Tyler and Ariana

>

<

From Us to You

Dear Expectant Mother,

Thank you so much for considering us to be the parents of your child. We would truly feel blessed and honored to have the opportunity to raise your child and we would be so grateful for such a wonderful gift. You are so tremendously courageous to be making this decision and we want to support you anyway we can. Together, we will be supporting your child for life and want to give them every opportunity possible including an excellent education. Ariana was adopted and has an adopted brother as well. Through adoption, we were able to start our family with our daughter, Nora, and hope that we can continue sharing amazing experiences with your child as a family. We hope to build a strong relationship being able to relate directly with your child’s needs as he/she continues to grow in a safe and loving home. We truly appreciate you taking the time to get to know us.

We met at a pool at an apartment complex where Ariana lived. Tyler’s sister also lived there and it was a place to meet your neighbors and hang out in the evenings. We both would go to the pool a few times a week and ended up talking one night with a few friends. After that we would see each other there, and always combine our groups of friends to get to know each other better. Eventually we became best friends. After about 6 months we started dating and the rest is history. We’ve now been married for eight years.

Our family is quite extensive and we have many family members nearby, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings. Everyone is so excited that we are growing our family and are very supportive of our decision to adopt again. Ariana’s parents have a cabin in the mountains that we visit a quite a few times a year where there is excellent fishing, hiking, sledding, ice skating, and many other outdoor activities perfect for children. Nora loves playing at lakes and taking our dogs for hikes. Ariana’s parents also live in Florida for the winter months, and we love visiting them. We spent our time at the beach or in the pool, and drive to Disney World to spend the day.

Having kids has always been a dream for both of us. Ariana has known since she was a teenager that getting pregnant would require the help of fertility medication. When we decided we were ready to have children, we contacted a fertility doctor, but after three miscarriages, doctors decided that we would not be able to have biological children. Adoption has always been an option for us, and it is the perfect way for us to continue growing our family.

We live in a 4-bedroom house in Colorado. We are close to many parks and playgrounds, and love to ride our scooters to explore new places nearby. We are also close to events including, football and basketball, and baseball games. We have a large back yard, where we spend a lot of our time. Whether it’s swimming in our little pool, gardening, coloring with chalk, grilling, or playing yard games, we spent a lot of time outside!

In our downtime we enjoy weekends in the mountains, fishing, mountain drives in our jeep, and spending time with our 2 dogs Henry (Yorkshire terrier) and Charlee (Black Lab). We also enjoy having friends and family over to watch football and hockey games and eat good food. Ariana enjoys cooking, photography, painting, and other arts and crafts. Tyler loves music and plays the piano and guitar frequently. He also has a great sense of humor and is always making everyone around him laugh. We love going to places like the aquarium, children’s museum, butterfly pavilion, and the zoo and trampoline park.

Nora cannot wait to be a big sister and share her experience with a sibling. She is smart, funny, kind, adventurous, and loves to learn. She adores animals, and helps feed and care for our animals daily. Nora enjoys swimming lessons, her goal is to swim like mermaid one day. This last year she has also started taking dance class, and is enjoying learning new styles of dance. Nora talks often about being a big sister so she can teach her sibling everything she knows and have a lifelong best friend.

Writing you this letter is not easy. There is so much we want to share about who we are and how excited we are to have the opportunity to grow our little family. There is so much we would love to learn about you! We value your time and emotions in making this decision for your baby.

Thank you for reading our letter.
Ariana and Tyler

>

<

Why We're Choosing to Adopt

Ariana and her brother were both adopted. Adoption has always been extremely special to Ariana and was a big part of our conversations when we first met in terms of an option to grow our family. We had similar family views and had a lot in common in terms of one day having a family. We always knew we wanted to be parents and also knew Ariana would be a great role model if we had decided to adopt. When we tried to have kids with the help of fertility treatment, it became clear that it was meant for us to become parents through adoption. We were both so excited to share our love for each other with children, that we knew adoption was our destiny to raise a child. We believe whole-heartedly that every child deserves a home where they can be given every possible opportunity to grow, have fun, and be as happy as possible. We work extremely hard to provide a lifestyle that fosters love. Having adopted our first daughter, Nora, we are the happiest parents in the world to be blessed with such a spirited child who loves so many things in this world. It’s such a fun and loving experience to teach Nora how to love the world and to see it through her eyes and give her the tools in her life to be happy. We hope that, through adoption, we can continue to grow our family and provide a loving home where children can grow into amazing adults where they believe anything is possible.

