Ryan and Lindsay

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From Us to You

We are Ryan and Lindsay and we are so grateful that you are taking the time to get to know us. While we can’t imagine the difficult decision you’re facing, we hope to share with you our passion and commitment to giving your child a happy, healthy and loving family to grow up in. And to show you our fun, playful and creative sides as well.

We have been trying to have children of our own for nearly 5 years and talked about our mutual desire to be parents when we first started dating. The hope of having a child (or children) has been foundational in our relationship. Rather than IUI or IVF, we chose adoption as our path to start our family.

We want your child to grow up understanding how they came to be the most loved part of our family. Our dream is to write and illustrate a storybook to show them how much you loved them and how we became so lucky to continue that story with them. We want them to always know that their story began with nothing but parents that wanted to do the best for them at every stage of their journey in this world. Being open about adoption with them is something that we feel is incredibly important.

Part of that openness is ensuring they know just how selfless and caring you are for making the decision that faces you now. We want you to know that you will always be honored in our household. It would be our honor to maintain written communication with you and to share photos and videos of your child as they grow if that is something that is important to you.

Quite honestly, your child would be the love of our life.

We can’t possibly express our gratitude to you for considering us as the potential parents for your beautiful baby. We look forward to the opportunity to meet you and to share our love with you and your baby.

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Why We Are Choosing To Adopt

We could not possibly be more excited to be on this journey of adoption. We want to be parents more than anything in this world. When asked as a child what Ryan wanted to be when he grew up, many people thought he would say an FBI agent or an auto mechanic (like his mom) or an electrician (like his dad).  But the answer was always that he wanted to be a dad.  Lindsay has dreamed of being a mother just as long and really felt the instincts kick in when her siblings started having children. Together, we have experienced infertility’s impact on our dream of having a child naturally. Adopting a child will make our biggest dreams come true.

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Our Lifestyle

We would be the first to admit we’d make terrible stand-up comedians, but that doesn’t stop us from making up jokes together and finding things to laugh about. Our 2 dogs, Rufus and Ripley, have taught us how to be active and adventurous in our neighborhood and the towns around us. We would love to have a child to joke around with and walk through the local parks; pointing out the birds flying by, picking up the autumn leaves that decorate the ground and making jokes about what that odd cloud floating overhead looks like.

We have a closet full of board games that are much more fun for 3 or more people than they are just the two of us. Our craft collection only continues to grow with artistic and fun activities that would be perfect for a child to create, learn and play with. Rufus would love someone new to snuggle with each week for family movie nights. Rufus and Ripley even said they would share the backyard because it is a lot of fun to play in!

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About Lindsay by Ryan

Lindsay is the most caring, generous and selfless person I know. She loves slugs and will often fall behind on walks with the dogs because she is helping a slug get across the sidewalk safely without being trampled. I have seen how she is the glue that keeps her family together. When we visit friends and family in Minnesota, she is sitting in the middle of the playroom with the kids as soon as pleasantries have been exchanged. Being much younger than her siblings, Lindsay has been a part of raising her nieces and nephews since she was a teen and her comfort with babies and young children is more than obvious when she snuggles them up. Lindsay brings out the best in me because she has a dizzyingly abstract and silly sense of humor that perfectly matches my own. She is the best wingman when I’m playing video games, always reminding me to heal up (it was even in her vows to me at our wedding). Lindsay is without a doubt my best friend and will be such a fun, caring and loving mother.

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About Ryan by Lindsay

Ryan is the light of my life. My eternal bright flame reminding me everything will be ok as long as my hand is in his. No one has ever made me feel more safe or important. Immediately when we first met I could feel the love in the room. He is so compassionate and caring, it’s a wonderful thing to behold. The best part of our relationship, in my eyes, has been feeling the comfort and joy of us becoming best friends as quickly as we were falling in love. We spend all of our time together and have never gotten sick of the others company. He has such a large sense of imagination and fun, children are drawn to him immediately and always choose him to play games with over all the other adults. He was meant to be a father. No child could possibly be more loved, cared for, or better guided than our future children will be.

