We LOVE to travel. We usually go snow skiing as a family in the winter and our kids love the beach in the summer. We spent our honeymoon in Hawaii and it was so special to take the kids back with us a few years ago to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We also try to plan a trip to the mountains every summer, usually with David's side of the family so the kids have most of their cousins to play with. We spend time in the mountains hiking, biking and fly fishing and camping under the stars.

When we were first married and did not yet have kids, traveling internationally was one of our favorite things to do as a couple. When our kids are old enough, we can't wait to take them to different countries to provide them the opportunity to experience other cultures and see the world.

We also spend quite a bit of time on the weekends at our lake house, which is on a big piece of land about an hour and a half outside of town. In the summer we swim, kayak, paddleboard and tube behind the boat. In the spring and fall, we fish, play games in the yard and walk around the property, collecting pinecones, listening to birds and enjoying the peaceful countryside. Katy grew up with many memories at her grandparents' lake house and we are grateful that our kids will have similar memories. Hopefully they will be able to bring their own kids someday!

We love spending time outside, going on bike rides and family walks around the neighborhood after dinner. We are also members of a nearby golf and tennis club in our neighborhood. Katy has a tennis class with some other moms once a week. The club has great programs for kids, so our children have been able to learn golf and tennis by taking classes with their friends. Our children love when David, who grew up playing with his dad, brother and sister, takes them to play golf on the weekends. The kids are still learning the game but get very excited about being outside, riding in the golf cart and having fun snacks!

Katy loves cooking and baking and the kids are always thrilled to help in the kitchen, which makes for great time together. Wolfe will read a recipe and Belle will help measure everything out, both making sure to taste-test the final product! Katy also enjoys art and painting. The kids share her passion and will spend hours making arts and crafts with her.

One of David's favorite hobbies is archery. The kids are fascinated by watching him shoot his bow and can't wait until they are old enough for their own. Athletics has always been a big part of David's life, and he also loves coaching Wolfe's little league baseball team and playing all different sports with the kids in the backyard.

We have a 8-year-old son named Wolfe who has always been full of joy and loves to have as much fun as possible. He is very curious and likes to figure out how things work. He also loves reading, playing all kinds of sports and telling jokes to make people laugh. He is the most loving and patient big brother. Our 5-year-old daughter, Belle is sweet, animated, determined and incredibly caring. She loves ballet and playing dress up. She adores her big brother and we have loved seeing their sweet relationship develop. Her teacher told us that Wolfe is her favorite person in the world and she talks about him all day. She can't wait to be a big sister and we look forward to adding another child to the family.

We also have an 11-year-old Vizsla named Kapalua, who we call Lu for short. We got him shortly after getting married and he was our first baby, driving across the country with us when we moved to California for David to go to graduate school. We went on a lot of adventures with him out there. One reason we chose a Vizlsa is that they are known for being great with kids. He loves to cuddle and play with everyone ... the kids will even use him as a pillow sometimes!

We love our neighborhood! We live in a large city in Texas but in a quiet community with a small-town feel. It has a lot of big trees, parks, and even a small lake with walking and biking trails throughout. We are also walking distance to one of the best elementary schools in the area.

We love that there are so many young families in our neighborhood and kids for our children to grow up with. There is an annual 4th of July parade that goes throughout the entire neighborhood where we have made lifelong memories with family and friends. Many neighbors have parties in their front yards all morning with live music and bounce houses for the kids. It is a special tradition that we all look forward to each year.

We spend most of our time in the family room and kitchen area, which is surrounded by big windows so it has a bright and open feel. This is where we cook family dinners, the kids play board games and we to cuddle on the couch for a movie night.

We love eating outside and spend a lot of time on our outdoor patio and backyard, where the kids like to play basketball, swing and swim. We have a lot of nice, warm weather in Texas so we get to enjoy a lot of time out there!

To us, our home is a place our kids will always feel comfortable, where we spend time with friends and family, and where we can form lasting memories as a family.

