Where to start? Noah is sweet, smart, kind and down to earth. Since we first started dating, Kate was struck by how dedicated Noah was to his friends, and his selfless approach to life — even picking Kate up from the library so she wouldn't have to walk home alone at night, and taping her favorite shows so we could watch them together.

To this day, Noah admires how driven Kate is, while still being outgoing, witty, and dedicated to her friends and family. She is also patient, and a good listener, which makes her the type of person you can turn to during a difficult time. More than anything else though, Noah loves that Kate can always make him — and everyone around her — smile and be happy with her positive demeanor and charm.

Our personalities have always balanced each other out, and, after nearly 15 years together, we make a great team.

We like to stay busy! In our free time, Noah likes to work on his golf game, either at a driving range or golfing with friends. Kate likes to volunteer with a local charter school to raise money to help students with emergency health, hunger or hygiene needs.

Together, we like to run, try new local restaurants, and travel. Some of our favorite memories together are exploring new cities or countries. We have been fortunate enough to travel to three continents so far and still have a dream to make it to every one besides Antarctica of course! One of our best trips was when we went to South Africa, where Kate was studying abroad. Noah came to visit for a vacation full of cultural exploration, hiking, and a safari. We also like traveling as a way to try new activities together, like skiing or jumping off waterfalls!

By far though, we enjoy spending time with our family and friends, whether doing something like attending a baseball game, or simply sharing a meal together.

Cultural diversity, including racial, language, and income diversity, is very important to us. Our first jobs were as special education teachers in an urban school district, where most of our students were diverse from us. We worked tirelessly to ensure our students had equal access to a great education. The desire to live in a culturally diverse area also led us to the neighborhood where we live now. As we think about how to address diversity within our future family, we think mostly about the importance of two aspects: communication and respect. It is important to make sure this child is both connected with their own cultural heritage, while learning about people who are different from themselves. While we celebrate Easter and Christmas, for example, it will be important to us that our child knows about other holidays and religious customs, other ways in which people celebrate those holidays, and what they signify and mean. We will also teach and address diversity through respect - respect of ideas, views, and true understanding. We value the ability in our own lives to respectfully agree and disagree, which we will work to teach our child.

We moved into our home because of the great neighborhood, racial and cultural diversity, and quiet street. Our house is nearly 100 years old and we love its charm! The main living area, dining room, and kitchen are downstairs while three bedrooms, including a great bedroom for a child, complete with built-in bookshelves, are upstairs. Our favorite part of our home is our backyard, which has greenspace, a large back patio, and deck - we enjoy eating dinner outside, working in our garden and having friends over outside.

Our neighborhood is located in a beautiful and safe part of a city in Missouri, close to urban and suburban amenities. We love our neighborhood because it is a close-knit and diverse community. Our neighbors are so friendly and generous, especially when they share their fresh-grown fruits and vegetables! There is a community pool and playground nearby, and a beautiful trail that is always full of walkers, joggers, and bikers just a block away. Our dog especially loves going on walks to the nearby dog park. Within a few blocks, we can also walk to local restaurants, stores, church, and so much more! Some of our favorite neighborhood events are a local St. Patrick's Day parade, our annual block party for Independence Day, neighborhood ice cream socials and movie nights in the park, and the annual holiday lights contest which our block won two years ago!

We are from close-knit and supportive families, both of which are so excited that we are pursuing adoption. Kate is the youngest of three girls and Noah the youngest of three boys. Together we have seven nieces and nephews, ranging from ages 1 to 16. Our fondest family memories center around the holidays and food — with both of our families just a few hours away, we are able to get home for holidays, birthdays, or simply to connect with family. For Kate's family, everyone loves to cook, and her dad is a grill master and great baker. Our favorite time is Christmas Eve, when we gather after church to make a bunch of different foods and spend the night talking and eating. For Noah's family, we love getting together to play board games or work on a puzzle — though we have to watch out for our competitive sides! Last summer, Noah's whole family visited up-state New York to celebrate his mom's 70th birthday and see where she grew up. It was great to learn more of our family history and see the places that ultimately shaped our family.

We want you to know that your child will be cared for, safe, and loved by us. We want you to know that we are humbled and thankful for the opportunity you are considering giving us and that we will do everything we can to provide a terrific home. We want you to know that we understand the magnitude of your decision, the difficulty of it, and that we are thinking and praying for you and the child. We wanted to use this letter to tell you a little about us and the life we envision ahead, as we hope it is one you can imagine for the baby.

We met in college ?" at the library ?" nearly fifteen years ago, and have been each other's rock ever since. We started our first jobs together, teaching high school special education, going to graduate school together, doing long-distance for work, and finally getting ourselves back to the same city, getting married, and buying our first home together. When we first met, Noah was struck by Kate's charm, her kind and glowing smile, her intelligence (she was getting a better grade in class than him!), and her desire to make the world a better place. Kate was struck by Noah's caring personality, his humility, his kindness, and his big heart. When we began dating, we both knew that this was the person we would marry. We affectionately call each other our "match," for the other's ability to give each other the care, warmth, advice, and support they needed at that moment. We look forward to taking our next step together, welcoming a child into our lives.

Along the way, as we grew in our relationship, our faith grew. We knew for some time that we wanted to have children. Early in our relationship we both remember talking about how we would like to start our family ?" we knew then that we wanted to adopt and that we were also open to having children naturally. Shortly after marriage, we started trying to have a baby naturally but with no success. While this was difficult, we turned to our faith and felt the Lord had given us our path. We began the adoption process shortly thereafter.

You reading this letter brings us to today. We thank you for reading our journey and for doing what must be the most courageous thing we can think of ?" seeking a great home for a child. Your selflessness and strength in this time are qualities we deeply admire and will never forget. We will send you letters and pictures of the child as they grow up, and, if you'd like, can stay in touch through email or phone calls.

Thank you for taking the time to consider us ?" and to consider the life and path we envision ahead. We believe we will provide a home full of life and love and look forward to the day we start our family.

Sincerely,

Noah & Kate