Hello!  We are Nancy, Larry and Adriana.  We live near the beach in Southern California and hope to welcome a new baby to the family.  We are so grateful that you have taken the time to allow us to introduce ourselves.  Please know that you have our support and respect for the strength and courage you are showing in considering adoption. We wish you peace as you search for the right family.  Thank you for taking the time to get to know a little bit about us.

A Special Note About Adoption

We feel so blessed to have been given the gift of a child through adoption.  We are so thankful to Adriana’s birthmother, Rachel, for giving us this most precious gift.  Although we are separated by many miles, we hold Rachel close in our hearts and keep in touch through pictures, letters and emails.  We hope to be given the gift of becoming parents again and for Adriana to become a big sister through adoption.

Our Story

We met through an online dating site. After a couple of weeks of phone conversations, our first date was lunch at a Hawaiian-themed burger place. We talked and laughed for over an hour and then decided to go shoe shopping since we were near a mall, wanted to spend more time together and agreed that shoe shopping is important.  That was eleven years ago.  Since then we have been married for eight years, have a beautiful daughter, a house, two dogs, still want to spend more time together and still agree that shoe shopping is important. We have traveled to Europe several times to visit friends.  We go to the east coast several times a year to spend time with family on that side of the country.  We enjoy trips around the country to visit friends.  Recently, we have visited Seattle, St. Louis, Park City and Philadelphia.  At home in California, we enjoy going to the beach and parks and visiting the local Farmer’s Market.

Nancy by Larry

Nancy has taught me that every day should contain a smile and an “I love you.” Her sense of fairness and justice are only second to her desire to bring joy and laughter to those she holds dear. She is a compassionate woman whose desire to help others leads her to excel in her profession as an elementary school teacher. She takes the stress of the day away with many hugs, and appreciates being around friends and family. As a mother, Nancy surrounds our daughter, Adriana, with a sense of wonder, playfulness, and understanding. We have a group of friends with children the same age as Adriana and Nancy is always in the mix of games and laughter.  Nancy is a gifted nurturer, and an amazing mother. She has a smile that brightens up my day and a personality that welcomes those around her. She is never shy for conversation and enjoys making people smile and laugh. I look forward to seeing her share her playful heart with another child in our family.

Larry by Nancy

Larry is kind, smart, funny, patient and the most loyal person I know.  I love him more every day.  Family is extremely important to Larry and he does whatever he can to build our relationship. He does all the little things to build our relationship like checking in during the day just to see how I’m doing. Larry is a Forensic Scientist, similar to the CSI shows on TV.  He’s the science guy who stays in the lab and does all the tests. He cooks, he cleans, he knows all kinds of cool science things and he was a sailor in the US Navy.  He’s my Renaissance Man. Larry is an amazing dad.  He is a great partner in parenting.  He is always willing to change diapers and pick up the toys off the floor.  When Adriana was an infant, Larry took the 4am feeding!  He’s always up for trying new things.  You can often find him sitting on the living room floor wearing one of Adriana’s hats reading Goodnight Moon or in the backyard in the kiddie pool having a splashfight with Adriana.

Meet Adriana

Adriana can’t wait to be a big sister!  She is a cheerful, kind-hearted little girl.  She is 3 years old and she loves to go to the park and play with her friends.  She also loves to figure out how things work.  When she was 2, she got ahold of her dad’s phone and posted a video of Itsy Bitsy Spider on Facebook.  Adriana is very sweet with younger kids.  She can’t wait to be a big sister!

Our Home

We live in a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house on a tree-lined street in Southern California. Our home is filled with bright, happy colors and fun things from our travels. We have a private back yard with trees and grass and two happy pups (Cookie and Biscuit). We look forward to seeing another little one join in the backyard fun.  Our neighborhood is multi-cultural and diverse, with many families with young children and award-winning schools.  We are a couple of miles from the ocean, bike trails, hiking trails, and parks.  We enjoy hanging out on the deck with friends, going to the many parks nearby or playtime in the backyard.  Our dogs love people (especially kids), but they’re not too keen about the local squirrel that insists on visiting the back yard often.  Cookie is a Toy Fox Terrier mix who loves to cuddle and will dance for treats.  Biscuit is a Chihuahua mix who loves to play and thinks everyone should rub her belly.

Family and Friends

 We have family and friends all over the country, in Europe and nearby.  Most of Nancy’s family lives in New England (Maine and New Hampshire) and most of Larry’s family lives in Northern California, so we are a bi-coastal family.  We also have close friends in Missouri, Wyoming, Kentucky, Washington and California.  Our friends in Europe live in England, Italy and Germany. We enjoy traveling to all of these places as much as we can.

Fun Facts about Nancy

1. Went on an archeological dig of a Roman fort one summer and found tile and pottery from about 2000 years ago.
2. Taught in an elementary school in a small village in England for a year.
3. Hasn’t met a chocolate chip cookie she didn’t like.
4. Has always been and will always be a sports fan.
5. Went sky-diving once… fun, but never again!
6. Has always lived near an ocean… first the Atlantic, then the Pacific.
7. Lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for 2 summers
8. Left -handed
9. Has been to 49 of the 50 states… still waiting for that Alaskan vacation
10. Has visited over 20 countries but has never been south of the equator.

Fun Facts about Larry

1. Attempts to play the bass guitar, right now just playing scales.
2. Thinks his mother-in-law makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.
3. Favorite meal is his wife’s Italian Spaghetti.
4. Enjoys trying out new recipes… sometimes this results in getting delivery pizza.
5. Not a sports fan, but enjoys going to games with friends.
6. Has taken a ballroom dancing class.
7. Interested in spiritual development.
8. Loves tech gadgets (smart phones, ebooks, tablets)
9. Loves baked goods with sprinkles.
10. Has been south of the equator.

Thank you again for taking the time to get to know us a little.  We wish the best for you and your child.  If you decide that we may be a part of that, we promise to love your child unconditionally in an environment of compassion, love, and learning and to parent him/her to be a confident, kind person.

Thank you,

Nancy and Larry