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 :)

Our love story is a unique and joyful one that began in the most unexpected of ways—on FarmersOnly, a dating site that matched us despite living an hour apart. Neither of us was actively searching for a relationship, but after encouragement from others, we decided to give it a try. From our very first conversation, it was clear we shared a surprising number of similarities, despite coming from different backgrounds. We connected instantly, bonding over our shared values, sense of humor, and love for family. What started as text exchanges quickly turned into in-person dates, where we discovered even more reasons to admire and love one another.

Haley was drawn to Garrick’s sense of humor, strong work ethic, and the way he treats everyone around him with kindness and respect, particularly the women in his family. Garrick was immediately captivated by Haley’s dimples, warm smile, and her ability to make any situation brighter. On our first date, Haley’s brother tagged along for safety, and Garrick’s understanding of this showed his caring nature. Over time, our love deepened, and just a month into dating, we both realized we wanted to spend our lives together. While Garrick’s proposal was understated—over BBQ at a local restaurant—it was heartfelt and meaningful, perfectly capturing the simplicity and authenticity of our relationship.

We were married in June 2019 in a small, intimate ceremony that reflected our personalities. From Garrick wearing a kilt in his family’s tartan to Haley’s laid-back approach, the day was a celebration of love and family. Since then, we’ve built a life together centered on faith, family, and shared adventures. Whether it’s traveling, enjoying a quiet evening at home, or raising our two beautiful children, we are partners in every sense of the word. Our relationship is rooted in mutual respect, open communication, and a shared commitment to creating a home filled with love and laughter.

A quick snapshot of us: 

• We live in rural Iowa. 

• Bryan is a pastor of a Reformed Presbyterian Church.

• Olivia is a homeschool mom.

• We value: faith, joy, and love.

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

 

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.


Why Adoption: 

It's been a long-held desire since we were both kids. 

We want an expectant mother to be able to choose adoption with real hope, knowing her baby will be safe, cared for, and deeply loved in a stable home with open hearts and open arms.

Our faith shapes this deeply. 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 Monica and Peter and we are so grateful you've taken the time to glance into our lives. Many years ago, we were longing for children but struggling to get pregnant. After several rounds of fertility tests, we ultimately received a call from our doctor confirming we would not be able to get pregnant without fertility treatments. We were devastated at the time, felt peace about pursuing fertility treatments, but also felt strongly that the Lord was calling us to welcome a child into our home through adoption. We went the fertility treatment route first, and by the grace of God, we now have two young boys. We're crazy about our kids. Throughout all these years we have continued to feel the pull toward adoption, and now, here we are! We cannot wait to come alongside a birthmother and offer lifelong, unconditional love to her child with an open adoption if that's what she desires. We have been praying for this future adopted child for a long time, and now we pray we get to meet them soon.

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 at church and started playing board games with our friends and we often flirted across the table. We had the same sense of humor and we were both very competitive. After a year, we had our first date, a perfect picnic at the lake! A few months later, we flew to Liam’s hometown to meet his family. During that trip a blizzard began and our flight home got canceled. So, we did the sensible thing to do, and rented a small car to drive 20 hours through a blizzard. We tested our relationship on that long drive home while sliding on the road and running on no sleep. We realized from that trip and other dates that we were made for each other. Which led to our marriage. Then, we discovered we were pregnant! Kensi had a difficult pregnancy. We knew we wanted another child, but we wanted to look into other ways. This brought us to adoption. We know the love that Christ has for all his children. We are very involved in our church and close to our small group. We often are with them playing board games, roasting s’mores, or playing with our kids together. We love to go hiking, camping, anything outdoorsy, traveling, eating and making good food, and spending time together.

I would like to introduce you to our family. My name is Julie, and my wonderful husband's name is Will. I am 30 years old, and Will is 31 years old. We have been married for a little over eight years. Will and I met at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We had both grown up very involved in our churches, so it seems appropriate that we met at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. We were friends for two years before we started dating. Will's kindness drew me to him. We dated and were engaged for a year and a half before getting married in 2015. Will and I love to travel, and some of our favorite places that we have visited are Spain and Portugal, the Grand Canyon, cruises to the Caribbean, and camping at State Parks, beaches, and other beautiful campgrounds around the Southeastern United States. We can't wait to share our love of travel and the world with a child. We spend a lot of our weekends going to football games, camping in our camper, hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, and spending time with family either in East Tennessee or Middle Tennessee. I love to capture family adventures and memories with my camera. Since I am a professional photographer, I love to take pictures while we travel and around the local area. I look forward to capturing precious memories of our adopted child as they grow up.

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.

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