>

<

About Ariana, from Tyler

How to fit my wonderful wife into a paragraph… There are so many things I’d like to share. From the moment Ariana and I met, I knew that I wanted her to be a part of my life forever. She is fun-loving, outgoing, thoughtful and kind hearted. Ariana is an amazing woman with passion to treat those around her with so much respect. She completes me and pushes me to greater limits. Ariana is always there for me when I need her most and cares so much about our family. She is the greatest mother to Nora, outfitting her with the coolest clothes, packing fun lunches every day in cute little boxes that Nora looks forward to showing to her friends at school, she is always finding new ways to help Nora be a strong, independent child full of love for all people and things.

>

<

About Tyler, from Ariana

Tyler is the most amazing husband and father. He is hard working, devoted, and truly believes that family is everything. If I am ever having an off day, he knows exactly what silly thing will make me laugh. He has always been there to support me through everything. He is always offering to help friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Whether it’s helping a friend paint their house, checking in on his sister’s dog, or helping a coworker with their car, he is always right there when someone needs him. He lights up any room that he enters. He has a personality that people want to be around. Whether it’s telling Dad Jokes, or assisting with a project at work, he is always making people laugh. He is the most wonderful father to Nora, and she adores him. He was absolutely meant to be a dad. He is always coming up with fun adventures for us to do as a family! He truly is my soulmate, and I could never imagine doing life without him.

>

<

Our Home

Our home is a place we truly enjoy spending time. We have a great back yard where we spend all summer outside together. Our daughter, Nora, plays in little pools or draws sidewalk art with chalk. We also have a great big tree with a pirate ship swing and we spend time playing with the dogs. We enjoy spending nights around the fire roasting marshmallows, and grilling with our family, friends and neighbors. We have a little garden that we keep care of, and growing strawberries is one of our favorites. When the weather is cold, we build forts in our basement and watch family movies on the weekend. We also love to play in the snow, sled and build snowmen whenever we can. We live in a great community full of other families. Nearby are many parks, trails and bike paths. We enjoy going on family scooter rides to get groceries, or make a Saturday of park hopping and usually packing along a picnic. We are within walking distance of Nora’s dance studio where she loves to participate in a weekly class. One of our favorite pizza places is just around the corner from our house and is a family friendly restaurant where we can even take our dogs to sit outside with us.

>

<

Our Families and Friends

Both of our families live very close to us and are a big part of our lives. Tyler’s mom and two sisters live close by; Nora loves to spend time baking cookies with Tyler’s mom. She is a baker and makes beautiful cakes. Every year Nora gets to take a special cake, made by Grandma, to her school to share with her friends. It’s one of the highlights of her birthday that she looks most forward to. Ariana’s parents live close by as well. They spend half of the year in Florida, but while they are back home, we spend a lot of time with them. Nora loves to help her Papa in his garden all summer. We typically spend spring break with them in Florida playing at the beach and going swimming for an entire week.

We both have extremely close friends who are a big part of Nora’s life too. We frequently have our friends go along on trips to places like the downtown aquarium, and other outings. Our friends are really supportive of our adoption journey and have always been there like family for us. Ultimately we have an extensive network of love and support and we are truly grateful for how close we are to the most important people in our lives.

