Hello! We are Courtney and Derek from Oxnard, California. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us! We have been happily married for 20 years and have built a life full of love and shenanigans. We savor simple moments like cooking dinner together, spending quiet evenings at home with our dogs, and catching up about our day. We also save the world (of Warcraft) and fight dragons together while gaming online with friends. We are dreaming of family time making pancakes or Mickey waffles, bedtime stories and singing, exploring the beach, and visiting friends and relatives. We are so grateful for the opportunity to adopt and hope these pages give you a glimpse into the life we want to share with a child.

Courtney has always wanted to adopt! Her mom was adopted so it has always been a normal part of her life. Derek has been 100% on board with the idea but wanted to try for biological children first. After a few unsuccessful rounds of IVF followed by multiple heartbreaking losses using donor eggs we decided it was time to close that chapter of our journey to parenthood.

We were very heavily involved in the first two years of our nephew’s life, having him for week-long sleepovers without his parents. It gave us a glimpse of what parenthood would be like and we had a wonderful (but not easy!) time. We are so excited to grow our family through adoption and welcome a child into our lives.

We went to the same high school and Courtney can tell you about how she couldn’t stand the guy in her Spanish class who was on the cross country team. Derek will tell you about how he couldn’t stand that one girl who had strawberry scented hand sanitizer. A few years later we were hanging out with our mutual friends after a community theater rehearsal and Courtney thought to herself “I want Derek to kiss me,” quickly followed by “where on earth did that come from?” Two months later we were engaged, two and a half years after that we got married, and this year we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We love spending time together at home and hosting barbeques, game nights, coffee dates, cookie decorating, and generally hanging out. When we aren’t home, you can find us either exploring at the nearby beach or in our hometown visiting family and friends.

We share a bunch of hobbies that keep life fun. For the past 18 years, we’ve played World of Warcraft together and run a family friendly guild as a team. The friendships we’ve built along the way are a huge part of our lives, and over time it’s become less about the game itself and more about the people we’ve met and stayed close with. We’ve been told by some of our online friends, “You herd cats. If you can keep this raid team and guild together, you can do anything.” We also enjoy putting together LEGO sets, often spending quiet evenings working on new builds side by side. When the weather cooperates (and even when it doesn’t), we head out for walks and beach exploring, soaking up fresh air and ocean views. Our first date was a picnic at the tide pools in Corona del Mar so the beach has always been a special place for us.

We’re a family of musicians, and music is always floating through the house. Courtney is learning guitar, Derek plays bass, and we both love to sing. Courtney has also enjoyed teaching and directing at a children’s community theater, encouraging kids to be creative and confident. We enjoy reading as a way to relax and we love sharing our favorite books and stories with each other. Courtney has a degree in Culinary Arts and loves cooking for others and Derek has become quite the grill master. We frequently tag-team dinner and love baking cookies together.

Courtney is one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I know. She genuinely cares about people and is fantastic with kids. She constantly looks to brighten the days of those around her and brings music and energy to everything she does. She also often brings food, typically cookies from a new recipe test or practical meals tailored to the needs (and allergies) of families that are having a rough time.

Our friends often say that we “balance each other out,” but one weak point of that description is it casts me as “the smart one” when she has plenty of brains. She can pun with the best of them and follow the conversation when our engineer friends start talking shop without having the technical background. She is also a natural organizer, the voice of reason, and is the gravity holding our friends and family together. I love to hear her laugh. My life would be considerably darker, colder, and less fun without her presence and shenanigans, and I know she’s going to be an amazing mom.

When people first meet Derek, all they really see is the super logical, literal rocket scientist that he is (he has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and works in aerospace) but once people get to know him more, he is a giant goofball who is one of the most loving and compassionate people they will ever meet. He can go from explaining rocket telemetry to singing like a Muppet at the drop of a hat.

He is also an amazing uncle to our two nephews. Whether it’s building LEGO sets with them, pretending to be dragons or dinosaurs while chasing them around, or pointing out different birds and bugs, he is always down to play and spend time with them. My favorite things about Derek are his brain and his sense of humor. He is constantly learning and researching pretty much anything. He will pick up any book nearby and read it. He makes me roll my eyes at his terrible puns but also makes me laugh to the point of my sides hurting. He is my best friend, and I can’t imagine doing life without him.

We live in beautiful Ventura County, the gateway between Southern California and the Central Coast! We are less than an hour from pretty much anything: deserts, mountains, the beach, baseball stadiums, museums, theaters, and theme parks. Our neighborhood is a large community with schools, parks, and walking trails. Halloween is a huge deal here. The main street gets 2,000+ trick-or-treaters each year and most of the neighborhood goes all out with decorations and celebrating. Our local police department does a holiday float through our neighborhood with fun music and photo stops with seasonal characters.

