As far as life priorities go, it's honestly all about family. We live by family and are often around them. We work with family and we strive to make sure our business is successful for the next generation. We are a family even if it is just the two of us, although we do have our dogs that keep things interesting. Our church is like a big second family. When they learned we are adopting we got so much love and support it was amazing.

We also understand the need for time away from normal life as well. We make it a priority, and we've been keeping true on it until this year, to make sure we travel at least one big trip once per year. It gives us a much needed reset, but it also allows us a chance to experience this great country. Our first year we traveled to New Orleans and enjoyed learning about all of the history of the city. We even discovered Hot Springs, Arkansas, which we used just as a stopping point to spend the night on one of our trips. It has since turned into a favorite place to visit!

We love being part of a family owned business! Together with Amanda's brother, we own and operate a marine service/supply shop at a popular summer vacation spot. The shop was started by Amanda's great grandfather, and we are currently the fourth generation of family to run it.

Amanda does the bookkeeping as well as service writing. She also does basic things like oil changes and detailing boats. Jeremy is one of the techs and he gets training every year to keep his certification. Each summer we are very busy, as that's when we make the most of the businesses money. In the winter time (when things slow down) we have winterizations and we have big projects that keep us busy.

We are able to travel on the weekends around Missouri but in the winter our job allows us to travel for longer periods of time. We are hoping when we are able to retire one day that we will be able to travel a lot more often!

We love our dogs. Currently we have 3 dogs, and they are an important part of our family!

First came Sydney, she is now a 14-year-old Shorkie. She no longer has her teeth, but she is still full of attitude! She keeps up with the big dogs and holds her own pretty well. Sydney is Amanda's dog through and through.

Next we got Camo, who is 11 years old. She is a lab mix and the sweetest lady you'll ever meet.

Our newest pup is Ruger. Currently he is a year and half old and is and American Labrador. He is full of life and energy. He is absolutely silly and we often find him straight up on his back with a stick in his mouth.

We live in Missouri, where both of us also grew up. We live in a very small town now, there isn't even a post office. The summer months are busy here, even though it's a small town, it's a vacation spot since we live by a famous lake.

Our home is a three-bedroom home with a large deck in the back. There are woods as far as the eye can see behind our home. It's really pretty in the early spring time - the Dogwoods bloom and they are all over. We also live right next door to Amanda's aunt and uncle, who we visit often for dinner.

We aren't far from the local park, and even though we are close to the lake, there is an indoor pool there as well. We are also close to two great state parks that we also visit often. In spring/summer months our church meets monthly to have fun hikes together and kayak.

Our community is a great place to raise a family and we cannot wait to share it with a child!

We live in Missouri really close to a lot of Amanda's family. Our work is a family owned and operated business on Amanda's side. Her grandparents live on the same land as the business, and we work with her brother, Chase. A lot of the times we get together it's centered around food. We love having family over or visiting family and trying new recipes.

Even though we don't live as close to Jeremy's family, we still see them often. Jeremy's mom enjoys camping and has a camper. We frequently plan trips together for a quick weekend getaway. We love visiting Arrow Rock, the little town has so much history. Then we spend time sitting around a campfire and catching up with one another.

One of our favorite family traditions is at Christmas. Since our families are so large, instead of buying everyone presents we play a game where we all trade presents. It's a pretty common game, but it is so much fun to play and we cannot wait to share it with a child!

No matter how close or far we are as a family, everyone is so excited that we decided to go on this journey!

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. A gift of love like this isn't lost on us, it's unbelievably courageous. Considering the loving and selfless act of making an adoption plan shows you how strong you are.

We have been married for 12 years. Having a child on our own wasn't in the cards for us. For a while we just figured out how to go through life and accept the hand we had been dealt. Life, for a lot of people, doesn't go as planned and we needed to move forward. So we got dogs and we bought a camper so we could travel more. Although we've accepted our reality, there has always been something missing. We've talked about adoption for a while now. After a lot of thought and prayer we finally decided the time was right. Now we pray mostly about you, that God continues to provide you courage and comfort. We pray that we can be a support system for you. We have a lot of love to give and we will make sure your child always knows of your love.

We would love your child with all our hearts. He or she will always be safe and always have what they need. We have plenty of space in our home. We love to cook and provide for others. We love the company of family and we frequently have family over or go to a family's home for dinner. We own our own business, it's family owned and was handed down from Amanda's side of the family and we are the 4th generation to run it. We are able to take time off and provided the needed day care. Amanda's family is so close by, so there is always a good support system.

We are also active with the church. We are on numerous committees. Jeremy works more behind the scenes, and Amanda mostly works with the music and children's ministry. Our church really means a lot to us, they were so excited when they learned that we were trying to do this.

We are very much into the outdoors. Amanda loves to hike and just explore. Jeremy loves to hunt and fish. We both love to camp and use our camper for weekend trips. Once a year we take a longer 1-2 week camping trip to reset and to explore our beautiful nation. There are so many cultures right here in America you could spend a lifetime exploring them all. Our diverse nation makes us great.

You've read a lot in this letter so far, it must be overwhelming searching through all these letters to find the right family. We are thankful to you for taking the time to read about us!

Sincerely,

Jeremy & Amanda