Mike and Tiffany

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From Us to You

Where to begin? Honestly, we’ve written this letter to you in our heads dozens of times. We can’t even begin to imagine the uncertainty you may be feeling as you face making such a difficult decision. We don’t know what has brought you to consider an adoption plan for your child, but we are thankful that you would consider us to be a part of that plan. Whether or not you choose for us to be a part of your child’s story, we are humbled by the love that you have for your child.

A little about us: Tiffany grew up in Michigan with her parents and siblings who were adopted as infants and we cannot imagine life without them. Tiffany’s parents were always transparent with the family about the adoptions, and to us, that was (and is) normal. We are a silly, loving, board-game playing family. Tiffany got her incredible work ethic and unending supportiveness for others from her family and it’s something that enriches the lives of others every day.

Mike grew up in Washington and most of his family (including his grandpa, brother, and sister) still live nearby. His family are some of the most open, welcoming, and genuine people you’ll ever meet. Those traits have definitely transferred to Mike. He is thoughtful, kind, intentional, loyal, and goofy. He has a genuine love for people, and it permeates throughout everything he does.

We have heard that it takes a village to raise a child and we would love for you to be a part of our village. Your child will know his or her story of adoption and how much love you have for them.

Thank you so much considering us to be potential parents to your precious child!

Love,
Mike and Tiffany

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About Us

We met at church about 12 years ago when Tiffany moved to Washington after living abroad for some time. At the time, we were just acquaintances with a ton of mutual friends. The first time we actually spent time together, Tiffany had organized a group of people to go skydiving. Mike heard about the skydiving adventure, walked up to Tiffany and said, “I’m in.” We didn’t start dating for a few months after that, but it does showcase a bit about us; Tiffany likes to plan things, organize group activities, and seek out new experiences and adventures. Mike is super outgoing, extroverted, and always up for a spontaneous adventure! We got married in August 2012 and have continued to grow individually and together throughout our time together.

Even though we share many of the same passions, we can be very different in certain aspects. Mike is as extroverted as they come, while Tiffany tends to be more introverted. Mike grew up in Washington, Tiffany grew up in Michigan. While we are different, we are similar on our foundational beliefs and values. We love God. We love our family and friends. We love puppies – our pups and all other pups. We love other humans and standing up for what we believe. We love and invest in our continued growth and development. We love adventure. We want to be parents and know that we have so much love and affection to give to your kiddo.

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Why We're Choosing to Adopt

We haven’t been able to have children biologically and adoption is something that we’ve always been passionate about – particularly because of the amazing connection Tiffany has with her siblings who were adopted at birth. We believe that family isn’t always determined by blood and that we would be so fortunate to raise a child through the gift of adoption. Your child will be loved unconditionally and have a loving community of family and friends that will support them throughout their lifetime.

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About Mike

Mike is an amazing husband, brother, son, friend, coach, mentor, and all-around human. He loves to laugh, loves connecting people together, and cares for everyone around him. He shows up for anyone who needs support and is the first one to say “Yes!” to any adventure. He is successful at work and yet always makes time for family and friends. I am constantly in awe of his generosity, his patience, his wisdom, and his ability to laugh at his own corny dad jokes (some of which are actually funny).

Even though being a dog parent and an awesome uncle is clearly not the same as being a parent to a child, I can already see glimpses of how he’ll be such a great dad. He will be the kind of dad that spends quality time with your child and will make sure they go out and do goofy things together; he will sign them up for any sport or activity they want to do, and he’ll be the dad who drives our kids and their friends to all the sports games and makes silly dad jokes that will make them all roll their eyes. He’ll be the one that our kiddo always feels safe going to for questions, concerns, fears, exciting ideas, and celebrations. He’s an amazing partner, dog dad, and will be an amazing dad to your child.

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About Tiffany

Tiffany is the incredible person that everyone falls in love with as soon as they meet her, and the more they get to know her the more they want an extra dose of Tiffany in their lives. Not only is she smart and talented, she’s also incredibly thoughtful and kind. I’m convinced most of my friends put up with me because they know how amazing Tiffany is and want more time with her.

In addition to being the best part of me, Tiffany inspires me each day with her hard work and dedication to our family and our home. Tiffany seems to have an endless supply of energy that she usually channels into a home improvement project or some kind of development activity. Tiffany has a mission for every day and that mission generally results in making an incredible impact on the lives of those around her. I can’t wait to see the impact this drive and commitment to others has on the life of the child we get to raise. Not only will she instill the value of hard work, but she will also simultaneously teach our child how to appreciate and value the gifts of others.

