During our leisure time at home, we enjoy watching a good movie, reading a book, playing games at the kitchen table, or doing a home renovation project at the house. Jake loves to head into the garage and do woodworking. He enjoys making custom pens, bowls, and small furniture. He is quite talented and even made our beautiful sleigh bed. Jenny loves photography and she captures many pictures as a hobby. She loves to edit the pictures in Photoshop but Jake's background in graphic design helps when she has big ideas for editing. We also take full advantage of being outdoors. We love exploring a new area near us for fishing and hiking or going to a favorite spot which offers hiking and opportunities for Jack to run off-leash. Jenny's parents live on a lake and we tend to go there for our boating, swimming, and fishing adventures. Jake's family lives in Colorado so we go there for our mountain adventures. We look forward traveling again soon and visiting our relatives. We venture to the city to try new restaurants, jazz clubs, or visit the museums and zoos. We enjoy going to the theater to catch a musical or other performance. Even though our favorite teams are split, we love attending football, basketball, and baseball games at the stadiums. During the holidays, we love decorating the inside and outside of our house to reflect our festive personalities. We look forward to sharing all of these activities with our future child.

Jenny About Jake: Jake is my best friend and my rock. He is quiet until he gets to know you but once he knows you, he would do anything for you. He is supportive of my educational endeavors and always challenges me to be the best version of myself. He is an excellent listener and always gives logical advice. He has a strong faith that everything happens in God's timing. He has a passion for living life to the fullest and loves being in the outdoors whether that is hiking a mountain in the summer or ice fishing in -20-degree weather. He is a role model for our nieces and nephews as well as any child he encounters. He has a playful personality and acts like a big kid. He truly is a big teddy bear.

Jake About Jenny: Jenny is one of the best things to ever happen to me. She is very outgoing and is not afraid to strike up a conversation with anyone. She has the biggest heart of anyone that I have ever known and is always putting everyone else's needs before her own. She loves being outdoors whether it is hiking, boating, or playing at the beach. She has a love of photography and can turn any moment into a picture moment. The children in our family gravitate towards her because she is fun to be around and does not hesitate to get down on the floor to play with them. She loves reading stories with them.

We both value our own cultural heritage and celebrate it through our food, family gatherings, and traditions. We feel it is equally important for our child to grow up knowing their heritage. We have not educated ourselves on every culture but we know when the child is born, we want to incorporate and honor theirs. This could be through celebrating additional holidays as a family, attending cultural events, or even getting a haircut done at a specific salon that specializes in our child's hair texture. We are fortunate to live near a diverse, larger city that will help us find resources to best meet our child's needs. Since Jenny is a teacher by trade, our child will be read to a lot. During this time, we will incorporate books with characters from similar cultural backgrounds or books that speak about diversity in general. One of Jenny's favorite books to read with her students, at her dual-language elementary school, is "The Color of Us" by Karen Katz. She loves the student conversations that comes from comparing all our unique and beautiful skin shades. We will also find shows or movies that highlight the child's culture or represent what our child looks like. We will educate ourselves on our child's cultural heritage and find many ways for our child to experience and celebrate their culture with us.

We live in a quaint, small town in Wisconsin. Our community has amazing, family events going on monthly, like craft building at the historical museum or a new exhibit at the children's museum. During the holidays we are blessed to have a holiday market which features handmade goods, delicious foods, and festivities all around. The joy of the season shines bright during the parade of lights and the community tree lighting where we always take advantage of taking a picture with Santa. We live near Lake Michigan which provides opportunities for beach activities and hikes on the shoreline. We also have many city and state parks that provide opportunities to play on the playground, fish in the pond, and hike. We have an indoor waterpark and two outdoor water parks that provide many opportunities for water fun. We feel blessed to be in a community with so many amenities.

After selling our home in Denver, we urgently needed a home and exhausted all other options, so we bought our three-bedroom, two-bathroom mobile home. Originally, it was going to be a short-term living situation, but we have grown to love our home and community. We plan on staying here until we can find our dream land and build a house. We have made renovations that truly makes the house feel like our home. Our neighbors are remarkably diverse from retirement age to young families. Everyone who lives here is one big family, which we love.

