Travis and Katie

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From Us to You

We are thinking of you and the decision you are considering. We hope you have some comfort in knowing that we will be able to relate a bit to your child. As Katie was adopted, she will be able to discuss adoption using her own experiences. She was adopted into a wonderful family, who we hope you will one day consider family as well. Although everyone has differing experiences and feelings, we hope that this tie between your child and Katie will help to assure you that we take adoption very seriously.

We are lucky enough to have a life which allows us a balanced lifestyle and offers free time that we are able to spend with our family. We are both from beach communities and cannot wait to share the beach and the water with your child. Travis has surfed most of his life and hopes to be able to teach your son or daughter when they are old enough. Katie, a bookworm from an early age, has saved many of her favorite books which she hopes to share with your child. You can be sure that story time will be a regular activity in our home.

We love to travel, and we want to share the world with your child. Katie was born on Oahu and soon after moved to Kauai with her family, who still resides there today. We go to visit them at least twice a year. Once we have a child, we hope that we will be able to get there more or have Katie’s family visit us more often. Most of Travis’ family still resides in Southern California and we see them regularly. We often get together to celebrate family birthdays and have cribbage matches.

In addition to our families, we also have a core group of friends who we often see. This includes two of Katie’s childhood friends from Kauai, and many of Travis’ childhood friends who he grew up with. Some of these friends have young children of their own who your child will get to grow up with.

We will teach your child the things we believe are important in life: compassion, patience, kindness to others, and to love themselves. We will provide for their care financially and emotionally. While we hope to instill the importance of education, we also want to support experiencing life and following their dreams.

We have always wanted to adopt and welcome a child into our hearts. We hope you know that your selfless choice will give a lifetime of joy to whichever family you may choose. It is our promise to you that we will love your child unconditionally.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

Katie always knew she wanted to adopt as both she and her brother were adopted (from different birth mothers). Both Katie and her brother always knew that they were adopted. While Katie had an open adoption, she has never met her birth mother, nor has her older brother. However, they know their parents would support them if they were to ever decide to meet their birth parents. We will support your child in the same way and want you to play a role in their lives.

Early in our relationship we discussed the idea of adoption and Travis was supportive and open to adopting a child. Together we believe that we can provide a home full of love and support. We know adoption is the way we want to start and build our family and that the right child will come at the right time. We are excited and eager to share our love and the love of our families with our future child.

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About Katie, by Travis

When Katie and I first met, I was convinced that she fell in love with my dog (Zeus) first and that I was just part of the package. Thankfully that was not the case and she liked me, too. We started dating and quickly realized that we were the perfect match for each other and have now been together for almost 6 years. Katie constantly amazes me with her compassionate nature and kind personality. Her constant thought of others is what I love the most. She has a sassy, fun and sarcastic sense of humor and makes me laugh constantly. She is the smartest person I know and is an accomplished lawyer and professionally trained chef. She beats me at any game we play and she enjoys reading, outdoor activities and is a big animal lover. I not only love Katie and want to start a family with her, but I respect and admire her and all of her accomplishments.

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About Travis, by Katie

If it weren’t for Travis’s mastiff, Zeus, I may never have had the courage to approach Travis. Thankfully, our love of animals was the just the start of our growing relationship. Despite being together for approximately six years, I feel that I am still learning about Travis, and find new reasons to love him every day. Travis is incredibly kind, compassionate, generous, hardworking and has a fun-loving, goofy personality. Family is a big part of Travis’ life. I know Travis will always be there for his family, as he has been for me, whether we need a shoulder to cry on, or someone just to talk to. Since Travis’ nephew was born in September of last year, I have seen father-like traits come out in Travis and I know that he will be an amazing father. I know that Travis has always wanted a family of his own and I am excited to get to share in this journey with him.

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Lifestyle

We live a relatively low-key lifestyle. We enjoy our days at home sharing in each other’s company, but also enjoy a dinner with friends or family. When we are not at home, we enjoy spending time at the beach with our dogs or being outdoors all the area has to offer. Additionally, being the animal lovers we are, we love to visit the zoo and the safari park, which we are excited to share with your child. We also love to travel and plan some form of travel every few months, even if that means just a weekend away within California. We also enjoy a mellow weekend away in Mexico, where we are able to enjoy the surf and sand. Although we are both hard working people, we also believe in a work-life balance and can thankfully take advantage of our flexible schedules to have fun.

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Our Sweet Pets

We are both animal lovers and have grown up with various pets throughout our childhoods. While Travis experienced having pets like a pit bull named Prime Cut along with eight head of cattle and cats and dogs, Katie grew up having rabbits, a turtle, cats and dogs. We now have three dogs and two cats at home who are a big part of our family.

Casey, a black lab, was adopted by Travis from a military family who was unable to continue to care for her. Landy, a shepherd, husky mix, was adopted by Katie, as was Koshka the grey cat, before the start of our relationship. Together, we adopted the torty cat, Momo who regularly acts like one of the dogs and plays fetch with us. Unfortunately, Zeus, who brought us together, passed away from bone cancer in 2020. However, we have since adopted a great pyrenes, Manu who is a gentle giant and a big goof-ball. We hope that your child will be able to grow with our pets and fall in love with them as we have.

