During our 10 years of marriage, we've built new traditions as well as bringing various older ones in from our ancestors. Though we were raised with different cultures, religions, languages and circumstances, we both enjoy celebrating holidays, birthdays and important life events with family and friends. In December we decorate a tree with Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year ornaments, as well as using traditional candles, prayers and gifts to celebrate our varied backgrounds. We have a new tradition of putting a custom-made jigsaw puzzle together as a family which is a photo commemoration of Lana's beloved late mother dancing with Lana's Papa.

Our birthdays are close, so we host an annual joint "Lana-than's Birthday," where we treat a packed house to tasty home-made delights, good music, games and dancing. Our closest people know it's a party not to miss!

Every few months we visit a friends' cozy cabin in the North Carolina mountains for hiking, camp fires, lazy river tubing and more.

Our time together "just the two of us" is most cherished, and we dream of becoming "three or four of us" when we adopt. Beach walks, nature hikes, dining out, working on mutual projects and attending live music concerts are our favorites. Often it's Jonathan performing on stage! Life never gets boring.

Jonathan About Lana: Lana is my best friend and life partner: an amazing wife. One of the most positive, resilient, intelligent and beautiful people I've ever met, she balances strength and toughness with a huge heart. We share a sense of humor and make each other laugh. We also love dancing, exploring adventures and good food together. Yet it's Lana's acts of love, care, kindness and thoughtfulness to family, friends, children and strangers in need that I admire most about her. In her role as a teacher, school leader and auntie to our friends' kids, all children who meet her adore her because she connects with them and brings them joy. I can't imagine anyone who would be a more loving mother. I can't wait to parent together!

Lana About Jonathan: I love how Jonathan is very talented, artistic and creative in his professional life as a performing saxophonist and music teacher and what a creative problem-solver he is in our family life. Jonathan is kind, down-to-earth, intelligent, responsible, thoughtful and compassionate. He has been my amazingly supportive rock at every step through our lives together. It always makes my heart full to watch Jonathan interacting with children. Whether it's our nephews or nieces, cousins, friends, neighbors or students, they all love him! He can be patient and serious, yet also funny and fun to be with. I'm looking forward to seeing him be a dad and the father of our adopted children!

Jonathan is a third-generation American. "Both sides of my family descend from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe who moved to England and the United States in the last century." Lana has been a lawful resident in the United States since 2014 and is a new American citizen. She was baptized a Christian in Russia, where she was born and raised.

Jonathan is a Jewish American with international heritage. Lana is a Christian Chuvash Russian and a proud new American. Some of Jonathan's in-laws and first cousins, with whom we are close, are multi-racial and Black. Our family is international, multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial and interfaith! We welcome friends into our lives of all races, ethnic groups, national origins and religions. We respect all types of honest, thoughtful, loving, good-hearted people. We sympathize with poor, working-class and middle-class folks. We respect the rights of immigrants. We are educated on the experiences and histories of descendants of enslaved people, and people from Black and other non-European immigrant communities in the USA. We disapprove of and do not engage in discrimination and bigotry. The beloved child we adopt will be taught to love all people and have authentic connections to people who share their heritage.

Our gorgeous home is a spacious one-story house with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, newly renovated kitchen/living/dining room, office, sunroom, music room, mechanical workshop and garage, with front and backyards, large porch and many trees and plants. We love hosting family and friends.

Our coastal southeastern town includes diverse communities. A tourist destination for people the world over, we have a rich history, spectacular nature and famous music and food culture. Our friends' kids enjoy the local aquarium, children's museum, libraries, our many public family waterparks, five beaches (two 15 minutes from our home and three others each about 50 minutes away), music classes for babies and parents together, local parades and public holiday festivals. We love our historical waterfront parks, daily harbor cruises and horse-drawn carriage tours. We enjoy riding bikes along the local creek path.

Our town and especially our neighborhood have a huge population of younger families with kids, folks from all walks of life, with tons of opportunities for kids to be kids in a safe and supportive public environment.

