Our leisure time is often spent together. We both enjoy gardening, hiking and doing projects around the house. Our favorite leisure activities are those where we can spend time outside. During the fall, we always go apple picking in a local orchard. We walk down every row of trees and try all varieties of apples before choosing which we want to pick and take home to make apple sauce and pie. During the summer, we pick raspberries along a local walking trail and spend a lot of miles on our bikes riding out into the country side.

Throughout the year, we can also be found in our backyard having a fire and roasting marshmallows, playing yard games, or sitting at our dining room table playing card games. We are best known for our competitive nature, and will often play many rounds of a game until there is a clear winner.

Individually, Ben likes to hunt, and spends mornings in the spring and fall out in the woods. When not at the gym lifting weights, Caitlin spends time crocheting blankets, slippers and other projects for family and friends.

We have four adopted nieces and nephews, and Caitlin has also had six foster nieces and nephews. Our family would not be the same without each and every one of these children. When deciding if adoption was the right path for us to grow our family, we never had to question if we would love our adopted child as our own, because our adopted nieces and nephews always felt like ours. From the day they came into our lives, they are a part of our family, loved and supported.

Watching our adopted nieces and nephews grow up and learn more about their adoption story with each passing year, and growing into some of the most incredible people has been a joy. We hope our own child comes to know about their adoption story and embrace their identity in the same way.

Caitlin About Ben: I greatly admire Ben's generosity. Ben is the type of person that is always offering a helping hand or giving away some of the items out of our garden. He likes to see people happy and is always willing to help out someone in need. I have never met someone so giving and loving and am proud to call him my husband.

Ben About Caitlin: I love how Caitlin is always trying to improve herself. She takes extra courses at work, does life coaching, and attending CrossFit. I admire Caitlin as a strong, independent woman, who tries to lift others up so they can also be successful. She uses all of her experiences and knowledge to better herself, others and me.

We live in a village in Wisconsin in a four-bedroom house with a large backyard. We love spending time in our kitchen and main living area. In the winters, we spend a lot of time in our den next to the fireplace. In the summer, we are often outside barbecuing or playing yard games.

Many of our neighbors have children, and more new families and couples are moving in. Our community is close knit and full of activities and events. We have large youth athletic leagues, a community pool, and social clubs for all interests. We live close to a bigger city that offers a children's museum and events for kids. They have annual children's fairs and art shows to keep kids engaged in the arts and help them learn about cultures from around the world.

We chose our home and community also because it has a great school system, and our house is within walking distance to the elementary and high school. We are also not far from the community pool, parks, library and youth center. It is a great place to raise a family.

We both come from large families that love to spend time together. Caitlin's family lives in California, and we try to visit twice a year to keep up with our 7 nieces and nephews. We try to spend time with each of them when we visit to make sure they have time to talk with us. On a recent trip, we took the oldest niece and nephew hiking to enjoy the great views around Caitlin's hometown.

Ben's family lives close by. At least once a month, we spend time on the family farm with the cousins. We make sausage together as a family, and swap new recipes we have tried. In the evenings we are often sitting around the potbellied stove, telling stories and laughing. The last trip to the farm, we all went on a hayride through the fields and caught up with how everyone was doing.

We love how close we are with both of our families, and the memories we have created being a part of them.

Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and get to know us a little better. We appreciate that the path you are on has many choices and this is just one of them. Please know we promise to give your child a loving, supportive and safe home.

Ben is a Special Education Teacher for Health and Physical Education for the last 7 years. He is passionate about teaching his students and watching them learn and grow. Being a teach has taught him how to be patient, help children with various needs, and encourage children to be independent. His love of teaching also reaches outside of work, as he also spends his weekends as a referee for youth wrestling and coaching his cousins.

Caitlin is a Healthcare IT Project Manager and is passionate about creating software that helps provide exceptional care for patients. She loves being able to meet new people and learn more about healthcare practices in the US and around the world. She has learned how to be calm in stressful situations and how to respond instead of react. She also loves mentoring her younger co-workers to become stronger project managers.

We have been together for 4 years, and married for the last 3.5 years. Our families have intertwined and we love the large family we have created. Each day, we try to carve out time to do something together, either cooking, going for a walk, or shopping. We both enjoy time with family and the careers we have created for ourselves.

We first started talking about having a family after a month of dating. We knew we were meant to be together and that we were meant to be parents. We began discussing how we would raise our children, the hobbies we wanted to share with them, and all of the experiences we wanted them to have as they grew. We have spent the last few years creating the home we hope to share with our child and getting to know our community better to make sure they are given every opportunity. We cannot wait to have a child to love, support and watch grow. A child to teach our values and traditions.

We have tried to have children of our own for several years, but have not been able to conceive biological children. However, we are so excited about adopting our first child and creating the family we have always dreamed of. We both come from large families that are close knit and spend a lot of time together. We look forward to adding another person to our family.

We also want to share our child's life with you. We want to send letters and pictures as our child grows, and even emails, phone calls or visits, if desired. We will make sure your child knows that the decision you made was difficult and made out of love and that you are always seen as a positive figure in their lives.

Thank you for considering us a potential parents. We have wanted to grow our family for the last four years, and are excited to bring a child into our home. Know that your child will be loved and supported in all that they do and all that they are. We hope you know how much we appreciate you and your decision.

Sincerely,

Ben & Caitlin