SEARCH RESULT
I became best friends with Jerad’s sister while I was in nursing school. She and I played on a kickball team with nursing school friends, along with Jerad and some of his friends. Jerad and I became friends, started dating, and quickly fell in love. Our relationship has always had a strong foundation based on faith and family. We still consider ourselves lucky to share the same values and opinions on the most important aspects of life: religion, prioritizing family and wanting children.
About a year after we began dating, Jerad cooked a steak dinner at his house for me. After dinner, we were going to watch a movie, but he proposed instead! We sat and talked for an hour before we called anyone which was special to us. We then called our family and close friends and met some friends out that night to celebrate. It was a fun, low key night—the way we like it! We had a large wedding in the church I grew up attending. All our family and friends were there to celebrate with us. It was a beautiful and perfect ceremony. Afterward, we had a reception with dinner and a band. It was one of the most fun nights we have had together. We felt so loved, and we talked to and celebrated with the people we loved and even had time to dance and enjoy the night ourselves
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.
Greg and I always enjoy our time together. We like to spend time outdoors, on a kayak or paddleboard, and are always up for a competitive driveway basketball game! We also like working in our yard. I plant flowers and watch them grow, and Greg keeps them watered. Together we make a great team! We love grabbing ice cream with our nieces, cheering on our favorite teams, and watching funny movies together. Christmas movies are in season all year! Whether we’re at home on game night or out sharing a pizza, we always have fun laughing together.
Our love story:
Greg and I met through my younger brother, Will. Will and Greg met shortly after Will graduated from college. Years later, Will bumped into Greg at the grocery store. He told Greg he should give me a call. Will had never set me up on a date before, so I knew this guy must be someone special! I agreed to go out with Greg, and we have been together ever since.
We dated for one year before becoming engaged. On a cold New Year’s Day, Greg and I went on a romantic walk along the riverfront in Nashville. We were on the beautiful pedestrian bridge overlooking the city when snow began to fall and music began to play. A man on an electric keyboard was playing Ed Sheeran’s song, “Thinking Out Loud”— a beautiful love song about growing old with your true love. I looked at Greg and he was down on one knee. He told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. I enthusiastically said, “Yes!” I complimented Greg for having the musician play the lovely music for the proposal, but Greg said he had not hired him. The musician just happened to be on the bridge performing the perfect soundtrack for our engagement! Every time we pass the pedestrian bridge, we remember the wonderful night we promised to belong to each other forever.
Our wedding was a dream come true! The fun began at our rehearsal dinner. Instead of a traditional dinner, we invited the wedding party to a baseball game. We enjoyed the fireworks display over the ballpark that night—it was as if everyone there was celebrating with us. Our wedding was held at the Nashville Symphony Center. The wedding was a family affair. All our siblings, their spouses, and their children were included in the wedding party. We had an amazing band and everyone danced all night! Our wedding was a joyous event and a true celebration of God’s promises.
We are Tom and Abi! Thank you for taking the time to take a glance into our lives! We got married in May of 2015 and are still in love today. In a busy world, we make it a point to prioritize our marriage and family. God comes first, family second, and work comes third. We've known and planned on adopting since before getting married, and we continue to hope and pray that the Lord chooses to bring children into our home for us to love, teach, and raise.
We have been married for six years. Allison is Oklahoma born and raised. Nate was born in Missouri, but lived in Pennsylvannia, Arizona, Oregon, and California before finally settling down in Oklahoma. We have one wonderful little boy named Adrian, who is three years old. The pregnancy was very hard on Allison, and we were advised to not have any more children.
We are a fairly active family. We enjoy going fishing, hunting, or to the local park on a nice day. For the past couple of years, we have gotten zoo passes. Adrian really seems to enjoy getting to run around and see all the animals. We also really enjoy spending time with our friends. We have been greatly blessed by having several families that attend our church who also have young children. We have made it a habit to have lunch with them on Sundays, so we can enjoy each other's company while our kids run around and be kids.
We have also been blessed by two wonderful sets of grandparents that enjoy being involved in our and our son's lives. Nate's parents live about 30 minutes away. We attend church with them (Nate's father is a pastor), and hang-out with them at least a couple of times a month. Allison's parents live even closer. They are both retired and graciously volunteered to watch Adrian while Nate and Allison work. We see them fairly regularly including when we go on our annual family trip to Branson, Missiouri.
We are Blake and Steph! We are very happy to share our life with you. We have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls. We adopted our youngest son in 2019. We are high school sweethearts and have been married for 17 years. We knew we wanted to grow our family through adoption before we were married. Our home is Christ-centered surrounded by people who are loving and supportive. Having Christ as our foundation is very important to us. We know through Him all things are possible. Our kids are very involved in church and school activities and we love to spend our time supporting them. Steph is a school nurse at the same school the kids attend and Blake works in agronomy and farming. We have several other activities we enjoy doing as a family which include, golfing, fishing, playing games, and having bonfires. We also enjoy boating in the summer and trying new foods. We look forward to learning more about you!
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 both went to college at Texas A&M University. Claire majored in mathematics and Jeffrey in Industrial Engineering. We both joined the Baptist Student Ministry our freshman year. In 2015 we were both Bible study leaders of different groups and slowly got to know each other over the year. We began dating and most of our dates consisted of studying, getting coffee and snacks, and taking breaks by driving around exploring our town. We got engaged October of our senior year (2017) while finishing school, applying to jobs, and student teaching. It was a wild year but God was oh so faithful in each moment. We graduated from college and three weeks later got married! We moved to McKinney on a whim – about 30 minutes from each set of parents – and fell in love with the city. We absolutely LOVE doing life together and getting to explore the DFW area!
A primary factor of who we are as a couple is quality time spent together! We find lots of joy in time spent together, or with community even in the mundane things. We are avid board game players, coffee shop visitors, and amateur food enthusiasts. Some of our favorite moments with friends and family have happened just on a couch in deep conversation or over a cup of coffee!
We have been so blessed to have friends who live close by and that we get to see often! They are our chosen family and who we get to do life with. Our community has comforted us and rejoiced with us and we hope to continue walking with them as we get older! We have found a lot of joy in prioritizing our community and growing it! They love Jesus and us so well!.
In 2023 we adopted our son, Eliezer, and are absolutely obsessed with parenthood. He is in full toddler mode which has been the sweetest season of our lives (even with the hard tantrum moments). We are so incredibly thankful for the way God has blessed us in our marriage and are very excited for the years to come. Parenting has definitely been our favorite adventure yet!!