We love to find new experiences to share together. We believe that you can't always wait for that perfect vacation, but you must take advantage of the time you are given. We frequently go for hikes with our dogs, Shelby and Luna, at one of the many local parks nearby. When we have more time, we like to plan camping trips where we hike in, pitch a tent, and stay the night. One of Matt's favorite memories is making s'mores around the campfire, under the stars. Josh has a passion for astronomy and loves to set up his telescope in the backyard for a night of star gazing. Our favorite beach spot is Cape May on the Jersey Shore. We also enjoy relaxing at home and having movie night, game night, or playing video games. Mostly we enjoy spending time together whatever adventure they pursue.

Matt is a creative and adventurous spirit and makes every day exciting. When our nephews and nieces visit, Matt comes up with endless fun and exciting ideas for everyone to try, whether finding "ancient artifacts" in our backyard or playing laser tag. Josh is the technology and science guy and enjoys teaching our nieces and nephews about astronomy, showing them how to play chess, or even introducing them to virtual reality. As a couple Matt often comes up with fun things to do, while Josh helps get them to the destination. Many of our most fun experiences have started this way, from backpacking in the state forest to exploring Greece, Australia, and the Netherlands.

Matt's core virtue is his unwavering compassion and care for all people. What Josh loves most about him is that he devotes his life to helping people, and his love for children is fully displayed through his work as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a Children's Hospital. Matt approaches everything with common sense, balancing Josh's attention to detail. Matt's unconditional love for people and ability to see right into the hearts of people who need support will make him a great dad.

Josh will always do what's right. His integrity, honesty, and loyalty make him a natural leader and someone to admire. Matt is the spontaneous adventurer and Josh is the map and compass keeping us on the path. Josh is kind and patient and will be a natural father.

We embrace the opportunity to adopt a child of any race or ethnic background. We understand that raising a child of a different race than our own requires us to be fully informed and prepared for what this might mean for our family. We will do this by displaying core values that we think all children should get a chance to see, treating others with respect and dignity and acting with the confidence to be yourself in any situation. Setting a good example begins with the actions we display as parents. We must show our child through our behaviors what it means to be a person of character and compassion. Beyond that we will build a community that will best support our child's racial background. Building friendships, seeking community connection, and finding ways for our child to understand their background in a way that helps them take pride in who they are.

Our home is nestled near a small town in the countryside, down a quiet street where we know all our neighbors. We have a four bedroom home with three bathrooms, and a large basement. One of the bedrooms is already set up for a baby or young child with fun animal scenes painted on the walls. The house is on five acres which includes a large grassy yard and a nature trail behind the house in the woods. We love the natural beauty surrounding our home, with large oak trees on one side, and a large horse farm on the other.

In our neighborhood there's several great parks, a free library, the YMCA with pools and activities, great schools, plus our local church. We are also still close to the summer camp where Matt was a counselor as a teenager, as he is now the camp nurse each summer and our nieces and nephews still go to the camp. Our local community, church, and friends at our jobs, as well as our local family (many aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews) are all very excited about our adoption and can't wait to meet your child.

We are very close to Matt's family. Both of his parents have remarried spouses with children, which makes for lots of cousins! Matt's mother and step-father live in Florida, but visit us frequently. Matt's father and step-mother live in Maryland and are also very supportive. We are excited to have two of Matt's aunts and an uncle close to us, who will be active in the day-to-day life of the little one. All of Matt's 7 siblings are very close and supportive. Between all of them, we have six nephews, and three nieces. We get together with our large extended family every holiday, and we love planning a camping trip with Matt's brother and his family or a weekend trip to the Florida beach with his sister. Joshua's sister lives in Tennessee with two wonderful children. We are grateful for all the people in our lives that will support us and love our child!

Holidays are always a big celebration in our home. We love to gather with family for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Easter, and Halloween. Josh's favorite holiday is Halloween, so this is an extra reason to celebrate big by giving out candy and wearing funny costumes every year. Thanksgiving is a long running tradition and always gathers members of our family from all across the country.

We are Matt and Josh, and we are grateful that you took the time to review our profile. We hope it provides you with an honest window into each of us, our lives as a couple, and our reasons for adopting a child. While we could never understand what it is like to stand in your shoes as an expectant mother, we are thankful that you are considering us.

As you review our profile, we hope that you can see the love we have shared over 10 years of marriage and that we are ready to share that love with a child. We hope that you can see Matt's funny, adventurous, and kind spirit. He is a true natural with children, which has led him to a career as pediatric nurse practitioner. He is also always ready with a joke, a cool magic trick, or the name of a tree, bird, or lizard spotted outside. We hope that you can see Josh as patient, principled, and illuminating. He is both technical and service oriented, which has served him well as both a police officer and now a scientist. He is also always ready with random fact about astronomy or history, a game to play, or a good dad joke.

Know that we understand the responsibility of adopting a child is the most important journey we can take. Everything in our lives will change: Our fundamental commitment will be to care for and raise the child that you have entrusted us with. Every day when we leave for work, prepare a meal, go to after school activities, or just help with homework will be a moment when we are instilling values, teaching critical thinking, and encouraging independence that will make him or her a moral, fulfilled, and courageous person. The next generation of children are the most valuable resource in the world, and we will treat the role of raising a child as if all our futures depend on it. Because we know it does.

As you consider us as adoptive parents for your child, know that if you choose us, we commit to:

Finally, we would like to thank you for considering us as the adoptive parents for your child. As you choose what is right for your child, trust yourself and know that we support your decision, wherever it leads you.

Matt & Josh