We both have many hobbies and activities that we enjoy. Chris loves video games, carpentry, fishing, and hunting. He also loves watching sports such as football and soccer. Rosa loves dancing, yoga and cooking. Rosa has a pair of young girls (7 years old and 10 years old) that she mentors generally once a week in the art of crafting. She teaches them different crafts such as crocheting and sewing. Rosa also loves offering free babysitting for single/busy moms. We both volunteer at the church in multiple ways. We are currently trying to set up a garden as well. When time permits, we like to go off somewhere and do a little hiking and taste new foods.

Some of these activities we do as a family while others we do separately. We have begun acquiring and playing board (tabletop) games and card games. Chris is a good teacher – very patient and directing. Rosa is very structural and consistent. Together, we look forward to teaching our children the various hobbies we love. We plan to do many outdoors events (fishing, camping, hunting, and hiking) with them. We also plan to introduce them to sports and fitness (ball sports, dancing, and yoga). And, we plan to get our children involved in our other hobbies of crafting and carpentry. All of this sounds like a lot; however, balance is an important life skill. We will strategically incorporate our hobbies into the life of our children to figure out what they like within the balance of life.

Rosa is Hispanic. She was born in Mexico and lived there until she was 17 years old. She loves the Hispanic culture and the sense of community with all the cultural traditions. Every holiday we participate in the traditional culture with one of her siblings and her mother. When she moved to America, an American family welcomed her into their home while she attended college. She has remained a part of that family ever since. This family was a close-knit family that lived life differently than how she was raised. Both her Latin American culture and her "American family's" culture have had a huge influence on her.

Chris is a rural country boy. His parents both grew up Mennonite (a very strict Christian faith; Amish with electricity). Both of these aspects influenced who he is today. Living in the country developed a love for outdoors and adventures. The Mennonite lifestyle is based on Christianity and living a life of family, community, and sustainability. This is what drives his desire to learn to live a self-sufficient/ independent lifestyle. The Mennonite culture also seeded the concept of strong family structure - not just immediate family but extended family as well. Chris believes constant fellowship with friends and family is very important.

Together, we plan to raise our children in the Hispanic culture, Christian culture, and American country culture. We plan to cultivate children with a sense of love, family, and community. We believe that our cultural backgrounds make us unique and we cannot wait to pass that on to our children.

Our favorite vacation spot would have to be the mountains. We both love hiking and being in nature. We have hiked some mountains in Colorado, Tennessee, and England. One of our goals is to visit all national parks. Chris would say his favorite vacation spot is either Colorado or England. Both of these locations have great hikes, amazing natural scenery, great history, and great food. Yes, for both of us, food is probably the secondary factor in a vacation spot. We still have a large list of places to visit. This may cause some changes in our top vacation spots in the future. Our wish is to take our future children exploring in national and state parks with us every summer. We want to give them chance to experience nature and food in different areas around the world. We cannot wait to share these experiences!

Our community is very supportive of families. There are events ranging from a New Year's Eve Ball Drop to Pirate's Day. Generally, with the big events, there is a children's version that occurs first, then an adult version a little later. There are several firework shows on July 4th and many large Trunk-or-Treats for Halloween.

Our house is a basic 3 bedroom and 2 bath. We are fortunate enough to have a large galley kitchen and an open living/dining with lots of natural light. Our back yard is fantastic! We have plenty of space for a children's play area. We added a large pergola with a covered grilling patio and a garden in the back.

We enjoy walking through the streets that make up our neighborhood. Our neighborhood has a nice neighborhood park with a few swings and slides with a large open area as well as a basketball court (all of this is enclosed by a fence). A mile outside our neighborhood lies a very large community park. This park has soccer fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, and a children playing area with many swings, slides, climbing bars, large foam building blocks, and kids swimming / play area. This park has a large practice pool for distance swimming and aerobics. The community park has walking and biking paths that go for miles. We are not too far from a beautiful beach, either.

