piano, and other instruments and are excited to share our interests with a child, as well as encourage them to explore and develop any interests they have as they get older. Shenandoah has taken quite a few newborn care and brain development courses and has built her business to a point where she'll be able to step away fully when we welcome a baby into our home, continuing to work 15-20 hours a week as needed. We are looking forward to both spending quality time with our child. Providing a warm, affectionate, and safe home for them to begin their life in a very present and welcoming environment. We have a great support network, both locally and far away, and are lucky that many of our friends have already gone through early childhood and have lots of advice (and baby gear!). They've already been so generous!

We really honor your decision and want to keep you as informed as you'd like to be. Whether it's receiving photos, videos or written updates from us, emails or calls, or future visits. We know our child will have lots of questions about their birth family, and we want to include you in their story with love and respect, while supporting the relationship that feels healthy and right for you, any siblings, and extended family, now or in the future.

No matter which path you choose, we wish you peace with your decision. Thank you for taking the time to glimpse into our lives.

Luke & Shenandoah