We are Brian and Tracie, and we have been married for 21 years. We have four biological children- Hayden (16), Baylie (16), Joshua (13), and Luke (7) and are a homeschool family. Brian works in the construction industry, and Tracie is a stay-at-home-mom. Our family loves being together and enjoys the simple things in life- cheering our children on at their sports, spending time outdoors, going for walks and hikes, traveling, playing games together, and spending time with our extended family. We are actively involved in our church and enjoy serving there. We also love opening our home to others, whether it is hosting family parties and holidays or homeschool events and activities. Our home tends to a place where family and friends gather, and we enjoy making memories together. We are thankful for the life God has given us and the opportunity to spend so much of our time together as a family.

We both attended Oklahoma State University and started dating after we graduated and moved back to our hometowns, in September 2011. On our second date we had a pizza baking competition, since Matt is the pizza connoisseur! Other favorite dates included going to museums, taking the dogs to dog parks, Thunder games, annual trip to the State Fair, and going to the local drive in movie. 

We were engaged in December 2013 on a ski trip. After discussing with Shae's mom how to do it, Matt decided he just couldn't wait any longer and proposed while our group was playing cards - right after Shae ate a blue sucker and had changed into her comfy clothes for the night. Shae's blue sucker caused her mouth to look like a Smurf, but love is blind! 

We were married on May 3, 2014 in the church that Shae grew up in and where we are now members. We asked our guests to wear orange, black or white and had Pistol Pete as a surprise guest at our reception!

Karsten was born in the crazy year that was 2020! Her birth mom choosing us to be her parents is truly a gift and an honor. Some of our favorite things to do as a family include going to OSU football games, visiting the zoo, and playing outside! 

Thank you for taking time to look through our family's profile. We know the magnitude of the decisions you're making right now, and although we do not know your name, we are praying that you are safe and healthy, and that you feel loved, supported and at peace.

With love,
Matt and Shae

We have know each other since the late 90's through mutual friends. We started dating in 2005, were engaged in 2007, and got married in 2008. We are active and enjoying the great outdoors. We especially enjoy getting out to do some fishing and atving when we get a chance.  

We adopted our son in 2020 and have an open adoption with his birth family.  This includes in person visits, video chats, and messaging back and forth with pictures/videos and updates.

We are each other’s missing piece, extremely different but alike in so many ways! We met through a dating app when Daniel gave it one last shot before deleting the app and coincidentally was Rochelle’s first match. The timing was meant to be! We hit it off immediately and started dating in early 2019. Daniel proposed in 2020 in Florida at Marco Island when we were walking along the beach. He had asked a kind stranger to take a picture of us on the beach but quietly asked her to record everything. After posing for the picture, Daniel got down on one knee. We were married a year later right after everything open up after Covid. It was a small intimate wedding on the beach in Key Largo, Florida. Rochelle’s Grandma was the flower girl and our pup was our ring bearer.

Getting married when we were older helped us start our relationship strong because we knew who we really were. Our life experiences helped shape us into adults who know to communicate effectively and appropriately. We are able to truly understand each other and tell each other what we need in our relationship. We are both hard workers and love to have fun and enjoy each other’s company.

A quick snapshot of us: 

• We live in rural Iowa. 

• Bryan is a pastor of a Reformed Presbyterian Church.

• Olivia is a stay at home mom.

• We value: faith, joy, and love.

• In our home, kids are safe, wanted, guided, and deeply loved.

We're Bryan and Olivia.  We've been married for 16 years and are raising five very different kids in rural Iowa. Our home is full--sometimes loud, usually busy, and filled with: meals around the table, read-alouds, friends, church, outdoor adventures, family vacations, and plenty of enjoyment. Bryan is a pastor and Olivia stays home with the children.  With the older 4 in school she has lots of one on one time with our toddler. Our Christian faith is at the center of our family, and it shapes the way we try to love each other: telling the truth, apologizing when we get things wrong and working on heart change, forgiving quickly, and treating each person with kindness and respect. We realize that seeing five children may make you wonder whether another child could really receive individual attention in our family. We think that is an important question. Our five kids have taught us that children aren't interchangeable--they have completely different personalities, interests, strengths, struggles, and needs. Welcoming another child would not mean simply adding one more to the group.  It would mean getting to know a whole new personal and making room for their personality, their needs, their story, and their birth family. 