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Our Lifestyle

Travel and adventure are very important to us, so we like to use our vacations to explore new places and experience new cultures. During normal workweeks, we like to spend evenings together and with loved ones, either at the local dog park, going for walks, cooking, watching movies with a fire in the fireplace, tackling new house projects, going paddleboarding with Barney (Maizie’s not a fan of the water), or some variation of those. One of our absolute favorite things to do as a family is play board games or card games, like Skip-Bo, Sequence, Phase 10, Euchre, Rook, Settlers of Catan, and more! We are so excited to have family game nights with your kiddo and Tiffany is not-so-secretly excited to have an ally in trying to beat Mike at some of the games – he’s just so good at them!

Fall means football! We have season tickets for the nearby university and local NFL team. We love fall weekends for bundling up, spending time with friends, and watching sports. Mike loves to spend time with friends golfing, playing softball, or just hanging out. Mike cannot wait to teach your kiddo how to play every game and sport ever invented. If the perfect game doesn’t exist – he will practice his creativity and come up with new games that will fill your child will laughter and cherished memories. Tiffany loves spending time with friends, exploring new places, trying new recipes (although Mike is the expert at omelets), having great conversations, and tackling house projects. Tiffany is super excited to play games with your kiddo, cook with them, start silly traditions, get creative with craft projects together, and go for adventures as a family!

We are also incredibly passionate about the work we do. Mike works in Human Resources and Tiffany works in Leadership Development. Both of which focus on business strategy, psychology, and making workplaces more human. We consistently look to grow and develop in our professions AND we make sure to prioritize the important things, like family, friends, health, adventures, hobbies, etc. Our work allows us to invest in the development of others while striving to ensure those we work with are treated with kindness and respect. Overall, we try to find balance in life, making time to slow down while creating space for activities and adventure.

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Our Families

We are so grateful for the family and friends that make up our community. Much of Mike’s family lives within an hour’s drive of us. He is the middle kid with an older brother and younger sister. Sadly, his parents passed away a few years ago and we miss them tons. We are so grateful for the time we had with them. Most of Tiffany’s family lives in Michigan. Her parents are “snowbirds” and spend half of their time in Florida and the other half in Michigan. She is the youngest in the family with an older sister and brother, who are both married with two kiddos each. While we are separated by many miles, we spend Christmas with Tiffany’s family each year (since they spend a lot of time in Florida, Disney World is a frequent Christmas destination) and travel to see each other a few times per year. Mike is so close to Tiffany’s family, it’s not uncommon for him to fly out to Michigan on his own to spend time with them when Tiffany isn’t able to sneak away from work. Our friends are amazing people that we have grown up with and/or met at different stages of our lives and we consider them extended family. We feel so fortunate to live life with such thoughtful, hilarious, and intentional people in our lives. They are who we laugh with, cry with, and who we are excited to be a part of your child’s life.

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Our Home and Neighborhood

Our home is on a cul-de-sac in an amazing neighborhood that we love so much. Our house has 4 bedrooms and 2 ½ baths, a fenced-in backyard, and a cozy family room with a warm fireplace. As soon as we saw the house, it felt like home. The house and the neighborhood remind Tiffany of her childhood in Michigan, with kiddos biking around the street, all of the neighbors waving to each other, sidewalks, and annual neighborhood barbecues. Our neighborhood is multi-generational with folks that have lived here for decades as well as a ton of families with kiddos. Every Halloween, kids come from all over town to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. It’s rare to walk outside on a sunny, summer day and not hear and feel the energy of the neighborhood kids having fun and playing.

Though we have only lived in the neighborhood for a few years, we became instantly connected with our next-door neighbors, Travis and Junny, and their children call us Auntie Tif and Uncle Mike! It’s not uncommon to find Mike in our neighbor’s garage at all hours “supervising” a project as an excuse to hang out together or exploring on Travis’ boat (when it’s chooses to work). Mike and Travis have become best friends in a short period of time and have been there for each other to work though the highs and lows life of life. Even our dogs are best friends and we often “steal” their dog for puppy slumber parties at our place.

Our neighborhood is just 20 minutes from our nearby major city, 5 minutes from lakefront activities, 15 minutes from the ocean, and 45 minutes from mountain activities. For us, it’s the perfect combination of small-town feel with big city amenities.

We cannot wait to see your kiddo joining in on the neighborhood games, riding their bike on the sidewalk, walking as a family through the trails, and having slumber parties with their best friends!

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Our Pets

We have two pups that we are absolutely in love with: a Corgi named Barney and a Rottweiler mix named Maizie. We have had Barney since he was a puppy and rescued Maizie a few years ago from an animal shelter in Texas. They both have such big personalities and are a massive part of our little family. We call Barney our little fur boss because he runs the show (he is actually a pushover and loves everyone, he just tries to act like the boss). Maizie is such a sweetheart, everyone who meets her loves her! She has never met a stranger, is so patient, and is curious by everything in life. They both love kids!

