We are Ryan and Tina. We’re very excited that you are reading our letter and we can’t wait to tell you more about us. We hope that through this brief opportunity you will be able to feel our excitement and know that we want to provide a home filled with love, peace, fun and opportunities for a child. We’ve been married for 11 years and have known each other for more than 20. We met in high school and were good friends even before we started dating. We were fortunate enough to be able to marry our best friend and we can’t wait for our family to continue to grow.

We both want to thank you for considering adoption. Our first experience with adoption was with our son. That experience showed us how wonderful the adoption process can be and how it affects everyone who is involved. While we want to be parents to another child and Aidan wants to be a big brother, we know that it will only happen through the graciousness and generosity of someone like you. It is your willingness and desire to provide your child with a safe and loving home that will bring an answer to our prayers.

Thank you for all you are doing and the consideration you are giving toward adoption. We hope that your journey is one of comfort and peace and that you feel encouraged as you make the best decisions for you and your child.

Ryan - Written by Tina
Ryan and I met in high school and became close friends during college. He is my best friend, and the person who understands me the best. Ryan can get me going in a fit of giggles quicker than any other person, and he keeps me from taking life too seriously.

Ryan grew up in Kirkland, WA with his sister and parents. He liked playing baseball growing up, as well as, the saxophone. He went on to play in the Husky marching band at the University of Washington. We still get together with his friends from band each weekend in the fall and tailgate before the Husky football games, and recently, we had all the guys and their families up for paintball and to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Ryan also loves working on projects around the house. He was the general contractor for us when we built our home 3 years ago and continues to work on things around the house. His most current project is a play set for the backyard. Ryan and our 6 year old son Aidan are working on it together. They also enjoy exploring the pond on our property and having wrestle time as soon as Ryan gets home from work each night.

Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for the man I married and the love and friendship that has grown deeper through the years.

Ryan’s Interests: building projects, Husky football, growing wine grapes, baseball

Tina - Written by Ryan
Tina is my best friend. She is a wonderful wife and loving mother. For the past 11 years I have had the honor to call her my wife, and in this time she has taught me to be compassionate, confident patient and how to maintain a constant passion for life. She brings out all of the best in me and the life we share with each other is greater than anything I could have ever imagined. Watching her with our son fills me with enormous pride and love. To be able to see her be a mother to another child is something I dream about for both of us.

Growing up, Tina was active in Camp Fire girls, playing tennis and softball. Softball was an interest she shared with her dad as he spent many years coaching her and her friends. Tina has followed in her mom’s footsteps as a teacher. She has pent most of her 14 year teaching darer as a kindergarten teacher, but has spent this past school year working with 1st and 2nd graders in reading and math. She loves teaching and to watch her in her work is to know that she was born to teach and work with kids. It has always been fun to watch her with her “kids” and now that our son is learning to read and write, it is amazing to see her help him learn and watch the excitement he feels when he learns something new.

Tina is filled with love, kindness and a never ending ability to make me laugh when I need to the most. She’s the love of my life and everything that comes our way we experience together.

Tina’s Interests: baking, gardening, baseball, reading, horses, traveling

Home & Family
Our home is one of our favorite places to be. In 2004, we purchased 9 acres and began building our house. We moved in on May 12, 2005, Tina’s birthday. Our home has been a labor of love for us as we have done much of the work ourselves. Having all of the space that we do has given us the opportunity to dream and use our imagination. There is a perfect spot behind our house for a barn and Tina and Aidan already have plans for their own horses. Aidan is even taking his first riding lessons and is a natural on a horse. For now, our animals are limited to a black lab, two cats and four goats that help keep our field mowed. It’s always fun for Aidan to introduce his friends to the goats and watch the kids feed them hay and talk to them.

Our other interest is our fruit trees and wine grapes. In 2006 we planted about 75 grape vines to go with our fruit trees. I a few years, we will have more apples, pears, grapes, plums and cherries than we’ll be able to eat. Aidan loves fruit and can’t wait to be able to pick and eat the fruit right off the trees.

Family Time
One of the things that we love to do as a family is travel. We have taken a number of trips to different parts of the country the past few years. We also go over to the Olympic Peninsula each summer to visit Tina’s mom and have a big family reunion, and sometimes we stay a few extra days at the ocean. During the summer we like to take trips up to the mountains, Woodland Park Zoo or one of Aidan’s favorite places, Snoqualmie Falls.

Christmas time is also a time that we like to travel. We visit Leavenworth, a Bavarian theme town in Eastern Washington. They have a special lighting ceremony and carolers and we like to go for a sleigh ride too. We also spend holidays with either Ryan’s family or Tina’s family. The grandparents want to make sure they wee their grand children for each holiday, and Aidan’s cousins always want to get together to see him too.

The whole family is eagerly awaiting a new member. We have a large extended family and enjoy getting together at Husky games, family reunions or other celebrations throughout the year.

What Adoption Means to Us.... Family
We want you to know how much your commitment to adoption means to us. Everyday we are thankful for a birth mother like you and the decision she made to place Aidan with us. Making an adoption plan for your child is such an important gift to your child as well as to the family with whom they are placed. It truly makes dreams come true.

We are a family now because of adoption. We can’t wait to expand that family to include more children and share the love, fun, warmth and encouragement that a big family can experience together.

If you would like to speak with us about adopting your child or have any questions for us, please contact one of our adoption advisors at AdoptHelp by calling 1-800-637-7999.

With Love,
Ryan, Tina and Aidan