Stefany grew up with lots of family traditions, so we do our best to create new traditions for our family! Stefany loves decorating the home for all the different holidays, but especially Christmas. Our tradition is to go cut a fresh cedar tree for our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We all bundle up, and go look for the perfect tree together. The smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies, and cedar tree is one of our favorite things! Stefany, the girls, and her mother get together each year to bake traditional cookies that her Grandma made. She also makes cinnamon rolls to give to the neighbors. Every Christmas Eve, we go to Christmas Eve Church services, get matching pajamas for the girls and we open our stockings. Christmas morning we wake up and enjoy fresh cinnamon rolls and spiced fruit before opening Christmas gifts together. Then we spend the remainder of Christmas and New Years going back and forth between the grandparents' homes where all our families get together. It's always so festive and fun!

About Stefany:

About Andy:

We love all cultures and the diversity of them. Some of our best friends are from different cultures as Stefany lived overseas for several years and Andy has also worked with people of all different cultures over the past 14 years. We also have relatives who have adopted transracially, and we have learned much from them AND their children.

We love to learn and are looking forward to learning about the culture of our new child and the background that he or she comes from. We want to celebrate the differences in our cultures and teach our children that while our cultures are different, we are all a miracle from God and that we love them with our whole hearts.

Although small, our community is really amazing and diverse. There are many different cultural backgrounds here and it is likely that our child will grow up with others who have similar backgrounds as he or she does.

We live a cute, cozy home in a wonderful small town filled with values that we love.

Our home is a great place to raise a family and we have enjoyed living here. We spend lots of time in the kitchen because to us, its where so many memories are made!

While our town may be small, it takes great pride in its parks and recreation. Our house is located just down the street from a fun splash park. Our children visit there regularly in the summertime! Our favorite places to frequent are the aquatic center, the multiple parks, library, and new bike trails. Our community also has a recreational center, loves the rodeo, rodeo parade, and Christmas window opening festivities.

Our schools and teachers are wonderful and kids won't get lost in the cracks. We love that!

We regularly attend church and help in different ministries. Our church is very involved in our community and very supportive of adoption and outreach to those in need. Each summer our church holds a giant music festival and concert where multiple popular Christian musicians come. There are many food trucks and the children love the bouncy castles.

Our town is not far from larger cities that are easy and fun to visit when we like.

Family is very important to us and we are very close. Both of our parents live only 15 minutes away. Stefany's parents live on a farm and we love spending lots of time there, playing, gardening, and hanging out. Stefany's brother, Brandon, and family also live close in the country. They have two children and we do lots with them. Stefany's sister, Angela, and family live in Illinois and we love to go visit them! Andy's sister, Mollie, and husband also live close by.

With our families living so close, we do lots together. Sunday evening meals together are a common occurrence. Our kids love to have sleepovers at their grandparents. Holidays are always a warm and festive time together. The grandparents are eager to invest in our children's lives and we couldn't be more blessed with the closeness of our family.

Our entire family is so excited and supportive of our pursuit of adoption and look forward to lots of snuggles and love to pass on to our bundle of joy!

We are so thankful and humbled that you have taken time to consider us and learn about us. Thank you for allowing us to share about ourselves. We know the journey you are on is filled with choices and major decisions to be made. We promise to give your child a safe, unconditional loving, compassionate home. Know, we are regularly praying for you and the little one.

God brought Andy and I together 7 years ago and we were married October of 2014. We were match-made by Andy's Grandma, and our first date equaled love at first sight. Stefany fell in love with Andy's heart of service, kindness, and humility. Andy fell in love with Stefany's sweet personality, blue eyes, smile, and servant heart. One of the fun things we have in common is we are both "foodies" and love cooking together and trying new things. While we enjoyed our first 3 years of marriage together without children, we both have always had it on our hearts to grow our family biologically as well as adoption. Helen was born in 2017 and Ruth just 20 months later. Not long ago, we simultaneously knew in our hearts we were ready to start the adoption process to complete our family. Our girls bring us so much laughter and joy.

Parenthood has definitely grown us and we want to be the best possible parents that God has intended us to be. We are not perfect parents, but we do the best we can and want the absolute best for our children. We value the importance of teaching by example, saying "sorry", teaching respect, strong work ethic, good Christian morals, serving others and doing everything with love. Our favorite things to do as a family are read books together, go on mini-vacations, and play outdoors whether it be in the snow or water, and hang out with grandparents and family!

Our plan and goal is to move to the country not far from where Stefany grew up. It's very beautiful and peaceful there. We hope to have a large garden, a few acres for the kids to explore and play, a fruit orchard, and a few animals such as chickens. The girls have been wishing for a puppy and so are dreaming of that as well!

Andy works in engineering for a local business. He has worked in engineering for the past 14 years and absolutely loves his job. Stefany is a stay at home mom as well as Cake Baker from home. She loves the fact she gets to stay home and invest in her children as well as pursue her God-given talent in baking. Her favorite thing is baking cakes for her girls and family.

We will share with you your child's mile stones, experiences (even his/her birthday cake!) and growth through pictures and letters if you desire. You are the hero to our adoption story and we will share that with your child. We will keep you in our prayers regularly, and be you will be reflected positively to him/her. You are loved, your baby is loved, and your strength is applauded.

Andy & Stefany