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Home & Neighborhood

We moved into our home on Thanksgiving Day of 2020. The living space is 2,300 sq. ft. and the backyard runs along a canyon with beautiful views and hiking trails that will be fun to explore with your child as they get older. We have a large tree in the backyard that will be perfect for a rope swing and a deck for outdoor dining, BBQs and family get-togethers. The neighborhood is great for kids. There is a park where we can take your child to play just a few blocks from our home. The park has a playground, a basketball and tennis court, plenty of grass area and offers a lot of space for family activities.

We live in a closed circle neighborhood, so there’s not much traffic and it is pretty quiet. Our neighborhood is 20 minutes from beautiful, Southern California beaches. We are also in a good school district and there is a great elementary school that is only a 10 minute walk from our home. We look forward to the possibility of walking your child to and from school.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

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Our Family and Friends

We have a large family that is spread out across California, Nevada and Hawaii. Katie was born on Oahu and her family soon after moved to Kauai, where she spent her childhood. Almost all her family still lives on Kauai and Oahu and we visit them as often as possible. Her family has been rooted in Hawaii for five generations and her brother (Wayne) and his wife (Lyndsay) both live on Kauai, along with her parents and extended family. Wayne and Lyndsay work in real estate and family therapy and will be a wonderful uncle and aunt. They are fun, responsible and they live about five minutes from Katie’s mom (Kathy) and dad (Richie). Kathy and Richie are fun, smart and life-loving and will be very good grandparents. As parents of two adopted children (Katie and Wayne), they will welcome an adopted grandchild into their lives with open hearts and open arms.

Travis was born and raised in Southern California, so he has a lot of local friends and family. His brother (Scott) and wife (Jannet) both live in town, work in real estate and have a beautiful new 6-month-old son named Noah. We are very close to them and go on trips and frequently do local activities together. Travis’ dad (Steve) is also local and his mother (Kathy) recently moved to Nevada with Travis’ stepfather (Rene). They will also be very loving, supportive and fun grandparents. We have many lifelong friends who are near us and are our age with young children and happy, active families. Your child will be surrounded by friends, family and all the love and support they will need.
And yes! Both of our mothers are named Kathy!

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Family Traditions

Growing up, we had very different family traditions and have taken what we love from each to build our own. Each Thanksgiving, we gather with Travis’ side of the family at our house to eat the traditional turkey dinner and play games. Both of our families grew up playing cribbage, and it has become a family game which has been played through several generations. We typically host about 10 family members.

For Christmas, we fly to Kauai to spend the holiday with Katie’s family. We typically spend half the time at the family’s house on the North Shore in Haena, and then the other half in Lihue at Katie’s parent’s home. Traditionally, there is a large family pot luck on Christmas Eve, and we have two smoked turkeys with all the fixings. There’s typically over 50 people at Christmas dinner, and we have a tradition for the kids to find the pickle ornament hidden in the Christmas tree. We look forward to introducing your child to the family and having them be a part of these traditions.

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Our Careers

Katie: I work as a Family Law attorney. When I started law school, I knew I wanted to go into Family Law and focused my courses on child welfare and various family oriented courses. However, I was not always an attorney, and actually went to Culinary School after graduating from college. I spent several years on Oahu, Hawaii as a pastry chef before being accepted to law school. I still love to bake.

Travis: I have been working in the solar industry since 2009 and have built my career in constructing and selling solar energy systems throughout the country. I worked hard to get where I am today in my career and I currently hold a position as Sr. Manager for a publicly traded solar company. I love what I do and am passionate about helping transition the world to sustainable energy. My work also affords me the ability to work from home or remotely.

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Vacations

We both work full time jobs, but also have very flexible schedules. We have the ability to work from home or remotely and have built a life that is balanced between family, work and play. We love to travel and do various activities locally. We are able to take trips to Hawaii at least twice each year to visit family and vacation. We also love that Southern California offers us the opportunity to travel to Mexico for weekend getaways. We love to camp and go to the beach, and look forward to camping at our favorite spots with your child. Travis grew up camping in the desert, while Katie grew up camping at the beach and we plan to buy a trailer to take the whole family wherever the road takes us.

Since meeting, we have had some amazing vacations around the world. These include New Zealand, which we shared with Katie’s family, Cabo San Lucas, Seattle, San Francisco, Maui, and regularly visit Ensenada, Mexico. We have several places we hope to visit soon, including Japan and Barcelona and hope to bring your child with us to explore the world.

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Hobbies

Aside from traveling and camping, we love to just be outdoors. We go to the beach regularly and love to visit the zoo and animal park. Our city is full of family friendly activities, such as amusement parks, beaches, hiking and has museums we enjoy visiting. As far as individual activities, Travis grew up playing organized soccer and baseball, but now gravitates towards golf and surfing as his primary activities. Katie has always been a “water baby” and loves swimming and outrigger paddling. In high school she was on the water polo team, outrigger paddling team, and swim team. When at home, Katie enjoys reading and watching movies. She is excited to share some of her childhood books with your child and we will both read to your child each night before bed.

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Our Promise to You

We promise to love and support your baby. We promise to provide them with a safe space to laugh, cry, and grow. We will encourage their creativity and support their passions. We are very thankful that you are considering our family. We hope that you find comfort in knowing how much we will love your baby and how he/she will be welcomed into our families as one of their own.