Family, friends and relationships are all a huge priority in our lives. Making time for each of these on an ongoing basis is key and a big component of life fulfillment and happiness.

We also make it a priority to be involved in our community. We spend time volunteering with different organizations that are important to us (Brian with the Boys and Girls Club, Kelsey with Phenomenal Young Women Inc., and both with the Alzheimer's Association), spending time with neighbors, and participating in neighborhood fundraisers and events.

Fostering a loving marriage is also paramount. We prioritize weekly date nights that include playing soccer, movie nights, dinners out/cooking together, or walking the dogs around our neighborhood. Connecting on a daily basis is really important, and doing weekend activities like hiking, golfing, paddle boarding, and weekend trips in Washington helps keep us connected, keeps our communication healthy, and adds fun to our lives!

Brian About Kelsey: I love Kelsey's nurturing personality. She is loving to anyone she comes in contact with. Kelsey also has a great sense of humor and always seems to find the good in situations/things. I admire Kelsey's patience, perseverance and motherly instincts. While she is always loving, she is also amazing at being able to set expectations with people and knows when to be direct, say no, and where to draw lines. Her ability to assess different situations and determine the best route forward is also something I admire in her. I respect that she takes into account the feelings of others and where they are coming from.

Kelsey About Brian: I love Brian's zest for life. He goes all in on anything he does, from exceeding at work to playing the guitar, he does things with passion and fun. Brian is always the life of the party but is equally as good at being an amazing listener, confidant, and friend. He will do anything for the people he loves, with family being the center of his life. Kelsey admires Brian's ability to balance his life. He is a leader at work, then minutes later he is getting on the floor with his nephews and niece, playing board games or soccer. He has a neat balance of intelligence and playfulness that will make him an amazing dad. He is honest, hardworking, motivated, funny, grounded, passionate, and kind.

We do a lot of different things in our leisure time. We love to stay active including things like playing soccer, tennis and golf, as well as hiking, exercising and yoga. We also enjoy attending different events like the Seahawks or Mariners games, as well as concerts or farmers markets.

Hobbies that we love include Brian playing the guitar and singing, and Kelsey reading or cooking. We also love to host family or friend dinner nights as a way to get together with people.

When it comes to what we look forward to sharing with a child, the list does not end, but here are a handful: reading bedtime stories, teaching them how to cook, holiday traditions, visits to the pumpkin patch, cutting down our Christmas tree, weekend trips to a cabin, and playing games together.

We live in Washington state in a fun, family oriented neighborhood. Our neighborhood is in a rural area where a lot of younger adults and their families have been moving to over the last few years. There is an elementary school with a field and playgrounds, and an ice cream and coffee shop within walking distance. There is an enormous neighborhood park within walking distance - on the lake with BBQ areas, swimming, volleyball courts and playgrounds.

We feel lucky because we have three married couples that are our best friends in our neighborhood, all of which have children. In addition to having friends in our neighborhood, we have also made friends with other neighbors and families in the area.

Our community is very family oriented. We have ongoing events including our annual Halloween trick-or-treating event, garage sales, school fundraisers, and neighborhood BBQs. We also have an annual holiday lighting in the park, summertime concerts in the park and a nearby farmers market on the weekends.

Our home is a warm, loving space. It has a front and back yard for playing, summertime dinners, and is perfect for hosting friends and family. It has 5 bedrooms, one that we have converted into a playroom for our nephews, niece, and friends kids. All bedrooms are on the second level. We have 3 bathrooms, an office, a reading nook, and a large garage. There is a spacious living/family room that is right off the kitchen, perfect for when we host dinners.

We are lucky that both sides of our families live nearby so we get to see them on a weekly basis. All of Kelsey's family lives within 30 minutes and Brian's twin brother and wife live within 20 minutes. Brian's parents live in California, and they have a second home within two blocks of us so we get to see them for months at a time when they visit.

We love family game nights, annual trips with Kelsey's family for the 4th of July to her family's lake cabin, and Sunday dinners with either of our families. Brian loves to host Hawaiian BBQ night and Kelsey loves to cook family recipes, such as Swedish Meatballs or her famous enchiladas.

We love to travel to Hawaii (Brian grew up there) with either side of the family. Kelsey spends time with our nephews and niece weekly, taking them to the library or their local farm, and we often have them for sleep overs, which includes games, movies, and walking to our neighborhood ice cream parlor.

Both of our families are overjoyed for us to become parents and all future grandparents will continually support us with childcare. Our siblings and sister-in-laws can't wait to be uncles/aunties, and our nephews and niece are excited for a cousin.

We want to whole heartedly express our gratitude for you to consider us as a part of your adoption process. Although neither of us have experienced having to decide whether or not to choose to make an adoption plan for a child, we can imagine that this decision is one of the biggest of your life and carries so much weight with a lot of emotions. We are honored to be considered as the adoptive parents in your process.

We met and started dating in college 17 years ago, and have been married for the past 6 years. Over the last 17 years we have a built a loving, honest, committed, and fun relationship and friendship that we look forward to growing for the rest of our lives. We love doing things together- whether it's camping, hiking with our two dogs (Dixon 12 years old and Gus 8 years old), paddle boarding on the lake in our neighborhood, hosting dinners for friends and family, visiting our alma mater for football games, or traveling (particularly to Hawaii!)- doing things together that builds a closer bond and marriage has always been a priority for us.

Growing our relationship and family through adoption is the next chapter of our lives that we are thrilled to do. Kelsey can't wait to see Brian teaching our child how to play the guitar, throw a baseball, or boogie board, and Brian knows Kelsey will be the most loving, nurturing, and patient mom, especially with all of her work with children in the past as a kindergarten teacher and time spent with their nephews and niece.

Our commitment to you is to do everything we possibly can to raise your child with as much love, support, and gratitude as humanly possible, and to do whatever we can to also support and include you in their life. Raising a child that is honest, educated, kind, compassionate, and gives back to their community will be what we strive for on a daily basis. We know that there will be times we make mistakes, and we assure you that we will continue to learn and grow, and always have the utmost positive intention in raising your child. We will provide them with unconditional love, a strong education, and a safe home to grow up in. We will also make diversity inclusion paramount in our home, fostering a desire to learn about their own race along with other races, and be a part of communities that make them feel connected to their racial profile. As traveling is a love of ours, we look forward to exploring different cultures with our child through travel, as well as books, education, and community groups.

We look forward to an open adoption that includes sending letters and pictures to you on a frequent basis. Depending on your comfort, we are also interested in yearly visits or exchanging emails/texts more frequently, but will respect your preferences of contact. We think of adoption as a unique opportunity for our child to have special bonds with their different families, only adding more love to their life, and staying in contact with you and building a loving relationship will be a priority for us. We want our child to feel enveloped in love and see that their life as an adopted child has given them the opportunity to be loved and connected to more people, and that that is a special gift.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your consideration. You are making an unbelievably powerful and beautiful decision, and we feel so much gratitude to be considered to be your child's adoptive parents. We know we have plenty of love to share and a life we believe is very well suited for your child. Thank you.

All our best,

Brian & Kelsey