We love spending time outdoors! On a typical weeknight/weekend you will find us at home doing some type of activity or project in our yard. Mike is very handy and is good at building/fixing things. Ashley enjoys assisting Mike where possible on his projects, but also enjoys tending to her flower gardens and baking. Together we enjoy gardening and have two gardens where we grow a variety of vegetables that we like to cook with and also share with family and friends. We both like to fish and enjoy taking our boat out to the local lakes in the summer and fall months. We love spending time with our dog, Reggie and our farm cats and pig. We enjoy taking golf cart rides around our yard and on the country roads, grilling on our patio and having evening bonfires. Even though it does get colder here in the winter months, we still try to find time to spend outdoors. We both have cross-country skis, so Mike creates a ski trail in our yard so we can still get out and enjoy the winter months. We also enjoy ice-fishing where Mike sets up a portable, heated ice house for us. When we like to get away, we take mini-vacations and really enjoy visiting Duluth. We like the atmosphere of Duluth and all it has to offer. We also enjoy watching the ships come and go. We can't wait to share in our adventures, at home and on the road, with our future child.

Ashley About Mike: Mike is a loving and caring guy who puts others needs first. He is going to be a great dad! Mike is adventurous and likes to keep busy. He is creative and very talented with everything he does. He often has projects going on around our yard/home and continues to find ways to make our home custom to match our own taste. Mike is a very dedicated and loyal husband and I know he will be a dedicated father to our future child and will love our child unconditionally and support whatever interests they will have.

Mike About Ashley: Ashley is a kind woman who is always willing to help out someone when needed. She has a good sense of humor and is adventurous. She is smart and enjoys learning new things often. She is always willing to help me out with my projects around the house and is not afraid to get her hands dirty. She loves being around children and helping children explore their creativity. I know she will make a wonderful mother to our future child.

We are very lucky to live so close to both of our families and able to partake in the traditions that have been carried on since we were children. Most of our traditions are around holidays where we enjoy spending time with both of our families and extended families. For Christmas each year, Mike's parents prepare a large crab leg dinner, where we attend along with his brother's and their families. After dinner we open gifts and play games or watch movies. Ashley's parents also prepare a large seafood meal for Christmas, where her grandparents and many aunts, uncles and cousins also attend. Each year prior to Christmas, Ashley and her mom get together and take a full day to bake Christmas goodies for our families to enjoy. We both love Halloween and enjoy dressing up and handing out candy to our nephews who come to our place to tick-or-treat. On Labor Day, Mike attends a trap shoot tournament with his dad and brothers, where they shoot clay pigeons and targets for prizes. Keeping these family traditions are an important priority for us to keep and we cannot wait to share in these traditions with our future child!

We were both raised in close-knit families and our family time is very important to us. We love spending time with both our families and we are fortunate to get to do so often as both our parents live nearby.

Mike's parents live on a farmyard a few miles from us where we visit often and will occasionally join in on supper along with his brothers and their families. Mike takes a yearly hunting trip to western North Dakota with his dad and brothers and he also goes fishing with his dad often. Mike has two younger brothers whom have families of their own and also live just minutes away. We love spending time with our nephews and our new niece and are very grateful we always have the opportunity!

Ashley's parents live in a small town minutes from us. We enjoy partaking in barbecues on their patio, where they love to entertain and often have Ashley's grandparents and aunts and uncles over. Ashley also enjoys spending time in their pool in the summer. Ashley has two younger sisters whom live a few hours away and we get to see them several times a year. Ashley takes a trip with her mom a couple times a year to go spend time with them in the city they live in. Both of our families are excited for us to grow our family through adoption and they cannot wait for this child to join our family!

We live on a eight-acre farmstead in North Dakota, five miles outside a rural community. Our home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a large open kitchen and living room.

We have a large yard and love spending time outdoors enjoying many different activities such as gardening, golf cart rides, spending time on our patio, and playing fetch with our dog Reggie. We have a few outdoor farm cats and a pot belly pig named Buddha.

The community we live near is a safe family, friendly community on the grow. We have a newer elementary school attached to the high school and a large city park with a jungle gym, swings, slides, and a basketball court. There is also children's movie nights in the park during summer months. Our community has a holiday train that comes to town in December each year, in which Santa rides in on the Canadian Pacific train decorated with holiday lights and music. There is a parade on the 4th of July, with many floats decorated by local and surrounding community businesses. There is also a beautiful lake outside of town with a public beach and swimming area and we often bring our boat there for fishing. We also are within 30 minutes of an outdoor swimming pool with waterslide, a zoo, and many more fun options!

We are honored that you are considering us to be potential parents to your child and we thank you for taking the time to learn a little about us. We are unaware of everything you are going through at the moment as you make this decision, but want you to know how brave and selfless you are for thinking of your child's needs above your own and we respect whatever decision you make. As you make this important decision, we want to share a little about our relationship and our excitement to grow our family through adoption.

When we met in 2001 as sophomores in high school, we immediately had an attraction towards each other and we connected so well. We both say that we knew we were meant to be together from the moment we met and have been inseparable ever since. We dated for 10 years prior to marriage and have been married for nearly 9 years. We truly are each other's best friend.

Growing up together as a couple is something we feel lucky to have had the chance to experience, as we know this is very unique. We treasure our relationship and the fact that we have had the opportunity to learn so much about each other through the years and although infertility was the hardest thing we have went through as a couple thus far, we know that this brought us even closer together. During this difficult time in our marriage, it really connected us in a deeper level with all aspects of our relationship. We were able to lean on each other, openly communicate our feelings and we learned a lot about ourselves, each other and each other's needs. We know this was all part of God's plan to lead us to the journey of adoption and to prepare us for being the best parents we can be for our future child.

We are ready for this next chapter of our lives and we cannot wait to welcome a child through adoption. We are excited to experience the joy of raising a child and passing on our values and love. We promise to love this child unconditionally and we will devote our lives to providing this child all that we can offer. We want him/her to know where they came from and promise to incorporate aspects of your heritage into their life. We will always be open and honest with this child regarding their adoption story and we plan to raise this child with the understanding and appreciation for you and the sacrifice you have made. As this child grows, we are happy to share pictures and stories via emails, phone calls or text messages throughout their childhood and adolescence. Our wish is that you can find peace and comfort in whatever decision you make for you and your baby and we are open to helping out in any way we can to make this possible for you!

Although words cannot express the deepest gratitude we have for you for considering us as potential parents for your baby, we want you to know that we are thinking about you, praying for you, and we are here for you on each step of this journey and we look forward to growing a relationship with you as this child grows.

With love,

Mike & Ashley