Family is very important to us - Family, food, and games! Chris' family lives close unlike Rosa's family. With Chris' family, we try to have dinner together at least once per month, and during the summer we have a lot of beach weekends. We see Rosa's family at least 4 times per year to celebrate holidays, birthdays and vacations. While together we eat a lot of food, talk, watch sports and movies, and play games. Some of our favorite games are: Loteria (Mexican bingo), Clue, the Inventor, Careers, Dominos, Spades, Hearts, Pinochle, Rook, and Yuker.

We try to spend holidays together as a family as well as random cookout/grill days. We divide our holiday time between both of our families. Thanksgiving is a special holiday for Rosa's family. We travel to Rosa's sister's house to celebrate with a diverse menu and wonderful family and friends. We eat delicious turkey and Mexican pasta between other holiday foods. After dinner, we play Loteria until dessert time. Then, we do karaoke, dancing, and more Loteria.

During Christmas with Chris' family, we always play the red elephant game. We usually have a traditional meal full of excellent homecooked food and delicious-homemade desserts. Then, we sit down to watch the little ones in the family open their gifts and stocking. We eat our desserts and play board games after the little ones have their gifts. If there is a sports event on television then we will have that in the background.

We would like to thank you for the potential opportunity you are presenting to us. We know raising a child is challenging, and we are ready for the challenge! We know that this must be a difficult and confusing time deciding what is best for you and your baby. We cannot even begin to understand the thoughts and feelings that are associated with a decision like this. However, what we can do is promise that we will do whatever it takes to support you and the child through this journey. We admire the love you have for your child that is most certainly leading you to consider adoption as an option.

Having our own child was not a possibility - which was sad for us. Giving us the chance to impact your child by letting us take them into our family is generosity beyond measure. We promise to love them with all we are and provide them the best opportunities we are able.

You might be nervous about this - we sure are! We are a mix couple of Caucasian and Hispanic. We consider ourselves pretty smart, but we know that there is no way we can be everything your child needs. We know we need to seek out people and communities to help us fill in the gaps. So we will be asking for lots of help! We know your child will need friends and adults that look like him or her and will need to be able to talk about shared experiences. Our jobs lend us to connections with very cultured individuals of many ethnicities. This gives us unique tools to help equipping your child for success and a fulfilled life.

We have been married for almost 7 years. Our strengths and weakness match well together (one persons strengths matches the others weaknesses and vice versa). We are very lucky! Rosa is hard working, consistent, lively, and loves to dance and laugh. Chris is patient, calm and accepting, compassionate, and optimistic. Both of us have a solid foundation in Christianity which was the aspect that brought us together in the beginning.

Living with us, your child would grow up as part of a tight and loving family. We will have fun laughing , hiking, and learning together - oh and definitely eating! We love cooking and trying new foods. But he or she would also have an important extended community, both through our friends' families and through our close church family. We are also very involved in the local Hispanic community. This is important to Rosa to keep her connected to her culture while away from her family.

We are close to our families on both sides and can't wait for your child to get to know his or her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on family vacations and at the annual holiday celebrations. Your child will have plenty of extended cousins to play with at family get-togethers. Chris has an overwhelming large amount of cousins who recently have had several children (he can never remember all their names because there are so many)!

We would like to assure you that updates and pictures can be provided - probably more through emails and/or letters. We are open to discuss your comfortability of communication and connect with us and your baby. We are both technological people. We can set up a digital connection page to hold all pictures and conversations, in which only you and us can view and edit. This would allows us to be connected.

We are so incredibly excited to become parents! We have imagined having a child who we could share our adventures and love with for years. We are looking forward to hearing their first words, reading them stories, talking, and laughing together. We will always be here for them. Our friends and families are also excited to add another member to the family. This child will be loved beyond measure.

We would love to become a part of your life and your child's life. It is an honor to be considered in your journey.

Chris & Rosa