We like to get outside in nature when we can, but we also enjoy watching movies and playing video games. We go for lots of hikes and really like camping. We recently started playing tennis for fun, and we really like this casual form of exercise. Garrick likes to play soccer and is looking forward to teaching a child how to play! Colleen spends a lot of time creating digital art and plans to teach a child all the art skills she has learned over the years. We also love to just meet up with friends and hang out! Traveling is important to us, and while huge trips are not always practical, we also like to explore our own backyard. We are constantly checking out new restaurants and local hangouts and are always looking for cool places to take a child. We always take full advantage of our leisure time and love to relax and recharge.

We love dedicating time for our jobs as we grow in our careers, but family takes priority in our life. We are both going to work part-time after we adopt so that we can each experience the joy of raising a child. This will give us both that tight bond that really helps a child grow.

We spend a lot of time with family and are constantly communicating with the family that lives far away. We know our family is going to be there to support us in raising a child, and this is another reason why we prioritize family so highly.

When we adopt a child, our family will finally feel complete. We have been waiting anxiously and excitedly to make this step towards the family we've always dreamed of, and we are so glad to have the opportunity to adopt a child. We will prioritize a child while also making sure that we are taking care of ourselves and being the best parents we can be.

We have been on lots of amazing vacations and absolutely love to travel. One of our favorite places is New Zealand. Right after the first time we went, we wanted to go again. We talk all the time about taking a child with us to New Zealand so they can see how wonderful and unique this country is. In particular, we really enjoyed the Fiordland area of New Zealand and found it so unique to be so close to both the ocean and the mountains. We went on a memorable hike with the tallest mountain we've ever climbed. We also explored other areas of the south island and spent some time on the north island as well. Every city we visited was just as amazing as the last. We saw tiny small country towns and also huge bustling cities. New Zealand has so much to offer! We are looking forward to going back again someday.

We live in the beautiful state of Michigan and we absolutely love it. We live in a small town right on the beach of Lake Michigan and it is a very tight-knit community. We live in the city that Colleen grew up in, so we are very connected with the people and places here. It is going to be so much fun to take a child to the beach to play in the sand and splash in the lake. There is also a huge fountain near the beach the children run around and play in and it is loved by the whole community. We are also excited to take a child to the kid's museum that Colleen grew up loving.

We absolutely love our adorable house that we just moved into this year. It is on a corner lot on a beautiful tree-lined street with no traffic. We are one street away from the elementary school that Colleen went to as a kid, and we can’t wait for our child to follow in her footsteps. There are 3 playgrounds within walking distance, and we are only a 1 mile walk from downtown and the beach. We love living in our favorite neighborhood in the whole town.

We are very close with our extended families. Most of Colleen's family lives about five minutes away and we see them about once per week. Garrick's family lives a few hours away, but that just gives us a great excuse to go one a trip and visit!

When we are with family we love to play board games, go on vacations, and celebrate holidays. Recently, Colleen's parents gave Garrick a board game about national parks and we frequently gather around the table and play for hours. One of the traditions that we love doing is decorating cookies at Christmas time.

Our close relationships with family and extended family are going to make raising a child such a special experience. Our families are very supportive of our adoption plan. They all know how badly we want a child and they have offered to do everything they can to support us on this journey.

We want to emphasize just how lucky we would be if you chose us to be the adoptive parents for your child. You are considering making such a difficult decision, one that we don't know if we would be able to make.

We're sure you have been thinking long and hard about what you want to do, and we want to reassure you that your child will be loved and cherished for the rest of their life. If you choose adoption, it would be allowing our family to be complete and give us the child that we so desperately want. We want the child to always know about you. We will tell them about their history and culture and make sure they know just how much you love them. We will send you letters and pictures if you would like so that you can watch the child grow and develop. We are also open to exchanging emails or phone calls, so we are willing to be very flexible with what you need.

We started dating in 2013 and got married in 2016. We started trying to get pregnant in 2018 and didn't expect that we would have any trouble. When we found out we weren't going to be able to get pregnant we immediately started talking about adoption. We had already talked about adoption many times and both believe that it is the perfect decision for us. We began researching adoption and we realized right away that this must be so difficult for the birth parents. We have been keeping that in mind throughout the whole process. We know that when we adopt a child we won't be just welcoming them into our lives, but we will be welcoming the birth parents as well. We will bring you into our family and embrace you and your personality.

One thing that we love doing is celebrating milestones. Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are all important to us. We are going to celebrate everything about the adoption and make it a tradition to reach out to you. We want the child to help us with communication, so we will ask them which pictures they would like to send and ask them what they want to talk to you about. We know they will be eager to know about you, and if you want to keep in close contact with them, we will make that happen. Most importantly, we want to raise a good person. We want to provide a good education, nice home, and loving family. We are confident we can deliver on all of those things. We think that we're pretty good people and we plan to instill our values into a child, all while letting them become their own person and develop their own ideologies. We want them to grow up and spread their wings, all the while knowing that we will be there with open arms should they ever want to come home. We know you will always love your child, and you are so incredibly appreciated for everything you do. We feel that if you choose us to be the adoptive parents then we were meant to be a match. We will do everything we can to honor you and your decision and look forward to a long future of being in each other's lives.

Thank you for everything,

Garrick & Colleen