One tradition we started seven years ago is every Christmas Eve we go out to breakfast in the neighborhood we used to live when we were first married.

When we go, we look for a couple families with small kids who stay off of their phones and aren't distracted by other things at the restaurant. When we see parents talking to their kids and actively engaging with them, it makes us think about how we hope we can be. There are a ton of distractions that are always pulling all of us in different directions. We feel almost always the most important things in life are right in front of us.

At the restaurant, we ask for those family's checks while remaining anonymous and give the wait staff big tips as we leave before they know anything out of the ordinary is going on. It's a tradition we started and we feel it's a great way to show appreciation while not drawing attention to ourselves.

We plan to continue that tradition as a way we can give directly. Doing this has become our favorite part of the holiday season and we hope it spreads some holiday cheer to those who receive the gifts.

Through our time together, we've been very fortunate to visit different places and experience different areas in the U.S. as well as overseas. We both love being able to explore, especially outdoors. Trips to Florida to visit Kyle's parents in the winter and a yearly Michigan vacation with Ev's parents are always filled with laughter, exploring the areas and lots of pool/lake time.

While traveling has brought adventures, most of the real adventures in our life have been had near home. They aren't related to travel at all but instead everyday life and our families. The simplest activities can turn into a thrilling adventure! One of our favorite activities to do with our nieces is treasure hunting. We hide some treasure or find geocaching spots and go exploring. The excitement and awe on their faces when they uncover a jar or a box is priceless.

We love taking our dog for walks. One day we spotted and followed a bald eagle throughout the forest preserve that backs up to our back yard. It was amazing to see in the suburbs.

We also go on an adventure every time we go to estate sales. The search for unique items that we can buy and sell or sometimes keep for ourselves is exhilarating!

The promise we can make to you is we will never give up.

If things get hard, which we know they will, we won't give up.

If there are hard questions to answer, we won't give up.

If a situation seems lost, we won't give up.

When we are tired and frustrated and looking for answers, we won't give up.

We believe the most important thing in life is to not give up, to not stop believing in ourselves. We hope to instill the same belief in your child. Never giving up means being willing to fail knowing that the failure doesn't define us, but getting back up and trying again does.

Never giving up lets us know there will be better days ahead. It lets us have a positive outlook on what is to come. Never giving up lets us appreciate where we are today based on where we have been before. It lets us dream of the future we want not just for us, but for those around us.

We live in northern Illinois and have lived in our current house since 2013.

Our house is on a quiet, tree-lined street with about 15 other homes and backs up to a forest preserve which makes raking and burning leaves a normal activity in fall. The neighborhood has a wide range of ages in it from young families to retired couples. It's definitely a street where people recognize each other driving in or out or walking their dogs.

Our house is a two-story with three bedrooms and will always have a ping pong table in it for Kyle. We have a deck off the back which is nice for the summer and a fire pit out back which comes in handy both to use for leaves and to entertain with. Ev is generally in charge of keeping the fire going and making campfire pies and s'mores when we have people over.

Our area does boast some of the highest rated schools in the state. With that comes a ton of activities at numerous parks, summer camps and a great library. One summer camp is actually next to the forest preserve in our back yard.

We both do the yard work around the house but saying we enjoy that work would be a stretch. Ev's dad is a contractor so when we have projects, it's always nice to have an expert to call for advice instead of relying on YouTube.

Kyle originally comes from a couple hours north of our house and we visit his parents often over the summer. In the winter, they head to Florida for a few months to escape the cold. Both places give us a good chance to unwind, go fishing and play card and board games. With them, we also enjoy going to estate sales looking for treasure. Kyle's mom was a teacher and his dad coached his basketball and baseball teams growing up so there are always lessons to be learned. Kyle has one brother who lives farther away but we usually see him and his family at least a few times a year.

Evelyn is originally from Poland and her family came to the US when she was 13. Her family lives in our area so we see them often throughout the year. There is always a lot of Polish food and especially Polish cakes around which we both might eat more of than we should. Ev has a sister with two daughters and cousins with kids too so there's always plenty of noise everywhere! We take an annual trip together in summer where there is a lot of grilling, pool and beach time.

Both of our families are excited for us to become parents and we suspect even more excited about spoiling your child rotten given their track record.

We could use this letter to express how great we think we would be as parents and promise you that your child will have a storybook childhood with not even a single fall off of their bike. The first part of that isn't possible to prove in a letter/profile and the second part isn't possible period.

We suspect you have encountered some difficult choices already and likely have a bunch more to make in the future. We think there is no right or wrong choice in the most important decisions we make. Most important decisions we've had to make come down to a gut feeling and a commitment to move forward as best we can. Our hope is that you have the needed support during this time.

We really have no idea how a decision like this is really made in our heads. Maybe you see a picture, read an article or see something in a video that connects to you and you just know. That's our hope - for something with our profile will connect. If it has and you feel strongly about us, that's fantastic. If not, no worries. Please pick a couple who you feel some special connection to. We have no doubt there are lots of great choices available through the agency.

Our journey to adoption was challenging. We're sure many people you have met through profiles have a similar story. We struggled through seven years of infertility treatments and multiple losses over that time. Each loss was more difficult to accept than the one before until we opened ourselves to the idea of adopting. The ability to adopt and be chosen to become parents of a specific child is special and one we would be honored to have happen.

From a pure facts standpoint, we have been married for 10 plus years. We are open to contact with you in the future and think it could be very beneficial to your child. We intend to provide a safe environment for a child to find his or her way to happiness and fulfillment. That's our primary hope for the future.

We will also work our hardest to make the path of the child's life as natural as possible. Life involves twists and turns and ups and downs. All of those moments make us who we are and we want the same to be true for a child. Our parents allowed us to fall so we would be able to stand on our own later. They were there to encourage us to get back up and they kept us safe along the way. They didn't always stop us from making mistakes; they helped guide us through difficult times while never giving up belief that better days were ahead. The example our parents collectively set is something we hope to emulate.

We hope you are at peace with the decisions you have made to this point and the ones you will make soon. Our goal with our profile is to give you an idea of who we are and what we think is most important. In that, the most important things we can tell you about ourselves is that we'll never give up on being parents, we'll work to provide a safe environment that allows a child to dream and we'll do our best to always have a positive outlook for the future.

If something in our profile has connected with you, we'd like to say that's great and if you decide to select us, we would be honored. If our profile did not connect with you, we'd like to say thank you for taking a look. Regardless, we wish you the best now and in the future.

Thanks for reading,

Kyle & Evelyn