How we met:

Bryan is from Southern California, and Olivia grew up in Ohio. We met at a Christian student conference in Virginia while Bryan was serving in the Navy. What started as a long-distance relationship eventually became much more.  18 years later, we still genuinely enjoy spending time together, and protecting our friendship in the middle of raising a large family is important to us. 


Why Adoption: 

It's been a long-held desire since we were both kids. We are deeply grateful for the five children already in our home but we are pursuing adoption because we believe we still have room in our lives and our family to love another child well. 

Adoption can bring something beautiful, but it also begins with real loss for a child and birth family. We don't want to minimize that. If you decide parenting your child is best, we respect that.  If you decide adoption is best and choose our family please know that your baby will be safe, cared for, and deeply loved in a stable home with open hearts and open arms. We want your child to grow up knowing the truth about their story. We want them to know that their life began with a mom who courageously and selflessly gave them life. 

Our faith deeply shapes our decision to adopt. In the Gospel, God welcomes those who were not His children and makes them His beloved children through Jesus. We see adoption as a reflection of that love. 

We are potential parents who love living life and want to share that love with your child. We have love in our hearts for God, first - family, next and from there it extends into our community. Marriage, to us, means working hard daily showing our love to each other. It helps that we both share a deep faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We exist with Him at the center of our lives. One of the things for which we pray daily is that God would bless us with a child. It does not look like this will happen biologically but, with God’s help, it may through adoption. We look forward to pouring our love out to a baby boy or girl, sharing all that we have with them. We especially look forward to helping them grow up knowing how much God loves them and the wonderful things He has in store for their lives.

We want to grow as a family through adoption. We respect all children’s uniqueness and believe that each has been created intentionally by Our Lord. The two of us often find ourselves in lively interaction with the children of our extended family and in our circle of friends. During these conversations, we both learn from the youngsters as well as share lessons we have learned in life..

We are active, outdoorsy, faith-filled people. Our house is always open to friends and free of most technological distractions. We are uncomplicated, adventurous and joyful as we take on the challenges of this life together. We share a love for God and our Catholic faith, which is the foundation of our marriage. Another unique thing about us is that Ivana is an immigrant from Switzerland. A lot of our travels include visits with relatives in Europe, and sometimes we speak German to each other.

We hope this profile will give you an insight into who we are and what our life is like. We have longed to be parents for quite some time now and hope to give a good home and a vibrant upbringing to our adopted children.

We met in 2013 at a birthday party for a mutual friend. After a brief introduction, I went home and “stalked” Brendon on Facebook. After looking through his profile and thinking he was the cutest guy I had ever seen, I quickly added him as a friend. A week later he sent me a message and asked me on a date. The rest is history! We dated for two and a half years before we got engaged. Brendon surprised me by having our entire family waiting for us at dinner after he proposed and then surprised me again after dinner by having an engagement party with all of our friends waiting to celebrate. Brendon always goes above and beyond to make me feel special and he pulled out all of the stops for our engagement. We were married on February 6, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Our wedding was the most memorable day of our lives. We celebrated our love for each other surrounded by all of the love of our family and friends. It was truly unforgettable! Since our big day, we have been through some highs and lows, but through it all, we have become stronger. We live each day together as a team and as best friends. We work to encourage one another daily, we respect and value each other’s opinions, and we do and we do a lot of laughing which helps to make our days bright!

Hello! Our family lives in a suburb outside Washington, DC and we have two biological daughters - we are very excited to add to our family through adoption! We have been happily married for nine years and are best friends who enjoy traveling together to places both near and far. We are a family who doesn't like to sit still and is always on the move! We are energized by adventure, powered by ice cream, and firmly committed to following Christ and raising our children to love Him and love others. Come explore our profile to learn more of who we are!