We first met at a Salsa Dancing Social. After months of dancing and getting to know each other, we had our first date. As we learned more about each other, we realized how we felt at home with one another. It was the Halloween season, so we enjoyed getting dressed up and attending Halloween salsa socials and family friend Halloween parties. We were falling in Love.

At Thanksgiving time, Reena began talking about Joel with her other family members with so much excitement. Reena introduced Joel to her brother, and they hit it off immediately. When Reena invited Joel to meet her parents, Mom gave Reena the Thumbs up. It was Christmas time and there is a cute little ornament with Reena’s picture that Reena had made at school in the first grade. We were decorating our Christmas tree, and Joel took that ornament and placed it at the very top of the tree. Reena’s heart melted and her family invited Joel to our larger family Christmas party where he was immediately welcomed with open arms.

That same Christmas, Joel had invited Reena to his family’s church for their annual Simbang Gabi Mass. This is a Christmas tradition within the Filipino community where Joel’s whole family was present. It was so wonderful to meet Joel’s family in such a beautiful setting. Shortly after, Joel and Reena would attend Joel’s family church on Sunday’s after Dance class, and then meet at his parent’s home for Sunday Dinners.

The following Easter, Joel took Reena to the Easter Vigil, which is the Saturday before Easter Sunday. She learned about the RCIA process where she could learn about the Catholic Faith and be confirmed as a Catholic. That fall, she enrolled in the program and Joel sponsored her. As they went through this beautiful journey together, Joel proposed that following Fall. The following Easter, Reena was confirmed as a Catholic, and Reena and Joel were married that Summer.

We met on an online dating site. I noticed right away that Peter was special. He asked good questions and took a genuine interest in getting to know who I was. I was intrigued by him. After a couple of weeks of exchanging long messages, he asked me out to dinner. Our first date was at a restaurant called Smokey Bones. We felt at ease with one another right away and more dates followed, including bowling, a trip to the zoo, going to an indoor amusement park, and trying new restaurants. We enjoyed our second date at a local Thai restaurant where our connection deepened. Later, Peter proposed by setting up a private dinner with food from this same restaurant. He also had a book made that included all of our email messages from when we were getting to know each other online. Since we decided on a small wedding, we had our ceremony at a local park pavilion on the most beautiful fall day. It was a perfectly simple, sunny, and wonderful day. We chose a small wedding with hopes of going on a big adventure for our honeymoon. We went to Ireland, a place I had always wanted to go. Peter had been there before on a high school trip, and had wanted to come back with his wife someday. I guess both of our dreams came true :)

We are a loving, stable, and joyful family of 3, who whose prayer has been to be able to share these gifts with more children. Genuine, hopeful, friendly, and fun are a few words to describe us.  We're that family that likes to play guitar (we practiced during the pandemic) and sing praise songs around a bonfire, carry a picnic blanket and kickball in our trunk just in case, read aloud to eachother on car long and short car rides, and have Christmas lights up in our patio all year round because they're pretty.  I'd like to say we are serious when it comes to our faith, morals and work ethic, but live these out in joy and flexibility.  For example, Matthew bikes to work listening to Catholic podcasts, and I have a "Cleaning with God" playlist to help me stay motivated.  We love our God, Church, family time, and friends. 

We are Sam and Casey and Julia! We have been blessed with the most amazing family and we can't wait to grow it even more. Sam and Casey have the same birthday (same day, same year!) and on our shared 30th birthday, we got the call to adopt and bring home our first daughter (Julia). That was the most amazing day of their lives but now we want nothing more than to adopt again to complete our family. We love each other, love our friends and family and love what the Lord is doing in our lives through adoption.

We are Daniel and Vanessa Bittner. We are a normal couple who live in rural Indiana. We farm crops, have chickens, a small dog named  Parker, and we like to grow produce in or garden. We live a very stable and predictable lifestyle. Daniel works 8-5 everyday as a tractor mechanic for John Deer. Vanessa makes her own hours as a Ministry Director. 

Daniel loves gardening, puzzles, and spending time with his family. 

Vanessa enjoys reading, embroidering, writing, and archery. Vanessa is also a public speaker and published author who writes under a pen name for privacy reasons. 

We love children and have 9 nieces and nephews. We spend as much time with them as possible. Our families are both so excited to have a baby. This child will be adored by everyone. 

We have been trying to have a baby for over 6 years and we have known adoption was our path for a while. We are patiently waiting for our chance to be parents. 

We first crossed paths at Zilker Park in Austin, TX. John was playing lacrosse with friends while Sarah chatted with a friend. New to Austin, Sarah remembers seeing his group and wishing she could be a part of it. John remembers wishing he had stopped her and said hello. Months later, Sarah was invited to a mutual friend’s birthday party on Cinco De Mayo, and we officially met! Six months later we were dating. Sarah knew from the start we were meant for each other—we have now been together for 8.5 years! We got married in New Hampshire in the sumer of 2019. All the Texan guests brought the heat with them, though; it was 100 degrees on our wedding day!

We are laid back, outgoing people with a strong support network of close friends and family nearby. We love spending time together and seeing and experiencing new places, people, and foods! As a couple, we both enjoy spending quiet time at home with our dog as much as we enjoy going out to restaurants and spending time with friends and family. Boating, beaches, and nature fill us both, so we spend a lot of time outdoors and traveling to New England. We also love skiing and snowboarding together.

