We chose adoption after struggling with infertility for several years. Once the possibility of adoption began to grow in our hearts, we became excited and hopeful that it would be the way we build our family.

Adoption became a joyful reality for us in 2022 when we adopted our son, Daniel, and we feel incredibly honored to be his parents. When we look back at the 10 years in total that it took to become parents, we are filled with awe and thanksgiving. He didn't come as soon as we would have originally wanted, but it was perfect, and all in God's plan.

An important piece of our son's adoption story is how his birth parents care for him - from the extremely challenging decision to selflessly choose adoption for their baby, to continuing to entrust their baby to the care and love of another family. We respect and honor Daniel's birth family and speak of them in the most loving and honoring way. We are grateful that they gave us such an incredible gift! We continue to find ourselves feeling awestruck at the amazing gift they gave us in choosing us to adopt him! We promise to do the same with our next child. We are confident that our children will always be thankful for the families who brought them into the world.

We thrive on our deep relationships with family and friends; we also recharge when we have quiet time to ourselves. Our life is a healthy combination of both!

Justin sometimes travels for work – usually 2-3 days at a time about once a month. Erin and Daniel will spend extra time with friends when he travels. Erin has been a stay-at-home mom ever since we adopted Daniel and will continue to stay at home when we adopt again. It has been an adventure for her to provide her undivided attention and care to him along with a nurturing and loving environment at home.

A typical Saturday includes a relaxing morning family walk or a workout (Justin enjoys rowing and Erin does strength training). Saturdays are known for pancakes, or donuts, which are very popular with Daniel.

We barbecue, swim in the pool with friends, or turn on a sports game for background while reading, playing with Daniel, or making a fun afternoon snack. Our dog, Gabby, also joins in on the fun. She is a lab mix who loves being in the pool with us, and going for neighborhood walks.

On Sundays we attend church where we have many deep friendships, some of which span a couple of decades. Justin and Erin each teach one of the children's classes several times each year. Our children will grow up learning what the Bible teaches and will be surrounded with a very loving and supportive church community.

God's infinite creativity is so amazing when we think about our heritage and how that makes each of us special. It's important to us to learn about our heritage and share anything we learn about our children's heritage with them so they have an appreciation of what makes them special and unique.

We hope to honor our family's cultural traditions through learning languages, cuisine, and travel. Our adopted son Daniel is Brazilian and French. We both studied French in school and we hope to teach Daniel French also.

Erin is Scottish and went on a family trip to Scotland when she was 10 years old. Justin's family is Irish. We took a trip to Ireland during our second year of marriage! One highlight was listening to live Celtic music at the local restaurants. We also took a day to visit the island of Inishmore that is only 7 miles long and we bicycled around the entire island while enjoying watching the rainbows. Erin collects cookbooks from any places we travel so we can learn to cook the same dishes at home, which has been a fun (and delicious) hobby. Our favorite cookbook to date is one we bought at a gumbo shop in New Orleans.

Our home is located in Arizona where we have 5 seasons instead of 4. The fifth, "monsoon season," begins around July when we get to watch and experience huge rain and thunderstorms. We don't mind the hot summers here because the monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures and provide incredible light shows!

Our house is in a cul-de-sac where we see neighbors walking their dogs and children riding bicycles every day. The land on the opposite side of the cul-de-sac is protected land so we know we will always have a wonderful view of the mountains.

The neighborhood has a large grassy park area with a play structure, benches, and a ramada with a picnic table. Even closer to our house is another recreation area with a swing set, sand box, and another ramada and picnic table. We sometimes walk to a bigger park in an adjoining neighborhood with more play structures and a baseball diamond.

Our 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom house has a large kitchen, a dining area and living room all downstairs. A large upstairs multipurpose room is our son's playroom in addition to our office and workout areas. Our backyard has a gated pool and jacuzzi as well as a built-in gas fire pit.

We care deeply about family. Erin's parents live nearby and come to visit once a week. They come up with fun activities for Daniel including building him a cardboard house complete with door and windows, bringing him sticker activities, and taking him on walks to the park.

We have shared many memories with them on the golf courses around town. Erin's mom even scored a hole-in-one and framed the lucky golf ball she used that day. Erin's dad taught her how to golf and has tutored Justin on his golf game as well. Our favorite tradition with them is going to their house after church on Easter Sunday and spending the day barbecuing and swimming in their beautiful backyard.

We visit Justin's parents at least once a year and they come visit us at least yearly. Justin and his dad enjoy fly fishing and golfing, and Justin's mom and Erin enjoy crafting together (i.e. crocheting or sewing) as well as doing jigsaw puzzles together. Justin's parents love spending time with Daniel during these visits and always plan something special such as a fun dinner out or a trip to the local children's museum.

Justin has 3 siblings (twin brothers and a sister) who are all married and live in different cities. We get to see them when opportunities permit. They are extremely proud to be Daniel's aunts and uncles!

We are humbled that you would consider us to be adoptive parents for your child. This must be one of the most challenging decisions you have ever faced. We are praying that God is protecting you throughout your journey.

We have been married for 13 years, but we were friends for 7 years before we started dating. So, our relationship actually spans 20 years! Our marriage is founded on love, respect, and trust. Justin is loyal and leads with clear direction and vision. He is also playful and funny, and always knows when to bring humor into a situation. Erin is sweet and gentle, and her quietness brings peace into situations. We embarked on the greatest adventure of our marriage when we adopted our son, Daniel, 2 years ago!

We want you to know that we are committed to meeting every need your child has - there will never be a lack. Providing love, adventure, security, education, and our time are all high on our list of priorities. Erin became a stay-at-home mom two years ago, and will continue to devote 100% of her time to caring for and nurturing all our children. Justin is an engineer and currently works 9-hour days, but every other weekend is a 3-day weekend, giving him extra time at home.

Vacations are a regular part of our life - we would call it our biggest tradition. Every year we go to the beach, as well as the mountains. Vacations allow us to recharge from hard work, spend quality time together, and dream about the year ahead. They are also full of adventure. We play baseball with friends and their children, go to baseball games, go boogie boarding at the beach, and visit our favorite restaurants.

Holidays are also important. We celebrate Thanksgiving by going to the mountains and deep frying a turkey with friends. We celebrate Christmas in town with Erin's parents where we have a big meal and spend time giving gifts. Our Easter tradition is swimming and egg hunts at Erin's parents' house.

Honoring the culture and legacy of our children's heritage is an important priority for us. Whether there is a cultural tradition or something unique that your family celebrates, we want to know these details so we can strive to honor this history and let your child know this part of their heritage. As an example, our son Daniel has both French and Brazilian ethnicity. We've been teaching ourselves French in order to be able to pass some of that language on to him. We also dream of taking trips to both countries when he's old enough.

Our families are incredibly supportive of our decision to adopt. Erin's parents are very excited to have a second grandchild to love and play with! Justin's parents currently have four grandchildren and a fifth on the way; they are excited to add a sixth grandchild when that day comes.

We have many close friends who have young children. Every week we spend time with them at church. We also go on vacation with many of them, and get together for dinners and social events. Some of these friends are just like family to us.

We honor your strength and selflessness in considering adoption for your child - we know it can't be easy. We would be eager to send pictures and write letters showing you how much your child has grown throughout the years. If desired, we will set up a private Instagram account to share pictures of milestones like birthdays or first steps. We hope that through our communication you will be even more at peace with your decision seeing your child grow up with the love, security and opportunities we've described.

With Love,

Justin & Erin