Priorities often change as your life evolves. Since coming back to Missouri we have really focused on making family a priority in addition to work, spending time together and exercising.

Our careers are still very important to us, but we have refocused some of the time spent on work to enjoy birthday parties, family BBQs and Super Bowl parties with our friends. Jen's brother is disabled so we like to create opportunities for both him and her Mom, that they might not have been able to do in the past. You can often catch us at a baseball game, cheering on the boys in blue!

We are big home bodies and enjoy being outside in the summer or in the cozy living room watching the snow fall. Gardening, going on walks, running/biking as well as playing with our dogs or just enjoying each other's company on the back porch have become things we value after a long day's work.

We are excited to share all of these with a child one day!

Jen's cousin and her husband adopted their two beautiful boys a few years ago and seeing them grow as a family has not only been inspirational but it has allowed us to see the ups and downs to further prepare us for our own journey.

When they became parents to their first little boy, you could truly see god's work in motion. They had been praying for an opportunity to grow their family and when the call came in, there was no hesitation in saying yes and heading out immediately to go meet their baby. They did go through a transracial adoption and seeing them navigate that by creating opportunities not only for them to learn more but for their little boy to be exposed to his culture has enriched their entire family.

It was a couple of years later when they received a call that the same birth mother was requesting them to adopt her second child. Being the amazing people that they are, they again without hesitation said YES! How wonderful it is to see these two half-brothers grow up in such a loving home and what a blessing it is to have adoptive family members that our child could one day lean on.

We believe that no race is above another and that knowing/embracing ones history will help to define you as an individual. We know firsthand from our time living in New York that being exposed to different cultures, opinions and backgrounds only adds value and expands one's mind, empathy and thoughts on how the world should look.

If our journey leads us to a transracial adoption we will make sure that we do everything we can to foster cultural awareness to enrich not just the life of our child but also furthering our growth as parents to a child of a different race. Building a library with books that speak to diversity, inclusion as well as introducing culturally aware toys would be a must. Promoting open communication about topics that are relevant to the current climates of the world will help us lead our child on a path of their own self-discovery to who they want to be one day.

We would create a safe space for anyone in our home, where we would encourage understanding different perspectives and welcoming different backgrounds. We know there is so much to learn and welcome the knowledge that would come from group activities with other families that have kids of the same race.

Building a community where our child feels seen, heard and accepted is at the top of our list.

We reside in Missouri and purchased our home just over four years ago. Our home is a Tudor with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We spend most of our time in the living/dining room area, watching movies, chatting about our day or playing with the dogs. Our block is quite quaint with plenty of families and neighborhood block parties where folks gather and enjoy each others company. There is a trail not too far from us, which we use a lot in the summer for walks with the dogs.

The holidays are a big deal in our neighborhood. There are always a ton of kids that come for trick or treating and at Christmas time, the homes are all decorated with lights, lots and lots of lights. Families flock to our neighborhood to take in all of the cheer and can often enjoy a nice cup of coco from a few select neighbors!

We have a few local parks that are within walking distance or a short car ride. There is a local YMCA as well as a few schools with some amazing summer programs that the entire family can enjoy.

Our neighborhood and home are our happy place!

We have been together since high school and grew our extended family from an early age. We are close with Frankie's sister Ang and our nieces. Celebrating life milestones has become a tradition, since relocating back to Missouri a few years ago. You can often catch us at a nice dinner, raising a glass to cheers to a birthday, a new job or overcoming an obstacle. We recently celebrated Ang beating breast cancer! Showing up for one another is a way of life for our family.

Jen's mom and brother are the closest to us. Her father passed away a few years ago and Michael, her brother, is handicapped, so we are all together a lot. They live nearby and we enjoy car rides, going to Royals games and barbecuing in the summer time. Cindy, or grandma as we refer to her, enjoys watching our three pups if we are going to be away from the house for an extended period of time. She along with Ang are two of the strongest women we know!

Our close friends Rory and Mekayla are friends from our New York City days that now live five minutes from us. We love spending time with them and their three beautiful girls. Our favorite activity is hanging out with them and enjoying dinner and a movie.

They, along with the rest of our family are so excited to welcome a new child into the tribe!

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. We can't imagine the emotions you must be feeling in making such a big decision, but we are here to support you throughout the entire journey and beyond.

We've been together since high school and have built an amazing life for ourselves. From school plays/sketches, to band, to cheerleading and homecoming King and Queen. We had a lifetime of memories before even leaving high school. We knew that we wanted to see and experience as much as possible, so setting a goal like moving to New York after college was exactly how we were going to accomplish that.

New York was a chapter in our life that carved us into the people we are today. Ambitious, foodies, the ability to think on our feet when something doesn't go as planned. It gave us our life long friends, it taught us that anything is possible when you work for it and being exposed to different backgrounds and opinions are so important. It showed us that a supportive family can take you far in life and when something like a pandemic happens or a parent falls ill, it gives you the strength to make a bold decision. A decision to give it all up and move home, because you know that when family needs you, that is what your priorities should be.

We have been back in Missouri for just over three years now and while it was never on our bingo card, we are so grateful that it happened. Coming home has given us new perspective on the importance of things. How you can find the same joys in a different city and most importantly you can create new memories more often with the people who supported your hopes and dreams. It gave us the opportunity to buy our first home on a block that is out of a storybook, surrounded with trees and families watching their own kids grow up. It made us want to grow a family of our own.

Being in our forties, we know the complications that can come with conceiving a child naturally and felt like adoption was the journey for us to grow our family. We are so excited to become parents and watch this child grow. We know that the world isn't always a nice place and we want to create a safe space for difficult conversations, a warm place for amazing conversations and a vibrant space for silly conversations.

We didn't grow up with a silver spoon in our mouth, but we were and are surrounded with the support and love that gives one the courage to be creative, to be outspoken, to want to learn and see what is out there. We want that for our child and can't wait for it all to begin.

Please know that this child will know where they came from and how much you love them. We want to continue this relationship through FaceTime, pictures and letters. We hope this letter gave you some insight on us as people and what kind of life we are looking forward to building with a child.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Frankie & Jen