Hello! We are Todd & Sarah from Washington State! We can’t imagine the difficulty you must be facing right now. Selecting the family you are trusting your child’s future with is a tremendous responsibility. We know that you love your baby a great deal and it is your love that has led you to consider adoption. We chose independent adoption because of the options available to you as the birth mother and us as the prospective parents. It also allows for us to consider any preference you might have during this process and to create a trusting relationship between all of us.

We got to know each other playing volleyball surrounded by our friends and pretty much clicked immediately. We’ve been side by side ever since, married 14 years already. After unsuccessful fertility treatments, we turned to adoption. Adoption is such a special gift for our family, and we feel so blessed to have the opportunity to adopt again.

I grew up in Olympia, Washington. My childhood was mostly spent playing basketball, baseball, and football with the other neighborhood kids.

I love being a dad. No matter what kind of day I’m having, coming home to Sarah and our children is the highlight of my day. The kids are usually waiting on the front porch when I get home, or hiding in the house so I can come find them, it never gets old! Our weekends are usually spent on some adventure or the Northwestern wildlife reserve that is in the area. Seeing their personalities take shape is breathtaking; I can’t wait to see them with another sibling.

I have loved Todd for as long as I can remember. He is a great listener and is very compassionate. In our fourteen years of marriage he has nurtured and cared for me and has helped me know that no matter what comes our way, he will always be there for me and with me.

Todd is an attentive, patient, and calm dad and really enjoys our children for who they are. One of Todd’s best qualities as a dad is that he makes everything a game. Todd has made a game of cleaning up around the house and he doesn’t mind helping with the dishes or the laundry – lucky me!

I was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington with my (6) brothers and (2) younger sisters – totaling 9 children my parents raised! Being a middle child, I had the best of both worlds. I was also the oldest daughter and with that came some responsibility. Both my youngest brother and sister had special needs that gave me experience and a realistic view of what caring for children means.

Being a stay-at-home mom is really my dream come true. Our house is laid out in such a way that the kids and I can be together while they are playing; although what they really like is being a part of whatever it is I am doing around the house. They love it when I sit down to color and do crafts with them. We all enjoy listening, singing and dancing to music together.

Sarah has a great sense of humor and doesn’t take herself too seriously. She is an amazing conversationalist, bringing warmth and sincerity to everyone she encounters.

Sarah is a wonderful mother, not only to our own children, but to all of the children we know. Since we’ve been married, our nieces and nephews and friend’s children have spent nights and sometimes weekends at our house many times. She really enjoys making chocolate chip pancake breakfasts for them and engaging them in conversation.

Todd’s Favorite Foods:
1. Breakfast: Fruit blintzes
2. Lunch: Chicken Pesto Sandwich
3. Dessert: Blackberry Pie
4. Dinner: Sarah’s homemade pizza with Gorgonzola sauce

Favorite Sports to Play:
1. Basketball
2. Baseball
3. Volleyball

Sarah’s Favorite Music:
1. Oldies!!!
2. Pentatonix
3. Hollywood Musicals - Singing in the Rain, Music Man, Mary Poppins

Favorite Vacation Spot: Anywhere sunny and hot!
Favorite Seasonal Activity: Drives and walks to see the fall colors on trees and bushes
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Brown Sugar from Coldstone Creamery

We live in a quiet neighborhood in Olympia, tucked away from the busy streets. With four bedrooms, a music room, TV room and an open living space we have plenty of room for our family and entertaining.

Our backyard has a large deck and flower beds wrapping around the house, as well as a fire pit area for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. Melody has her own raised beds to the side of our house for vegetables. We are walking distance from a beautiful park with a walking track, playground and baseball field. There are stores, schools, and a hospital all within a 5-10 minute drive from our house. Even though it rains like crazy here, Olympia is a gorgeous, colorful place to live with plenty of room to stretch out. We live two houses away from Sarah’s brother and his family and we know most of our neighbors, who have kids, so there is always plenty of fun to be had.

Melody is a bundle of energy and excitement. She loves music, singing and dancing; but her favorite thing by far is socializing.

Melody’s favorite things to do:
1. Having friends over to spend the night
2. Dress-up
3. Coloring unicorns and princesses

Jacob is a sweet intellectual. He enjoys puzzles, doing crafts, coloring, and figuring out how things work.

Jacob’s favorite activities:
1. Playing with his toy bow and arrow
2. Building with his life size Legos
3. Playing trumpet

Isaiah knows what he likes and has no problem expressing that. He loves “working” in the back yard and playing football with his gloves!

Isaiah’s favorite activities:
1. Mowing, digging, hammering
2. Tap dancing
3. Football

Given started REALLY talking a few months ago, he has the cutest little voice! He enjoys kicking, throwing, or hitting balls of any shape and size. He’s got a mischievous streak that comes out especially when he’s playing with his big brothers.

We love being able to walk back and forth from Sarah’s brothers house. Her dad and mom, along with the rest of her siblings, live about 30 minutes away in Tacoma, Washington. There are 27 grandkids and counting! When we all get together it is crazy, and we love it!

Todd’s dad and mom live in Olympia. They have quite the wildlife in their backyard and the kids love feeding the squirrels. Todd’s oldest sister Lena lives in Connecticut, Amber in Texas, Shawn in California and Paige lives in Washington. We stay in touch through photo streams. Our family is very supportive of us adopting again and they can’t wait to welcome another child into the family!

We believe that every part of our lives creates the environment in which our children grow and develop their character

Our love, care, and enjoyment of our children and each other affects them from the very first time we meet. We have a hands-on parenting approach where we teach our children from a very young age to be participating members of our home and they can be a part of almost everything we’re doing. Being together as a family or with friends where each child is engaged in the conversation helps them develop social skills and learn empathy towards other people.
Melody, Jacob, and Isaiah do really well with each other and have bonded as siblings even with the occasional disagreements about what they want to do. They each dote on Given in their own unique way. Seeing them interact with each other has really made another child exciting for us as a family. Knowing that they will have adoption as a common bond makes it all the more special.

We understand this process can be overwhelming, so we wanted to thank you again for taking the time to get to know us better. We hope that by learning more about us we’ve piqued your interest, and a foundation of trust and respect has begun between us.

We already knew we wanted a large family and having the opportunity to adopt our children has made us clearly see that we are the lucky ones. We cannot wait to welcome another child into our family!