We have incredibly close families that are loving, supportive, fun, and consistently there when we need them. They are ALL excited for us to add a child into our family. Jenny's family lives close by and Jake's family lives in Colorado so trips to Colorado and Facebook Portal keep us connected. Jenny's family get togethers include boating, swimming, kayaking, fishing, or just sitting by the campfire. If the weather is bad, the family likes to cook together, play board games, piece together puzzles, or just watch a movie. During the holidays, Jenny's family makes traditional Italian and German recipes to celebrate their heritage. They also participate in an annual gingerbread making contest. Teams are chosen by picking names out of a hat and the teams have a set amount of time to make their best gingerbread house. It is always a blast. Jake's family likes to have big, family gatherings for most birthdays, holidays, and special celebrations. When we are together, we like to go hiking, visit new places, go ATVing, or grill out. A trip to Jake's parents' house isn't complete without a woodworking project going on in the garage and the whole family getting involved. Even our nieces and nephews enjoy sweeping the garage or putting together a small project. When weather limits our ability to be outside, the family loves playing card games, smoking a brisket on the porch, or watching a movie together. There is always laughter and fun when the families get together.

As we sit to write this letter, our hearts are pounding with excitement, hope, nerves, and many other emotions. We can only imagine you are also feeling a rollercoaster of emotions. Even though we do not know each other, we appreciate you taking the time to read about us. We can promise that you, your family, and the baby are in our thoughts and prayers as we all navigate this new journey.

A little about us. We met nine years ago on a family provoked blind date. Our relationship started with many sport or active dates and almost felt like a friendship at the beginning. That blossomed into an amazing relationship where we both knew early on that we were each other's one and only. We got married two years later in Jenny's hometown and have enjoyed our wedded bliss since. Our relationship is based on faith, love, and communication. Jake is the shy and relaxed one that grounds Jenny when she gets worked up over something that happened. Jenny is the outgoing and organized one that keeps them organized. Our own strengths complement each other so our relationship can be solid.

Jake is a Universal Banker by trade and enjoys his predictable schedule and living five minutes from work so he can come home for lunch every day for close to an hour. Jenny is a Special Education Teacher in a dual-language elementary school. Her schedule is less predictable because of meetings and required paperwork but Jake always steps up around the house during her busy times. She also has holiday breaks and summers off which allows many memories to be made. We are both obsessed with the holidays and our house is always dressed up for every holiday season.

Our decision to start the adoption process came after a miscarriage and three years of trying was unsuccessful. Then, we were officially given the medical diagnosis as infertile. Once we were told we wouldn't be able to conceive naturally, we headed straight for the adoption path. After having our own family and friends be blessed by adoption, we knew it was the perfect way to expand our family. Our five-year-old, terrier mix, Jack is also excited to welcome a new family member. He loves when our nieces and nephews come to play and loves when the children drop their food on the ground for him. We are all excited and ready to start this journey.

If you should choose to start this journey with us, we promise to love the child unconditionally and provide every opportunity for them to be successful. We promise to provide educational opportunities so the child can discover their unique interests and talents. We promise to nurture their creativity and allow them to continue having a curiosity for life. We promise to provide them every opportunity to explore new places and things so they can have many life experiences. We promise to make sure they know the truth about their adoption from early on and we can only hope that they will one day have a relationship with you even if that is through letters.

Experiencing adoption through our family and friends, we value the importance of the child knowing their history and we would really like an open adoption where communication is open. We of course will be flexible with whatever you are comfortable with but in our ideal world, we could connect with you as we do our extended family. We would connect through letters with pictures, text messages, email, pictures in a Google Drive, or even Facebook. We would also be open to video conferencing every six months and having an in-person visit within the first two years. You are an incredibly important part of the child's life and that means we hope you will become a part of ours. We look forward to this journey and the relationships we will build.

Thank you for considering us as potential parents for your child. We know this is one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make and we will pray for you and the baby as you navigate this difficult decision.

Always,

Jake & Jenny