"Live, laugh, love" would be a good motto for us. Steven works for a trucking company as a dispatch assistant and Dianne is an elementary teacher. We are fortunate to both work the during the week, so we can spend our evenings and weekends together. Since we met and married in our late 30's, we are both independent, but also very thankful to have each other to share our lives with. We are both laid back. A typical weeknight would be us cooking and eating dinner together, going for a walk around the neighborhood and talking about our day, then watching television and playing with our dog, Oscar. On weekends we love to host family and friends for game nights and BBQ. During football season, we love to watch college football games and cheer for our favorite teams: Oklahoma State and Arkansas. When it is back to school time and Dianne is busy setting up her classroom or making games for her students, Steven enjoys spending time with his brother or parents who live nearby. We enjoy picking up coffee and taking Oscar to new dog parks. Every year we volunteer at Dianne's school when they host reading or math nights or host school carnivals. We love celebrating all holidays. We enjoy dressing up for Halloween and spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter with our family. We can't wait to have a little one to share our lives with.

We will speak to our child about their adoption from the time our child is very small. We will read books and watch movies with him/her that show adoptive families. We are planning to create a scrapbook with pictures of our child's birth parents and family, and pictures from the hospital and town they are born in so that we can show our child where he/she is from. We feel that this is an important part of their life. From the earliest age, our child will grow up knowing their adoption is normal and just a fact of their life. Our city has awesome community events for adoptive families, and we would like to join in the fun so our child will have friends who are also adopted. We will celebrate National Adoption Month and our child will celebrate his/her birthday every year hearing stories about his birth. We will always speak positively to our child about his adoption and their birth family.

We live in a quiet, suburban neighborhood in Texas with lots of trees and parks, which is perfect for families. We own a two-story home that has three bedrooms and two baths, and we have a large fenced in backyard. Our backyard is almost half an acre, so there is plenty of room to add a swing set, a tree house, and room to play sports. The elementary school that Dianne teaches at is only a few miles from our home. We would love for our child to attend her school because it has a diverse population, excellent teachers, and great after school sports and clubs.

Just three blocks from our home is a fire station and another elementary school with a large playground and a city park. The city park has a new playground, so our child will have two playgrounds nearby to choose from! The park also has soccer fields and a large open area used for community activities.

Just past the elementary school there is the middle school and a public library. The library offers a summer reading club and weekly events throughout the year for kids of all ages, such as scheduled story times, a craft club, and free family movie screenings. There are tons of shopping places and restaurants nearby. Our neighborhood also features three different walking and biking trails. We have two grocery stores and three drug stores within walking distance, so all the essentials are nearby.

Family is very important to us. Steven's parents are retired and live nearby. We visit them as much as possible - every time we go to their house, Steven's mother always asks that we bring our dog Oscar. He has more toys at their house than our house! We can't imagine what it will be like when we bring a grandchild over! Steven's aunt and uncle live near his parents, so we get to see them often, too. Steven has a younger brother. He and his wife live about 30 minutes from us. Although we all work during the week, we try to go to dinner or a movie with them as often as possible.

Unfortunately, Dianne's parents have passed away, but she has an older brother and younger sister that she is close to, and lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins. Dianne's sister lives only one mile from our house. Any time we need house or dog sitting, she is our go to person! Dianne's brother lives in Mississippi where she grew up, but we call and text him several times a week, and we make it a point to get together at least once a year. The rest of Dianne's extended family lives in Oklahoma, and we see them every summer.

Of course, we cannot forget about our four-legged child! We have Oscar, who is a six-year-old dachshund. Oscar is very calm and laid back. His favorite hobby is sleeping, so we nickname him, "Oscar Bear."

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. We want you to know that we think you are courageous, strong, and loving for considering making an adoption plan. We know that the decision that you are making is a difficult one. As you are making this difficult decision, please know that we only want what is best for you and your child. We promise that we will give your child a safe, loving, stable, and laughter-filled home.

We met seven years ago and have been married for five years. We were married in our late 30's, because we both were waiting to find the perfect match. Before we were married, we talked about having children and we were both open to the idea of adoption. When we discovered that it would be difficult for us to conceive our own child, we began looking into adoption. We want you to know that we have had many discussions and prayed about our decision. We are confident in our decision to adopt and look forward to loving, encouraging, and supporting a child of our own.

We have shared our plan to adopt with our family and friends, and they are all so excited for us. Our families and friends are a big part of our lives. Although our cousins and friends have children of their own, our child will be the first child in our immediate family. We are looking forward to introducing him/her to their eagerly awaiting grandparents, uncles, and aunts. We have a lot of love and a great support system in place for this child in our family.

We both love to travel, and this child will have the opportunity to travel and explore many places with us. We value education and will advocate for the best education possible. We will encourage our child in their areas of interests, but we will encourage him/her to try new sports and activities. We want to give this child an opportunity to learn from sports, art classes, and music lessons.

We both try to lead healthy lifestyles and want to be positive examples to our child by modeling healthy eating habits, exercising regularly, and making time us as a family. We look forward to outdoor activities such as bike riding, kayaking, and hiking. We will also help our child practice for his/her team sport, or just have fun running around and playing in our backyard.

We will always be open and honest with our child about his/her adoption. You will always be an important part of your child's life, and you will always be spoken about in a positive way. We have such respect for you, and we will tell your child that you love them and what a hard decision it was for you. We are more than happy to share with you your child's growth and experiences through pictures, letters, and emails if that is what you desire. We are also willing to make arrangements for yearly visits.

Sincerely,

Steven & Dianne