John is a partner at his firm, focusing on marketing and PR strategy for portfolio companies. We are lucky in that John works from home and he’s able to make his own schedule, so he is looking forward to being a hands-on dad. John is Scotch-Irish, English and German—and a multi-generation Texan! He played lacrosse in college, chaired several social organizations, and started a charity with friends that built 15 public wells in Africa. He currently mentors and sits on the advisory boards of many startup incubators.

Sarah loves animals…a lot! She is obsessed with her dog, Auggie, and three young nephews. They are her world. Sarah is Swedish, Chilean, English, and Scottish. She loves learning about history and family traditions. She has two sisters, one is 11 months older and the other is her twin! Sarah is a former corporate IT manager and experienced project manager. She now consults but is lucky to be a stay-at-home mom for our future child!

We met at a Christian Club that Rick had started with a friend at a local college. We dated for four years and then got married and it was the best decision we could have made. We are perfect for each other.

About Paige (from Rick’s perspective)

Paige is the love of my life. I feel that she is the most generous, caring, loving, and thoughtful person I know. She continually motivates and encourages me to be the best version of myself. Paige is an amazing mom to our two boys and is always investing love and time into their lives. She loves to bake with them and read to them. She loves making special moments and memories in each day. For every holiday that comes around, Paige plans exciting projects for the kids to bring as much anticipation for that holiday as possible. Tea parties and fun educational games are a common occurrence in her homeschool days. She loves to take the kids outside to explore and she has the best way of bringing whatever she is teaching them to life. More than my wife, Paige is my best friend. When we are together, we are always laughing, and sharing with each other all the amazing things God is doing in our lives. I feel infinitely blessed to be married to her and to have her in my life. I look forward to the years ahead knowing that we have each other for the rest of time.

About Rick (from Paige’s perspective)

Rick is a wonderful husband to me and Father to my boys. We work, play, and laugh together daily. He is the most loyal and patient man I know and he never ceases to amaze me with his dedication to our family. He is compassionate yet strong. He is honest and trustworthy. If I ever doubt myself or get discouraged, he is always there with a hug and a listening ear. When I have an idea to try, Rick is always supportive and gives his all to help me achieve it. He embodies all the qualities I dreamed of finding in the man I would marry. As the years go by, I find myself more and more in love with him as we live this life as purposefully as possible. We hope that our children remember us most for bringing joy to others and making a difference wherever we go. Watching Rick with our two boys is a gift. He can make them laugh like no one else can. They love to spend every waking moment with him. We are thankful that Rick works from home often which gives him the ability to have more time with us than most. He knows how to make life fun and memorable even on the most mundane days. I love this man and cannot imagine my life without him. The bond we share is truly a gift from God.

Hi, we are Austin and Hannah and we met the summer of 2019 in the college group at our church. I (Hannah) still remember walking to the patio of the building where Austin was grilling tacos (the location of our proposal a few years later). We both thought the other was cute but neither of us said anything at the time. We became friends and hung out in group settings throughout the summer. Following graduation from college I returned home to WA to stay and at the end of the summer he asked me out and we enjoyed our first date getting some tacos and going to a Mariner’s game! We introduced the topic of adoption early on since we both had a desire to grow our family through adoption. Austin's mom was adopted from Korea and Hannah saw adoption firsthand when her youth pastor adopted when she was younger. We both knew that we desired a partner who had the same passion for adoption.

We are truly honored and humbled that you are considering our family in your adoption plan. The strength, and sheer courage that it takes to walk through, and stand in this adoption journey is inspiring and remarkable.

We are Paul and Stacie. We were high school sweethearts, that met in church youth group. We married in 2004. Stacie miscarried in 2008 and was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure that eventually lead to a full hysterectomy. We never thought that adoption would be part of our story, but the Lord has blessed us with this beautiful path. We adopted our son, Samuel, in 2017, when he was four months old. We would not change one minute of our loss and hardships, knowing now that Jesus was piecing together His rich and glorious plan for our lives.

Samuel is so excited to be a big brother!! He prompts us to pray almost daily over his future sibling and asks where they are. We are ready to love and cherish a new little one. Our plan is for Stacie to stay home with our newest child. Paul owns his own business, and mainly works from home. We have a lot of flexibility and time to devote to our children. Samuel attends a Christian private school and so will his future sibling. He will be thrilled to teach his sibling all about “his” school!

We are committed and excited about all ethnicities, and backgrounds. We value honoring each other in our family. We celebrate our differences, and family backgrounds that make life so rich and enjoyable. We are looking forward to exploring another open adoption. We have been so blessed with Samuel’s birth family. We are excited to explore what this will look like with you.

Hosea 2:14-16 says, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give back her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of Egypt.” The desert often represents unsafety and uncertainty in the Bible. The “Valley of Achor”, translates to the Valley of Trouble. The Lord promises as we walk and trust Him through our hardships, and uncertainties, that He will make a way and a path of hope, of restoration, and joy for us. You are deeply loved, and fully known by the Creator and Lover of your soul.

Sincerely, Paul and Stacie

We first met online eleven years ago through an app, and for our first date, we chose Starbucks, thinking it would be a quick cup of coffee. Four hours later, we were still engrossed in conversation, so we decided to grab dinner. What started as a short outing turned into a nine-hour adventure! From the very beginning, we felt God’s presence in our relationship, and we knew He had brought us together. After dating for over two years, we got engaged and married exactly one year later. Our journey has been filled with love, faith, and unforgettable moments. We have now been married for 8 years. Our love for each other is strong and continues to grow. We look forward to sharing that love with our child, helping them to thrive and reach their full potential. We want to share all of our passions and help our kiddo develop passions of their own.