We live in the same area we both grew up and have a lot of family members nearby. Both sets of our parents are less than an hour away and our siblings are all within 30 minutes, some just 5 minutes away in the next neighborhood over. In total, we have 5 (soon to be 6) young nieces and nephews. Our kids LOVE any time they get to spend with their cousins so we typically get together at least a couple of times a month for everyone to play in the backyard or go swimming.

Our parents are very involved in our kids lives and living so close they have been able to build special bonds. From fishing with Granddaddy to playing the piano with Grandpa to making chocolate chip pancakes with Emmy after a sleepover at her house, our kids are blessed to make so many amazing memories with their grandparents on a regular basis. And our kids always have a huge cheering section at all of their events whether it is a school performance, baseball game, ballet recital, really anything!

We also frequently travel with our extended family, usually taking a big family trip once or twice a year to either the mountains or the beach. We had an amazing family trip last summer to Canada, where David's mom grew up.

We love being close to so many family members and are grateful that our kids have so many people (aunts, uncles, grandparents) who love and cherish them as much as we do.

We are deeply grateful you have taken the time to read about our family and consider us to be the parents of your child. We love being parents more than anything and want you to know how immensely we would love, protect and treasure your child. You have tremendous courage for loving your child in this incredible way.

Our family is the guiding force behind every decision we make. We were both blessed with wonderful childhoods and loving families, and as parents, we want to give our children the same enriching experience. Our home is fun and cheerful, but we also try to instill in our kids the importance of understanding their place in the world so they can appreciate everything they have and find a higher purpose to serve others.

We went to high school together but did not start dating until after college. We have now been married almost 12 years and our love and admiration for each other continues to grow day after day. We are fortunate to have a very healthy, trusting marriage that provides a stable foundation for anything that comes our way. We have faced a lot of adversity since we got married and we manage hardships through open communication, trust and flexibility. We love to laugh often and support each other.

Shortly after getting married, we packed our belongings into a small sedan (and our dog Lu perched on top of a suitcase) and moved across the country to California for David to go to graduate school. Katy worked from home during this time and it was a fun and exciting adventure as newlyweds. It also strengthened our relationship greatly, being so far away from family and friends. During this time, we spent a lot of time talking about our future family and praying about peace in the uncertainty of that time. Looking back, these conversations, prayer and the hard work in between have led us to where we are today. David's career now allows him to spend lots of quality time with the family, Katy gets to be a stay-at-home mom and we are able to have dinner together as a family almost every night, time we cherish so dearly.

We have always wanted a big family and we built our home a couple of years ago with the vision of it being a place for our children to build countless lifelong memories and always feel welcomed and loved…from big holiday celebrations to everyday family dinners. There is space for them to run and play now, but also to grow into as they get older. One of our favorite parts of the house is the piano in our family room because we both love music and how it brings people together. David loves playing piano while the kids sing along. Wolfe has started taking lessons as well and they make a good duo on the piano! We also cherish our playroom where we spend a lot of time playing games as a family. We are getting a ping pong table soon because David has fond memories of having his friends over for hours of ping pong when he grew up, which was a great way for his parents to become close with his friends.

Being parents has been our life's greatest joy and we want our kids to feel that home is a place they are filled with love and a sense of belonging. We want them to feel safe within our family to share their feelings, hopes, fears and know that we will always love and support them. We try to expose our kids to as many opportunities and experiences as possible, so they can find their own interests and passions to guide their lives. Most of all, we feel it is our job to shower them with love, grace and encouragement.

As adoptive parents, we would want your child to always know our endless love, which will be expressed in many ways, including how we honor you. We hope that we would have contact with you in a way that makes you feel comfortable through letters, messages, photos and visits so that you will be able to share in the joy as he or she grows.

Thank you again for reading about our family. We admire you for the way you are loving your child and would be beyond honored to share in that love.

David & Katy