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Our Family Traditions

We love traditions and have cultivated a number of them throughout the years, combining traditions that we’ve grown up with individually and ones we’ve created together as a family unit. In the fall months, weekends are for football. We have season tickets for the local university and NFL teams. We both grew up watching football. Tiffany’s parents also have season tickets for the University of Michigan.

On Halloween, we love getting dressed up, watching Halloween movies (like Hocus Pocus or Casper), and passing out candy as a family (yes, our pups have costumes, too!). For Thanksgiving, we love hosting dinner for our extended Washington family and having intentional time with one another. Tiffany continues to perfect the Thanksgiving turkey each year (but it really is all about the sides, lol)! Before we eat, we each go around the table and share what we are thankful for from that year.

Tiffany is obsessed with Christmas lights and, like clockwork, once the Thanksgiving festivities are complete and folks have left (unless she can convince Mike to decorate early), we will get out all our Christmas decorations, put on some Christmas music, and start decorating. This is one of Tif’s favorite family traditions and we cannot wait to decorate with a kiddo! We also love to make tons of Christmas cookies each year, bag them up, and pass them out to friends, family, and co-workers. We cannot wait to start baking and decorating cookies with your kiddo! The messier the better. 😊 Each Christmas, we fly to visit Tiffany’s family in either Michigan or Florida depending on where they are at the time. We spend a week with the extended family (with loads of snow or Disney depending on the location) and always family card games. On Christmas Eve, we go to church together as a family. Tif’s mom will read the Christmas story to all of us before we go to bed. On Christmas morning, we each open our stockings as soon as we wake up. We then have breakfast together, get on our ugly sweaters (or Christmas pajamas), and open presents. The kiddos typically rotate who gets to be Santa’s elf and help pass out the presents. We like to open each present one at a time and stretch out the anticipation! Every family holiday or vacation involves lots of quality time, laughter, and card games (such as Phase 10, Euchre, Rook, Skip-Bo, etc.). We have a number of other traditions and are excited to create new ones with a child.

On Easter, we usually spend the holiday with Mike’s family in Washington. Tiffany always sets up an Easter egg hunt for Mike. Mike is a massive kid at heart and Tif cannot wait to have both Mike and your kiddo searching for eggs together on Easter morning! It will be good for Mike to have some healthy competition. We go to church as a family and then have brunch together. Mike’s parents always hosted family brunch on Easter, so we try to keep that tradition alive by serving some family favorites, like quiche, cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, etc.

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What Kind of Parents we will Be

Our parents set a wonderful example for us growing up on how to be amazing parents, and just like them, we will be the kind of parents that our children can come to for anything. We will be silly, we will be fun, and we will also teach them how to be kind and care for others. We will be good examples for our kiddos, not just in our words, but also reinforcing our words through action. Life is complicated and can be both challenging and beautiful – we want to be a safe space for our kiddos to ask questions, to talk through hard questions, and to share all their exciting moments. We will be super flexible – we know that each child is so unique and will provide your child with a soft place for them to land, with a touch of humor, adventure, and loads of love along the way.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

Racial and Cultural diversity is so incredibly important to both of us. We have both grown up in different areas of the country with very different ethnicities and cultures, we have traveled a significant amount (Tiffany lived in London for a while and Mike studied abroad in college), and we are passionate about exploring cultures and learning about things we don’t understand. We believe that diversity should be celebrated. We are incredibly excited to learn more about your culture, to create traditions that celebrate your child’s ethnicity and culture, to provide your child with a racially diverse environment, and to teach your kiddo to love and celebrate all people and cultures. It is crucial to us to seek out and celebrate the lived experience of those who are different than us. We spend quite a bit of time connecting with friends and colleagues of different backgrounds, races, and ethnicities (including those who have been adopted into families that don’t look like them) to learn more about their experience and how we can very intentionally ensure your kiddo has access to people who represent their own culture, race, and ethnicity – and how we can build that into a natural part of our family dynamic and rhythm.

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What We will Tell your Child

Your child will know without question that they are deeply loved both by us and you. We will partner with you to ensure we share the information that is important, but also respect any boundaries you may have. We will consistently talk about you with gratitude, love, and appreciation. We’ll share your traditions and stories with your child and encourage them to explore everything that makes them who they are. They will be raised to appreciate you and the sacrifices you made along the way.

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Our Relationship with You

We are so excited to get to know you and build a relationship with you. We want to include you at each stage of your kiddo’s life, share photos, share major life milestones, plan visits, and build family traditions together that include you. We also want to be respectful of any boundaries you may have. We’ll default to including you and adjust based on your needs and desires.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that we will love your child unconditionally. We will celebrate all the wins with them, laugh with them, cry with them, and build a strong community of friends, family, and loved ones around them. We will help them grow into a compassionate and kind human and ensure they know who they are, where they come from, and that they have so many people (including you) who love them and believe in them. Life is beautiful, hard, and everything in between – and we will be there with your kiddo through it all.