Rob and Jenny

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From Us to You

First and foremost, we want to thank you for helping us become the family we’ve dreamed of. Our hearts and home are ready for the love and remarkable adventure your baby will bring. We will welcome your little one with the biggest loving embrace and never let go. They will always have a nurturing and safe place to call home throughout the years to come. We have built an amazing support system through our family, friends, neighbors and community. Life doesn’t always work out in the ways you expect. No matter your reasoning, know we appreciate the sacrifice you are making and the incredible gift you are giving us. Your baby will always have a connection with you and we will share with them that you are the single-most reason we grew our family. (Please don’t tell our dogs.) Your child will know the beautiful story about when they were born and how they were always loved, even from the moment they started growing in your belly.

We are a generous, adventure-loving couple. We’ve been together for over 10 years and married for 7. We are a hard-working, supportive couple that will always be there for your child, no matter what hardships may come their way. We promise to embrace your child for all they are and all they will become. We want them to take the road less traveled, be curious about the world around them, and shoot for the stars. We plan to raise a freethinking, tenacious, and passionate future president, astronaut, scientist, firefighter, artist, doctor, veterinarian, professor, tinkerer, entrepreneur, explorer, dinosaur, superhero or whatever your child can dream up (even a *shudder* dentist).

We intend to instill many life skills required to be self-sufficient: save/invest; change a tire; sew a button; build a fire; have good manners; ride a bike; swim; be respectful to elders; get along with others; be smart and safe; have situational awareness; and give back to their community. There’s so many things we look forward to doing together: reading to them in the tub at bath time; camping in the backyard; telling ghost stories by the campfire; playing in the creek; going trick-or-treating; tackling homework together; building science projects; watching Saturday morning cartoons; drawing on their chalkboard wall; building a tree house; playing games; baking cookies; tucking them in at night; building sandcastles; jumping waves at the beach; picnicking; hiking in the mountains; catching fireflies in the backyard; experiencing the magic of Disney World; kissing/bandaging their ouchies when they fall off their bike; and so much more. As we have a large family, they will instantly have plenty of cousins to hang out with. You can have no fear, as adoptive parents, we will always be in their corner.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

For more than 10 years, our relationship has grown and deepened every day with complete respect for each other. Our relationship is rock-solid and we feel we have so much love to share. We are thankful for our many experiences together, and would cherish the opportunity to share future adventures with a child. Even though we have experienced infertility, we had always discussed adoption to help us grow our family. We whole-heartedly plan to be there every step of the way.  We are excited to be at every performance, game and award ceremony. They will always see us in the crowd, in the front row cheering them on and beaming with pride. When they smile and laugh, we know our world will feel brighter. We promise your child will always be top of mind and we will constantly strive to enrich their life. We intend to make all our decisions based on what’s best for your child. We look forward to watching them grow as a person, knowing your child will be the most beautiful soul we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Always know that we will never stop loving them.

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Lifestyle

We both have established, successful careers in stable fields. We enjoy seeing all that our city and country have to offer, taking fabulous road-trips as often as possible. We are an open-minded, creative, thoughtful, non-political, non-religious, and debt-free couple. We’re very close to our family, friends and neighbors, who are all very excited to welcome your child into their lives too. We have lived in our friendly and diverse neighborhood for 10 years. One of our favorite pastimes is being magically transported at the movies. We love the holidays, especially family dinners at Thanksgiving. Our house is always decorated for Halloween and Christmas too. We enjoy being the fun Aunt and Funcle to our 3 nephews, 2 nieces and our best friends’ kids. We have big hearts and love to stay active in our community, leading our neighborhood social committee events (Easter egg hunt, pool party and Halloween party), helping at our local non-profit program that spreads the joy of Christmas to families in need and volunteering with our local children’s hospice annual grief camp. We frequently enjoy experiencing other cultures such as the Indian cultural festival and Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. We try not to take life too seriously; even our wedding included an ice cream truck and nerf guns (as wedding favors) labeled “Play Together, Stay Together!”

Things you may be surprised to learn about us:

1. Jenny once drove an 18-wheeler for work, but now enjoys driving her Tacoma and retains her CDL.
2. Rob enjoys driving his import micro kei van, where the steering wheel is on the right-hand side.
3. Jenny loves listening to hard rock and going to concerts.
4. Rob is the cook in our family and Jenny can bake up a storm.

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About Jenny, by Rob

Jenny’s the friendliest funeral director you’ll ever meet. She is very empathetic, fiscally responsible, organized and has a huge heart. She is willing to try new things, always learning and growing. Jenny enjoys thinking outside-the-box in creative ways. She’s never met a stranger and is always available to lend a sympathetic ear. Jenny is very close to her large family. She enjoys planning our next adventure and putting together puzzles. She’s always been a mentor to other funeral directors and apprentices. Jenny collects Egyptian statues of Anubis. Her favorite season is fall, but she gets so excited to watch the snow fall. She’s always been so proud of her dad being a firefighter, except for the times he drove her to school in the fire engine. She’s always been civic-minded, finding ways to help others in our community. Jenny always tells it as it is, unless she claims she’s the current punch-a-bug champion! She has a smile, that not only lights up the room, but my heart.

