We both love to spend our free time together outdoors as much as possible! Our dog, Roxy, is always up for a walk around the neighborhood or a trip to the local dog park. During the warm months, you can usually find us either at the pool in our neighborhood or out at the driving range, putting green, or on the golf course. Krista loves golf and truly enjoys teaching Lori the sport! In addition to golf, we love to watch (television or in-person) many other sporting events – football, baseball, basketball, and so many more! Football season is our favorite – Go Chiefs! March Madness is also one of our favorite times of the year for sporting events. We cannot wait to share our love of sports and outdoor activities with your child!

Most evenings you will find us cooking dinner, sneaking in a workout, or catching up on one of our favorite TV series. Our favorite part of the evening is making and eating dinner together while talking about everything that happened throughout the day. Having a family dinner will continue to be important to us so we can hear stories about your child's day. We both like to stay healthy by lifting weights or cycling. This is an integral part of our lives which we look forward to sharing with your child.

Our favorite vacation spot is hard to narrow down. Traveling opens our minds and hearts to other cultures and ways of living. It allows us to create lifelong memories through many different experiences. Some of our favorite places we have visited on cruises include Venice, Barcelona, Barbados, and Aruba. Venice tops our list as we love the history, cuisine, and uniqueness of the city, especially the water canals. The colors of the city, particularly at dusk, and its sense of peacefulness are breathtaking.

We believe that exposing your child to new cultures and places is one of the best ways to spark their sense of curiosity and desire to learn. To experience the world, learn about different cultures and meet new people, we often embark on cruises. We feel that traveling will create unique and tangible opportunities for your child to learn outside of school and their local community. An added benefit of traveling is that as a family we will be able to spend time together whether is being brave while hiking through a forest, exploring different creatures in the ocean, or trying new foods at a local market. We are excited to embark on many different adventures with your child!

Currently our only child is our dog, Roxy. She is a 2-year-old Goldendoodle with an incredible intelligence, a truly loving personality, and adores every child she meets. Her favorite humans, other than us, are her cousins! When we tell her the cousins are coming over or we are traveling to visit her cousins, she immediately perks up and runs to the door, ready to play! Roxy is very much "family" in every sense of the word.

Pets are an extremely important part of our lives. We both grew up with animals and love the happiness they bring to a home. We believe pets are a vital part of a child's life as they help teach responsibility, empathy, compassion, loyalty, affection, and unconditional love. This not only helps improve social interactions and develops respect for relationships with humans and other animals, but it also aids in boosting a child's self-esteem. We know Roxy will love having a sibling in the house!

We have a large community of family and friends. We believe family is defined by more than our blood relatives; rather, it includes those that love one another, support one another, and are always there in a time of need or joy. We love getting together with family and friends weekly for game nights, grilling out, taco nights, or simply to enjoy being outside together. Some of our favorite evenings are spent in our cul-de-sac with our neighbors hanging out, playing yard games, or enjoying a fire night. There is never a shortage of laughter, hugs, and making memories!

Together we have nine nieces and nephews with whom we share a special bond. Our weekends with them are spent swimming, running around the backyard playing basketball, soccer, or walking up to a local park for a friendly game of softball. This is usually followed by adventurous climbs on the playground, games, water balloon or nerf gun fights, and many times a family dinner.

In addition, many weekends are spent down at the lake taking in the sunshine and beauty of southwest Missouri! Our favorite things to do are helping our nieces and nephews fish or sit on the dock with our family and friends talking the night away. Our family truly enjoys each other's company, and we are all thankful for the unique bond we share.

We live in a new neighborhood located in a large Kansas City suburb. Since our neighborhood is located within one of the best school districts in the area, it is full of young families and children! We have a playground, walking trails, a pool, and green spaces for children to play. With so many kids in the neighborhood, there are always children playing flag football, shooting hoops at the basketball court, sliding down the water slide at the pool, sledding down hills, or building snowmen! Just a few blocks from our neighborhood is a very large county park filled with walking and biking trails, soccer fields, football fields, a disc golf and golf course, and sites for camping.

We live in a four-bedroom home with an open floor plan and a fenced-in backyard. Although we spend a lot of time outside, we enjoy spending time in our kitchen cooking or out on our deck at the grill. Cooking is one of our loves and we are so excited to teach your child to cook and bake! Although the kitchen may get messy, it will be a sure way to make memories.

Since we love the outdoors, it is a given that some of our favorite places in our home are the deck and patio. We love to gather around the patio firepit with family and friends for a night full of laughter, storytelling, roasting marshmallows, and making memories. When the weather is nice, we spend many evenings on our deck playing cards, dominoes, or just talking about the day's activities. Our home is a place where everyone feels welcome and comfortable.

First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to learn about us and for your immense love for your child to consider adoption. Your selflessness, strength, and bravery are extraordinary. We are humbled by your courage and cannot begin to fully imagine the path you are walking. We will constantly strive to provide your child with the most loving and successful life possible while always reflecting on the tremendous love you have for them.

We live in a newer home with a large, fenced backyard in a safe neighborhood with ample space for your child to learn and grow. Each day we come home from work and see children riding their bicycles, playing flag football, running to the pool, playing basketball, or just playing together with neighborhood friends in the cul-de-sac. We look forward to the opportunity to play alongside your child and support them in all their adventures and skinned knees along the way.

Being parents has been something we have both dreamed about for a long time! Our entire family is extremely close-knit and love to spend time together. With being so family-oriented, we always knew we wanted to have children of our own. Our promise to you is that we will provide a loving home for your child and give them the very best life filled with laughter, friendship, family, music, pets, and travel! When we imagine having a family, we envision playing catch in the backyard, spending all day at the neighborhood pool with friends and picnic lunches, reading bedtime stories, cozying up on the couch for a movie night, road trips around the country, and lake time.

As your child matures, we will guide them to be a well-rounded individual. We will teach them the importance of integrity, compassion, and respect. We will continually demonstrate the need to have a strong work ethic while maintaining a work/life balance. We will teach your child that they have the ability to act and make decisions independently but will always be responsible for their decisions. We will encourage him or her to critically think prior to making any decisions. It will become our life's mission to ensure they have the guidance, support, encouragement, and confidence to live their authentic self while reaching their life's ambitions.

Our promise to you is that we will love your child with all of our hearts. We will support them in all ways possible and encourage them to follow their dreams. We will teach them to be good role models in what they say and do and treat others how they want to be treated. We will encourage them to stand up for what is right and always be kind to others. We will celebrate how much effort they put forth, not just how good they are at things.

We want you to know that you will forever be a part of our and your child's life. We believe open adoption is a healthy way to raise a child to allow them to always feel connected and confident about themself. We look forward to having open communication and learning the role and relationship that you aspire to have with your child. Thank you for considering us as potential parents for your beautiful baby!

With sincere love and gratitude,

Lori & Krista