>

<

Our Relationship with Nora's Birth Mom

We met our daughter’s birth mother about 10 days before Nora was born. We flew out very early in the morning after getting a call that her birth mother went into labor early. The second we met her, there was an instant connection. We were in the room when our daughter was born, which was such a special moment for all of us as a family. Over the next few days we got to get to know both her and her mother, have dinner with them a few times, take newborn pictures together, and make memories that we will never forget. We were all amazed at how much we had in common, and how effortless the relationship was. Once we were back in Colorado, we started sending her pictures and updates weekly. She loves seeing Nora grow and getting to hear about all of her milestones and accomplishments. She has become a member of our family in the most special way possible, and our love for her is endless. We will always have a connection with her like no other.

>

<

Our Lifestyle

We live a very family-oriented lifestyle. During the week both of us work Monday through Friday. Nora attends the school where Ariana works as a teacher. We focus on sitting down at the dinner table together every night where we talk about each other’s day and spend time as a family together every night. Tyler works from home on Mondays and Fridays, and will pick up Nora early from school on Friday to spend extra time together. Nora always looks forward to her half days at school on Fridays. On weekends, we usually run errands together after Nora’s morning dance class and swimming lessons. One of our favorite errands is going to the library and picking out books each week. We also love living in the Colorado outdoors and enjoy planning day trips into the mountains. Whether it’s to go sightseeing, hiking, or camping, we love to get outdoors whenever we can.

>

<

Family Traditions

The night before Nora was born, Ariana and I had the opportunity to take Nora’s birth mother and birth grandmother out for dinner in Cleveland Ohio. We were extremely fortunate to spend time with Nora’s family. The restaurant we ended up going to was a grilled cheese restaurant where they had every kind of grilled cheese sandwich you could think of! They had options like BBQ, and even a BLT type of grilled cheese. It ended up being a great night that was super relaxing, fun, and we were so humbled to spend that time with Nora’s family before she was born. Now, every year on the night before Nora’s birthday, we all pick out funny ingredients and eat grilled cheese sandwiches to celebrate Nora’s birthday, and to remember the amazing night we were able to share with our new family.

We have a really fun tradition on the 4th of July. Ariana’s parents have a mountain home in a tiny little town where a firework show takes place on a little lake. It’s such a fun experience with a town parade, fire truck rides, and a little festival before the firework show. Every year we make a weekend trip to the mountains for it to spend time together as a family going on hikes, fishing, enjoying bike rides and thoroughly enjoying the outdoors.

Ariana’s parents live in Florida half the year. We love taking a spring break trip every year to spend time with them at the beach. It is sometimes a great escape away from the Colorado snow (which we also love) and we get to plan a day trip to Disney World.

We spend all of our holidays together with our families, and we love celebrating birthdays. We all take off work to celebrate Nora’s adoption day.

>

<

Racial and Cultural Diversity

This is a topic that is very near and dear to our hearts with our first daughter Nora being half black. We continue to learn about racial and cultural diversity by reading books on the matter to help us understand the adversity that other races continue to face in the United States, and try to use that understanding to teach Nora of the difficult times she will be susceptible to as she grows up. We have worked to open ourselves up culturally to experiencing different traditions. With Ariana being adopted and us having an enhanced awareness of diversity and being inclusive, we feel confident that we can provide a safe environment for your child, and continue educating others on the importance of understanding cultural diversity.

>

<

Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that your child will always be loved, accepted, cherished, and supported in every aspect of their life. They will always know their story and how much you love them. They will always have a mother and a sister who were also adopted, to share their ups, downs and in-betweens with. They will always have a father who is present, devoted, and knows how to make them smile no matter how upset they may be. They will grow up surrounded by people who support every part of them, from their skin tone to their own unique style of learning. They will grow up in a home where they are surrounded by love from family and friends. We will honor and celebrate their heritage in every way possible. We will provide for their health, safety, nutrition, and financial stability throughout our lives. They will know everything about you that you want them to, and you will be thought of and spoken about every day. We want to know about your family traditions and stories and will promise to integrate them into our family. We will also be there for you and view you as an extension of our family. You are brave, strong, selfless and truly amazing.