We are 10 minutes from the best beach in our area and frequently go there to walk, explore the tidepools, and splash in the waves. Monarch butterflies love it here, so we have a butterfly garden in our little backyard that we spend a lot of time in during the spring and summer watching the caterpillars turn into monarchs. Our home is a cozy, colorful space filled with homemade treats, music, laughter, and little everyday shenanigans.

We currently have two dogs who are terrier mixes. Elliot is 6 years old and a lovable menace. He’s part dachshund, incredibly stubborn, and talkative. He’s also quite the snuggle pup. If your lap is available, he’s probably in it. Maia is 15 and a magical unicorn of a dog. She is extremely intelligent and even at her age, loves to play. At 15 we know that every day with her is a gift. Both dogs love kids and are very patient with little ones. They have had a lot of practice with our nephews and our friends’ kids.

We went to the same high school and lived only a mile apart. Because of that, we are so incredibly lucky to have both sides of our family spend time together, celebrate birthdays and holidays together, and just generally get along. We know that’s rare and a huge blessing. We now live about 2 hours away from the majority of our families but that doesn’t stop us from going to one of our nephew’s T-ball games, family barbecues, jam sessions, and Disneyland. Derek’s sister and her family moved to Oregon about 2 years ago. We have weekly (sometimes more!) video calls to catch up and virtual play dates with our other nephew. Courtney’s mom passed away eight years ago, but her love and spirit remain a cherished part of our family as we continue to celebrate the magic she created for loved ones. Because Courtney’s mom and Derek’s uncle were both adopted, our whole extended family is so excited about our decision to adopt and will be fabulous aunties, uncles, and grandparents!

We have a wonderful “village” of friends who are like family to us and have been wonderful support during our journey to parenthood. Many of our friends have young children, and we look forward to our child growing up surrounded by this loving community and making memories through friendships and playdates.

“Courtney and Derek are some of the most resilient, nurturing, and loyal people I know.”

"I’m excited for them to become parents. One is always there to help you learn new things. The other always knows the perfect thing to say when you’re feeling down. I’m still not sure which is doing which.”

In 2020 we decided to bake and ship cookies as a way for us to send some love to family and friends who we couldn’t be with. Thus began “Cookiepalooza,” our annual holiday baking tradition. It lasts about a week and slowly takes over the kitchen in the best possible way. It’s part baking marathon, part sugar-fueled chaos, part labor of love, and a tradition we cannot wait to share with our children! Our cookies have been so popular that Courtney is starting the process of getting her cottage kitchen certification.

We both grew up with families who love a good tradition! Courtney’s favorite is the Birthday Bird. She has no idea where it came from or how it started. Whenever it was a family member’s birthday, the “Birthday Bird” would leave a feather on their chair at the dining table and would also deliver the gifts from mom and dad. Derek’s favorite is April Fools’ Day! His mom has frosted cake pans and dyed dinner green in the past. One year she got up early and nibbled on the bread to convince his dad they had rats!

We hope to raise a child with kindness, curiosity, and lots of laughter. We’ll celebrate the little moments, encourage big questions, listen with open hearts, and remind them every day that they are deeply loved. We picture our life filled with weekend snuggles, Mickey waffles, singing and reading together at bedtime, cheering our child on from the sidelines, playdates with cousins and friends... and of course, kitchen dance parties.

When Courtney’s mom was adopted in 1949, open adoptions were not a thing. Not knowing her background and family history made for some really tough situations, especially when dealing with medical history. It’s important to us for our child to know where they come from and their background. We believe open adoption is a beautiful gift, giving our child the opportunity to know and celebrate every part of their story. We hope to build a relationship rooted in honesty, respect, and gratitude, knowing that more love and more people cheering them on is always a good thing.

We believe family is one of life’s greatest gifts, whether it’s connected by blood or built through love. Our hope is to raise a child in a home where curiosity is encouraged, creativity is celebrated, music is always welcome, and kindness is part of everyday life. We can’t wait for bedtime stories, impromptu dance parties in the kitchen, carrying on family traditions, creating new ones, and all the little moments in between that become lifelong memories. We also celebrate the connections that make up a child’s story and believe there is always room for more love, not less. We hope this profile has given you a glimpse of who we are. After all, a few pages can only tell part of the story, and we’d love the chance to get to know each other better. Thank you for considering us. We would be truly grateful to be part of your child’s story.