Family is by far our biggest priority. We are very close with both of our families and the amount of love we have for them is insurmountable. We consider our siblings and parents not only family but some of our best friends. They have seen us through a lot of hard times and we don't know what we would do without them.

We try and live by the motto, "Life is short, enjoy the ride." Through all of our life experiences our families have adapted that motto as well, and we are often found planning fun trips, events, and activities together. Whether it's a snowmobiling trip through Yellowstone for Cody's dad's 60th birthday, a girl's trip to the beach, or a NFL football game, you can bet that at least one of our family members are by our side. When we grow old, we know that the seemingly small moments with family will become some of our most precious memories.

"The most valuable things in life are always things that money cannot buy- love, friends, family, and memories. These make you the richest person in the world, no matter how poor you are."- Matshona Dhliwayo

Cody About Ashley: The quality I admire most about Ashley is her fierce passion for life. She has endured more obstacles and hardships than most and yet her spirit to help others and experience all that life has to offer continues to grow brighter. We have been together for over ten years now and without her love, patience, motivation, and positivity we would not have accomplished or experienced the wonderful life we've had so far. I am excited to see her become a mother, Ashley will be a loving, nurturing, and inspiring mother and role model for our child. She will make sure that any child brought into our family will experience all that life has to give and support them through each opportunity.

Ashley About Cody: Cody is hands down the most caring person I have ever met. He will go without so another can have. He has seen me through the most difficult times in my life with strength and grace. He is funny, a calm in the middle of the storm, and when he loves, he loves hard. He commits to things 100% and will always be there for you no matter what happens. I cannot wait to watch him be father to our child. I know he will support them in everything that they do, he will be a fierce advocate for them, and will love them more than anything in this world.

Cultural identity is very important to us and we are dedicated to honoring our child's cultural heritage. We live near a very diverse city and in a community that houses families of various races and cultural identities that will easily support a child of any race or background. As you have read, we love to travel! One of our favorite things about traveling is learning and experiencing other people's cultures and traditions and we are very excited to do that with our child! We want to make their cultural identity something that they are proud of and plan to instill their heritage in everything that they do. From the food they eat to the books they read we hope to raise them with a strong cultural foundation that allows them to embrace their cultural heritage.

In addition, we have a very diverse social circle with friends from multiple different ethnic backgrounds. When learning of our adoption plans many of them have stepped up and offered to be positive role models of the same race and have vowed to help us raise a culturally competent child. We understand that it will be important to surround our child with people and role models that look like him or her, and we understand that they will face many struggles in life, many of which will be centered on their race. We are dedicated to supporting them through their various struggles, and to educating others on the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Welcome to Mississippi! Our home sits in a quiet neighborhood right outside of Memphis. We have three bedrooms, two baths, and a bonus room that's perfect for a playroom. We have a fenced in backyard with a patio that is the center of entertainment; when we are home this is where we can be found usually with a friend or neighbor that has stopped in. We have two flower beds, vegetable garden, and plenty of grass space that is often laden with our pups, tennis balls , lawn chairs, and cornhole.

The majority of the families in our neighborhood have kids of various ages who can be found riding bikes, playing football in the field, and running about. We live in an excellent school district with a diverse population and are surrounded by parks, sports complexes, and playgrounds.

We live in an area with many small lakes and are lucky enough to have two in our neighborhood where we can be found fishing or taking a ride on a paddle boat.

Living a short drive from Memphis, we enjoy the best of both worlds; we are able to experience the various multicultural activities the city has to offer and the solace of quiet country living. Our community is perfect for a child of any race or cultural background. He/she will grow up surrounded by love and support from their community.

We have one BIG, happy, and crazy family. With just the immediate family there are 26 of us! Our village of extended family and friends is very close-knit, and we are so grateful to be surrounded by such loving, giving, and supportive people. Our family loves to travel, to attend sporting events, enjoy the lake, hit the ski slopes, celebrate holidays, and celebrate each other. Our favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, when both of our families join us in our home for a week straight. We laugh, cook, play games, enjoy local attractions/restaurants, and try something new. At the end of the week, they all pitch in and help us decorate for Christmas. It's a week where we give thanks for each other and make memories to last a lifetime.

Most of our family lives out of state, but you would never know it by how often we talk, visit, and video chat. When we told everyone that we were adopting they were through the roof, the scream of excitement through the webcam was deafening; to say they are ecstatic is an understatement. We have had a long journey to becoming parents, and after excited screams, many turned to tears of joy. Our future child is already so loved and our village cannot wait to meet them!

First, we would like to thank you for getting to know a little more about us and for considering us to parent your child. We can't imagine how difficult of a decision this is for you and admire your strength and bravery. It is our promise that we will give your child a safe and loving home and a life full of fun-experiences and joy.

We have known for almost ten years that we would likely not be able to have children. I (Ashley) was diagnosed with a rare medical condition when I was 19, and we were told that I would not be able to have children following my treatment. We had enough time to freeze eggs and embryos. Cody and I were fortunate that we had been friends for years, our families were close, and though we had recently started dating, he is the amazing person he is and was willing to donate in order to have embryos. Fertility preservation technology was fairly new at that time and we knew the odds that we would be able to use them were small.

Fast forward nine years, we were ready to use them. It was confirmed that I no longer made eggs, and that we could not have children naturally but, that I could potentially carry a child if we used IVF. Unfortunately, one of our biggest fears was at our doorstep, none of the eggs or embryo's survived. Thankfully, our dream of being parents did not die with them. We both knew that adoption would be our next step. We took a year to grieve our loss, and now are ready to dive into our adoption adventure. We have been through so much together; we knew that we could overcome this as well. Our life together has been anything but ordinary, why should our journey to becoming parents be any different?

We are so excited for the future. We cannot wait for the day we bring a child into our crazy family, as we know our "village" will welcome them with open arms. They were over the moon when we told them our plans, ecstatic to welcome another child into the bunch. Both of our families continue to be very involved in our life and are very supportive of our plans to adopt. We have no doubt they will be just as involved in the life of our child. Everyone is eager to introduce them to our family traditions and to incorporate the child's cultural heritage into ours. We promise to give them all that we can, and that we will raise them knowing no limits to their experiences or successes.

We know that you have a difficult decision ahead of you. We have been longing to start a family for some time now and cannot wait to become parents. We promise to love this child beyond measure, to raise them with a strong sense of curiosity and passion for life, and to show them all of the great things this world has to offer. We promise to give your child a fun, safe, and nurturing home filled with laughter and joy. We promise to share your child's growth and experiences with you through emails and photo's. We will ensure that your child knows how much you love them, and how hard of a decision this was for you. We promise to always paint you in a positive light and to be open and honest with our child about adoption. If you would like to meet us or learn more about us, we encourage you to reach out. We realize this is a journey we are taking together and welcome open and honest communication. Thank you again for your consideration, our gratitude knows no boundaries.

Sincerely,

Cody & Ashley