Calvin and Dillan

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From Us to You

Hello,

We began talking about having children even before we were married and now that we are settled in our careers and are financially secure, this is the perfect time to focus on building a family of our own. We are so excited to welcome your child into our hearts and home and can’t wait to become parents.

We have a lot of experience with children and have been fortunate to be foster parents. With the first child we fostered, we built a relationship with his mom and we continue to be in contact and celebrate that he has been reunited with her. They are now an important part of our family and we enjoy spending the holidays and other life events with them.

Should you decide that the kind of love and life we can provide for your child is what you are hoping for, we promise you that we will be there to support you and love you through this journey. Your child will be surrounded with endless love and care and we will make sure that your hopes and dreams for your child are realized.

With love,
Calvin and Dillan

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About Calvin

What to say about my husband, Calvin? He loves to celebrate the holidays (and not just the winter holidays, but all of them.) He has served his country in the Navy and now he enjoys caring for his patients. Calvin always makes me feel special and loved; he’s compassionate and loves to learn. I fell in love with him, and this man became my rock and I can’t wait to parent a child with him. He loves his family, Legos, being outside and caring for our animals. I imagine him coming home from work and playing with Legos with your child, or because of his love of learning, helping your child with their homework. He will be such an amazing father to your child.

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About Dillan

Dillan is the most kind and compassionate person that I have ever met. So… I married him. He is selfless and dedicated to our family. I am constantly amazed at his generosity and patience and he is my best friend and truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. Dillan will be a great dad to your child because he is the most patient person I have ever met. I have seen him pour his heart and soul into loving and caring for the foster children we cared for and how he has an amazing ability to calm an upset child down. He will be constantly planning different educational and fun things for your child to enjoy doing as a family.

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Our Home

We love our home because it’s on 5.5 acres of land, with 4 bedrooms, a playroom and lots of room for your child to grow and experience a happy childhood. Our love of nature and self-sustaining lifestyle drove us to start a small hobby farm. We have a couple of cows, a couple of pigs, a small herd of goats (for milk/cheese and soap) and a handful of chickens. The foundation of our home is Love, Honesty, and Respect. Our neighbors are friendly and warm. We exchange fresh baked goodies and fresh produce from the garden. The community we live in has lots of activities for your child to enjoy: playing at the parks, participating in sports activities as they get older, and lots of arts and culture experiences for them to be a part of as well as many educational opportunities.

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Our Lifestyle

Life in our home is pretty amazing. We have a small hobby farm with lots of pets like cows, goats, pigs, chickens, and a puppy. We enjoy being out in the fields with the animals and can’t wait to share our love of animals with your child and to teach them how to care for each one. And our beloved puppy Stitch can’t wait to have a playmate who will throw the ball and play with him. One of our biggest and most fun things to do is to be outside with the animals on our small farm. It is always fun to watch the children learn to milk our goats and carry hay out to the cows. It is priceless to see a small boy holding a handful of hay out to a very large cow with a big smile on their face while the cow eats the hay right out of their hand.

Every summer we get excited about going to the State Fair and our local County Fair. We can’t wait for your child to experience this with us and we are looking forward to taking them on every ride and looking at all the different farm animals. Who knows, maybe when they get a bit older they might want to enter their own animals to be shown at the fair. Every few weeks we participate in the local Farmer’s Market where we sell our handmade goat milk soaps and hand-crafted pens and this is something we are excited to share with your child as well.

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Our Families

Calvin’s mom lives fairly close to us and can’t wait for any opportunity to come and spend time with your child and love them and spoil them as any grandmother does. Dillan’s mom doesn’t live quite as close by, however she is just as excited and looking forward to welcoming your child into our lives. Our families are excited and have been extremely supportive of our adoption journey.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

Originally we never thought about children. Time passes and we all grow a little. We felt that there was something missing in our lives and we started exploring the possibilities of foster care. As an openly gay couple, we recognize that we are unable to have a child through conventional methods.

Once we were placed with our first foster son, we realized how scary parenting is. The immense responsibility for one little life. I am not saying it was easy or always fun but at the end of the day when the exhaustion sets in from the busy day; he would cuddle up to us on the couch and watch TV before bed. That is when we knew what was missing in our lives.

It is important to us to pass on family traditions and memories to the next generation. The ability to teach them about everyday things that we take for granted, like tying shoes, where milk comes from and why we can’t eat dessert first. It would make our dreams come true to hear the sound of toys being played with followed by laughter.

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Family Traditions

Our current traditions surround the major holidays, like cooking a big Thanksgiving dinner and opening presents on Christmas. Football has become an additional tradition in our house. Family comes over on game day. We LOVE watching football as a family and everyone wears a jersey on game day. We make finger foods or order pizza while we watch the game. Go Hawks!

Another one of our favorite family traditions is going to the zoo. Every year we buy season passes and make a day of spending time at the zoo. Then as a whole family we go out to dinner together.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

We are very committed to racial and cultural awareness and sensitivity. We will create the best environment possible for your child as we continue to educate ourselves and seek out mentors for guidance within the racial and cultural background of your child. We look forward to incorporating traditions and customs, art, holidays and food that represents your child’s heritage.

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Our Relationship with You

We would love to have an open relationship with you, and share pictures and updates with you as you are a very important part of your child’s life. Whatever you choose, we will respect your wishes and your child will always know the strength and depth of your love for them.

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Our Promise to You

• We promise you that we will always love and support your child and that they will always be the center of our lives.
• We promise to love and support you and to celebrate the love you have for your child;
• We promise to provide every opportunity for them;
• We promise that we will smother your child in kisses and wipe their tears away;
• And we promise that not a day will go by without your child hearing us tell them that we love them.