Our son Lincoln is a goofball and loves to make up jokes and tell them—over and over again. Usually he picks jokes that are the silliest. Or, he makes up little stories in his head and acts them out, running all over the house playing multiple characters. Lincoln loves to read and to be read to, especially about dinosaurs, dragons, and animals. He also loves nature shows and How To Train Your Dragon. We also love to read, by ourselves and as a family. The three of us will sit together for a nightly bedtime story, most nights.

Living in the upper midwest, we have learned to embrace the outdoors all year long. In the summer, we take long bike rides, hikes, visit the lakes in our neighborhood, and go camping. Lincoln loves swimming and anything else he can do in the water. When winter comes, we transition to sleds, snow forts and ice skates. Gina grew up on figure skates and Lincoln has learned to love skating too. All year long, we watch our two kittens wrestle with each other, take our dog on long walks, visit museums, and sit around a backyard campfire.

Our children will see love in our home. It's our biggest priority, the thing we care about most. The two of us love each other very much. We show Lincoln what it means to love other people in a family. For us, that starts with respect for one another. We listen when others are talking and respond to what they say. And it's the little things--hugs, sitting together, being there for each other when it's needed most.

Lincoln has found his way into the same mold. His empathy for others is warm and humbling for us to watch--he shows a deep level of understanding how other people feel and knew intuitively how to respond to it. When a person is sad or hurt, Lincoln is the first to be there--checking on them, comforting them. We know he will do that as an older sibling, too. Our entire family will continue to make love our biggest priority.

We believe in providing our children with a high-quality education that values community. For us, in our current neighborhood, that is a public school. The local public elementary is top-notch, while still providing education for a broad array of income levels and racial backgrounds. We know that school isn't just about education. For us it's about finding a place in the world, knowing how to communicate with others, and learning to see things through the eyes of other people. We believe public school makes that possible. And it makes it possible for all kids. But it requires that a diverse community, like where we live, stays invested in the school system and believes in it. And it requires the entire community to do that.

We also realize that education cannot be left completely to the school. Parents need to be involved with school throughout. Gina was the first member of her family to go to college and Luke and his siblings were the first members of his family to finish college. We believe our parents helped make that possible for us by providing support and believing that we would be successful at whatever we decided to do. We are committed to doing the same for our children - supporting and encouraging whatever future path they decide to take. We both work, but we are committed to ensuring our children get the parenting involvement they need at home to make sure they thrive at school and in other activities.

The best thing about where we live is the mix of greenery and urban life. A creek runs right in front of our house and that waterway has been our wonderland. We splash in it and bike next to it in the summer, skate and sled on it in the winter. All year long we walk along it, see the foxes and raccoons and owls and eagles. Its like walking through a forest. And yet we are still in a diverse urban city with city buses running just a block away, airplanes landing over our heads, restaurants, playgrounds and hardware stores just a short walk away.

Our neighborhood is full of kids. We regularly see kids playing together and biking together on the way to the neighborhood school or the library.

We love our 100 year old colonial house. It's filled with historical details but has been recently remodeled. However, our house is too big for just the three of us with five bedrooms, a playroom, and three bathrooms.

We both grew up in small houses; Luke had five siblings around. We think a home ought to be a little more full than ours is now—even when we include our dog and two kittens who hang out here.

We have a network of support among our families. They give us what we need: safe quiet spaces at times, big boisterous celebrations at others. Both sets of our parents love the grandparent stage of life and live within short driving distance of us. Our six-year-old has formed powerful bonds with our families, his cousins, his aunts and uncles.

Luke has 5 siblings, 3 of which live in the same city as us and one of which lives a short drive away. On Luke's side, we gather at the family farm—his parents still run a small grain and cow farm—and spread out across the lawn. The kids play with one another in an unlimited expanse of grass, woods, and pasture. The adults relax and tell stories. Our gatherings are natural. We pick up conversations in the middle of where we left them a week earlier. We jostle around the kitchen—everyone helps with the cooking. And we can sit quietly too. We read and play board games and laugh and talk.

On Gina's side, we have two dedicated, caring parents, the sort of people who show their love through home-cooked meals and things they can fix and make with their hands. Our son spends his visits to Gina's parents helping grandpa fix cars and grandma do art projects. Because Gina is an only child, they are devoted to our kids.

Thank you so much for considering us as adoptive parents for your child. We want to write you this letter as a chance to tell you a little more about us and why we want to adopt a child. We have been married for 9 years and have been together for 16. We have one child already, Lincoln, and we love him so much. Lincoln is 6 and is writing you this letter along with the two of us. He will be a wonderful big brother. Since he was little he showed a level of compassion and empathy for other people that humbles and inspires us as adults. He will take an adopted child under his protection and guidance.

Our household just has more love to give. We know from the early days of Lincoln’s life that parenting is hard. It’s a tremendous responsibility. We don’t go into it lightly. But having gone through it once, we feel like something is missing. We have room in our hearts to create that special place of love for another human being. With Lincoln, we will help that little human grow. We will nurture and guide and we will let them become who they are destined to become.

We want you to be a part of your child's life. The way we see it, no child can have too much love. The more people connected with that child’s life, the better. A birth parent forges a special bond. We would watch that bond be formed and be proud of it and grateful for it. We will do everything we can to make you feel connected to your child including sending regular letters, pictures, phone calls, visits, and emails. We will take the lead from you on how much you want to be involved in your child's life and welcome your involvement. We want your child to know your history and learn from you as well as us.

We want to tell you a little more about what love and life in our household is like. We take school and work seriously. But when it’s over for the day, and on weekends, we make sure we are done with our work. Together we invent adventures for ourselves. We launch expeditions to museums, playgrounds, pools, and ice cream shops. Or we just walk around our neighborhood and enjoy things. We go camping in state parks in campsites far from the beaten path. And we laze around on Saturday mornings, eat waffles, and stay in our pajamas all day. Every night, we read together. All three of us. Sometimes the cats and dog come too. We read picture books and chapter books, science books, dragon books. Most of the time lately, we read dinosaur books.

Listen, we know you have a tough choice about what is best for you and your child. You should do what makes sense to you. If you decide to let us adopt your child, that little person will be loved. We can promise that much. We’ll do our best on the other things too. But love - we can promise love. We have so much of it to give. We know you are faced with a tough decision. Thank you so much for considering us!

Luke & Gina