We have close bonds with family in town or a short drive away, and in Russia. We treasure our frequent fun and togetherness time during holiday celebrations, playtime, meals, vacations and birthdays. We feel lucky to host Lana's parents, aunt and uncle from Russia and have traveled there several times. Both sides of our family's in-laws enjoy time together; we are a close-knit bunch.

Our family traditions include cooking together, card and board games, video games, movies, attending live concerts and shows, adventure hikes, swimming at local pools and beaches; and walks in our gorgeous, historic town. We enjoy vacationing together, too! We take our nieces and nephews to local parks, where you can find us on the swings, playing soccer, riding bikes and throwing footballs. We cheer on the kids in their sports competitions. Recently, we sat down at the piano with them and wrote a hilarious bedtime song! We have several close couples friends in town that are like family to us. Their kids call us auntie and uncle.

Our entire family is super supportive of our adoption plans. Our parents are thrilled to become grandparents through adoption. We will raise the child we adopt with more love than words can say! They will be adored and pampered by our entire family. We will ensure the honored birth mom or couple is involved positively as the child gets the love, care, family experiences and joy we all give, shared by everyone in our diverse family.

We feel honored and grateful that you are learning about us, and hopeful that we connect with each other. Though we don't know you and your circumstances, we already respect you and know you have a big, loving and brave heart because of the selfless way you're considering placing your beloved child for adoption. We are a family who will love and care for your child infinitely.

We met in 2013 when Lana was visiting her family in our town. We married a year later. Lana helps run a music school and is a foreign language teacher. Jonathan is a performing saxophonist and music teacher. We have wanted to become parents together ever since we got engaged. After 9 years of trying, facing infertility struggles through it all, we believe adoption is our destiny. We share a sense of humor and make each other laugh. We are down-to-earth and practical, yet also creative. We love to dance, explore adventures and experience good food, music and art together. We make a great team, helping each other with kindness, thoughtfulness and resilience. We balance and compliment each other well.

Adoption is a beautiful way for families to grow, creating the most special kind of family, one we choose together. We want to adopt and give all our love in service to your child, who will be safe and cherished in our hands. We will feel incredibly honored, proud and joyful if you entrust us to raise your most precious baby and provide a stable and caring parental home.

We promise to honor you in our home, to always be here when you reach out, to raise the child to know and respect you and your love for them. We will raise our adopted children to love and care for you, guiding them to know and authentically connect to your cultural heritage and the traditions that are important to you. We're happy to share letters, photos, phone or video calls, emails and texts to give updates about the child's milestones and successes. When the time is right, visits to be a big family are a possibility. We want our relationship to work for all of us.

As their primary carers, we promise your child will grow up healthy, happy and strong, nurtured and flourishing, knowing they are special and chosen. We will go to any length to provide them with a loving, educational environment and a life of joy and community. They will always be able to depend on us, as we ensure they learn all the skills and have all the tools and positive experiences needed to have a good life. We will teach your child all of our values: how they matter; how each person deserves love and dignity; how to make choices that demonstrate respect for themselves and others; how to forgive themselves and others for mistakes; to never give up and to remember that staying calm is a super power that takes patient practice. We will challenge them to believe in their best selves, to accept and love people just the way they are, and to help make a better, more just world.

We are both educators with schedules that allow us the flexibility to prioritize our parental duties together. With holiday breaks and extended summer vacations, we will have tons of quality family time.

Our family and friends are ready to welcome our adopted kids and be their loving and supportive village. Our parents, siblings and closest aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and close friends have all expressed their absolutely rock solid support for adoption. They've said we will be amazing parents and are all excited to be a loving family to the child we adopt.

Thank you for considering us as potential parents for your child. Our hearts pray for your health, well-being and peace of mind. We can only try to imagine the difficult decisions ahead for you, and are offering to walk hand in hand with you on this journey, together. From the deepest part of our hearts and souls, we know that if you choose adoption, raising adopted children will be the biggest gift and treasure of our lives.

With Love,

Jonathan & Lana