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About Rob, by Jenny

Rob is a driven, passionate, tech-savvy, kind-hearted, trustworthy, open-minded, renaissance man. He is compassionate, mindful and thoughtful. He’s the best gift-giver, always listening and observing to find the perfect present. He’s been by my side through everything over the last 10 years, including being my rock through IVF and surgeries. He’s diligent and dedicated, constantly mentoring professionals in his field. Rob never sweats the small stuff. He perfectly compliments me. He’s very creative and artistic. Rob’s the first one to help you change a tire or help a friend move. He’s a big geeky kid that enjoys video games, graphic novels, LEGOS, anything tech, dad jokes, numismatics and working on his van. Rob thinks he is the current punch-a-bug champion. I secretly think the dogs love him more. Most of all, Rob’s a wonderful husband, son, brother, uncle, son-in-law and friend.

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Our Home and Community

We love Charlotte! We live in the suburbs, just close enough to uptown. Charlotte has so much to offer including the best healthcare, concert venues (even symphony in the park), sporting events, restaurants, shopping, libraries, museums, and lots of parks. We love being just a few hours from the mountains and outer banks. We live in an active and diverse neighborhood with lots of children. We have a clubhouse, playground and junior Olympic pool. There’s also a fire department just outside the neighborhood entrance. We live in the middle of a cul-de-sac overlooking the street. Kids are always sledding and launching their bikes down our driveway. We have a spacious fenced in backyard with a nice wooded area and large patio. We have lived here for 10 years and know all of our neighbors. Our home is two-story with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths (each themed- 1 pirate; 1 dinosaur!), and a spacious loft. Some of the unique features of our home include a jukebox, 2 arcade machines, a digital pinball machine, and even a soda machine. Our home is always filled with fun and laughter.

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Our Loved Ones

We are incredibly fortunate to have such a loving family that will include and help care for your child. Both sets of our parents are still married after 45+ years and are each thrilled to welcome a grandbaby. We have 3 siblings ready to be fun aunts and funcles of their own, and 5 awesome nieces and nephews eagerly awaiting to be cousins. Our best friends’ have new little ones. Who doesn’t love a ready-made best friend?! There will be plenty of “cousins” to grow up with. We have the most amazing, supportive friends and neighbors that can be considered extended family. Rob’s father and cousin were adopted, so this is not new to our family. We have friends that also grew their family through adoption, so your child will always know others that were also adopted.

Our friends and family describe us as:

Easy-going, patient, motivated, optimistic, affectionate, detail-oriented, geeky, out-of-the-box thinkers, intentional, intelligent, considerate, playful, energetic, approachable, reliable, willing to learn and grow, gentle, silly, family-oriented, always helping others, caring, fascinating, devoted, generous, authentic, mindful, unique, intuitive, larger than life, tenacious, kind, civic-minded, dependable, and adventurous.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

We are grateful for the diverse people in our lives including Guatemalan, Filipino, African American, Hispanic, and Asian Indian individuals, all of whom have varying professions, strengths and talents. We have a deep respect for all cultural traditions and actively seek opportunities to explore new cultural experiences. We have always recognized the importance of your child discovering their identity through cultural connections and their ability to learn and experience their culture, including customs, beliefs, practices, food, art, and language. We look forward to participating in cultural events and festivals connected to your child.

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Our Pets

We have the silliest, most loving, well-behaved and sweet doggos. Our biggest, but youngest pup (mixed breed) is adorably smart and has completed several training programs. His older, but smaller brother (boston terrier) has a goofy underbite, craves attention and prefers the humans at the dog park. They are natural watch dogs and will be the bestest big brothers. They are always so excited to see us arrive home. Imagine how excited they’ll be to meet your child.

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Traditions

We take a yearly trip to Destin, FL, with Jenny’s family and we can’t wait to share this with your child. Jenny’s great-grandparents built a cabin on Wilson Creek in Pisgah National Forest, in the mountains of NC. We enjoy quality time with her family, swimming in the creek and sitting by the campfire. It’s a beautiful place to unwind and disconnect (no internet or TV). Jenny’s expansive family has several annual reunions. (Rob says it’s hard to remember all of their names!) Our favorite reunion is held at Blowing Rock park in the fall. Rob’s family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve, and we visit Jenny’s family on Christmas day. Each year, we watch our favorite Christmas movies, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Die Hard.” It is meaningful for us to share Thanksgiving meals with our families. At Halloween, we host a spooky party for the kids at our neighborhood clubhouse, and wear costumes to hand out candy at a local Trick-or-Treat event in the park. We always decorate our house for Halloween and Christmas. We hide LOTS of Easter eggs every year for the kids in the neighborhood. During summer, we enjoy backyard BBQs with friends and neighbors and attending movies and concerts in the park. We always try to celebrate the little wins in life (raises/promotions, even good news). We read books to each other on road-trips. We have always had a healthy respect for other cultures and traditions and we look forward to making new ones with your child.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you is that above all else, your child will be happy, healthy and loved. We are looking forward to sharing our family values and traditions with your child, and we would love to include any traditions/values you would like to share. We want you to know that we will always encourage and support your child’s interests. Our parenting philosophy will be built on a foundation of fairness, trust and honesty. We were raised by loving and supportive parents and we intend to do the same for your child. Without you, our dreams would not be possible. We are excited to grow our family.

From the moment we met, we knew we wanted to have children together. No matter the amount of love, life doesn’t always make that an easy option. Our home was purchased with kids in mind. Even though we are both excited and scared, as any new parent would be, we know we will make wonderful parents. It can’t be an easy choice with so many deserving couples seeking to adopt; we can, however, tell you that we will love your child as much as we know you do. Thank you for your courage and selfless decision to choose adoption for your child. Grateful doesn’t begin to express how appreciative we would be to have your child in our lives.

With heartfelt thanks for entrusting us with your precious gift,

~ Rob & Jenny