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Our Home

We are very lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest. We have cabins in the mountains an hour to the East and the Pacific Ocean just half an hour to the West. Our favorite season here is Autumn because the trees paint such a beautiful landscape when they are burning yellow, orange and red. Our neighborhood is suburban with lots of parks and playgrounds within 10 minutes in any direction (Ripley and Rufus really enjoy this part!). We also have downtown Tacoma 15 minutes away and LOVE to visit the art, vehicle and glass museums. Seattle is a 1-hour drive and we always spend time with visiting friends and family at the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center and Pike Place Market.

At home, we love to play games of all types; our board game collection is too big for the two of us, the jigsaw puzzle stack is precariously tall and our video game library spans decades.

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Our Family

We are so lucky to have Ryan’s family and friend family so nearby. We have countless cousins, aunts and uncles within an hour of our home. His group of friends is a family in and of itself; friendships dating from childhood through the present, they would do anything for each other.  And many have babies of their own! Grandpa lives in Idaho (just a ‘short’ 8-hr drive away) and always has a bed to spare when we come out to visit each year. Ryan’s aunt was adopted, is the baby among her siblings and shares wonderful stories of growing up when the family gathers at the fire pit.

Our (hopefully) annual trips to Minnesota are filled with a whirlwind of activities, visits and incredible food. Lindsay’s friends and family are numerous to say the least and there isn’t a single one that would miss a chance to see their favorite person. We bounce from house to house seeing everyone we can and always have a home base at her best friend’s house where we feel more ‘with family’ than anywhere else. Their 3 boys are–yes, about seven handfuls–so much fun to play with. And watching them grow and learn is one of our favorite things in this world.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We surround ourselves with people from diverse backgrounds. We are firm believers that all people deserve love and a sense of belonging no matter what their background may be. Lindsay’s step-sister has a mixed family and we love visiting them every time we fly out to Minnesota. They celebrate all aspects of their children’s heritage and we strive to raise our children with the same passion. We also live in an area that is tremendously diverse and hosts celebrations for so many different cultures. If we were lucky enough to match with someone of a different ethnic or cultural background, we will absolutely seek out opportunities to honor that heritage and give the child exposure to the things that make them so special.

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Meet Ripley & Rufus

Our dogs are currently our “children.” Ripley is a 13-yr old Australian Shepherd/Leonberger mix. She is too smart for her own good and has loved babies since she was one herself. Rufus is an 11-yr old Boxer mix. His head is bigger than any we’ve ever seen, but he still thinks he is a cat (because he grew up in a foster family with 9 of them). He is the best cuddler and definitely likes to curl up on the couch.

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Traditions

We love to spend time at the family property. It’s on a remote mountainside surrounded by trees, meadows and even a (literally) babbling brook that runs through the middle. There is a fire pit in the center of the cabins where the family has gathered for decades (4 generations at this point with the 7 kids running around) just to catch up and–most importantly–to joke around and laugh at everything. We do Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers there, at least 1 Summer visit and we ALWAYS set up sledding courses in the Winter.

We try to fly to Minnesota at least once a year to visit all of Lindsay’s closest friends and family. Everyone is always beyond happy to see her and we always have any number of invitations to stay in guest rooms. It is a great reminder just how much she means to them to see when they all get to spend time together in person instead of just playing Jackbox games online (which we try to do every month with her friends).

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Our Promise To You

If you choose us to be your baby’s parents, we promise they will never feel unloved, unimportant or unwanted. We want to share our unconditional love with your child. Our favorite word is ‘why’ because we both love when kids questions EVERYTHING. When many might say “just because,” we continue to try to share as much as we can to feed that thirst for knowledge. We want to teach, but we also want to learn with your child. They would be the center of our universe and our lives would be dedicated to nurturing their every interest. We will be fun, loving parents. We will teach right from wrong and instill strong, positive values. We commit to providing stability, safety and security. We want to share the importance of family and foster an environment that lets a child explore any and every interest they come up with. Ultimately, we are both incredibly passionate and loving people who believe we will be amazing parents for your baby. And we promise to always honor you and celebrate your love for your child.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for taking time to learn about us. Every vision of our future as a family includes a child at the center. There aren’t words that can adequately express how thankful we are that you are considering us to be a part of your child’s life. Thank you.