Felipe was born in a dynamic city in Mexico and grew up with Spanish as his first language. He loved watching his mother cook and playing loteria with his family. Felipe has a close-knit family and grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts and uncles, his brother David, and his cousins, one of whom was adopted within the family. He has Spanish heritage and was educated at a school founded by exiles from the Spanish Civil War. That history influenced Felipe's sense of how his Mexican identity is the result of the encounter of multiple cultures. We will offer our child the opportunity to learn Spanish as well as learn about Mexican traditions such as Dia del Niño (Day of the Child) and Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead). Felipe honors family members who have passed on Dia de Muertos with their favorite foods. Felipe became a US citizen nearly a decade ago, and feels happily in touch with the American culture he began absorbing in Mexico through literature, popular music, and cinema.

Karen was born in Connecticut and has British and Italian ancestors. Karen's grandfather moved to the United States from England with his family as a teenager, and he eventually served in World War II. We still have a lot of family records and genealogy available. Karen's great-grandparents on her dad's side immigrated to the United States from Italy and Karen's aunts still make some of their cookie recipes today.

We enjoy our time in our home with our cat Sophie. On weekends Felipe will make French toast or omelets in the morning, and we will go on walks on our community trail. We'll usually go out to eat a couple of times a week. Our favorites include Thai, pizza, and sushi. We look for new exhibits at the art museum that we can appreciate on an afternoon. We attend many of the local plays, musicals, and college activities right in our town. Felipe takes great care of the lawn, and Karen focuses on organizing and cleaning the house. We both enjoy growing vegetables in our raised bed. It's very rewarding to cook using basil, cucumber, eggplant, and green onions from our backyard. Felipe is the cook of the house. He loves when Karen finds new recipes, which is an arrangement that Karen appreciates! At night after we've gone for a walk, we will often watch programs on our projector with our cat Sophie on our laps. Shows we watch together include The Bear and Silo, and a handful of others about house design or tiny houses. On nice days, we go hiking at the parks. Karen usually will go horseback riding 1-2 times a week and assist with the riding classes. Karen has a women's book club and Felipe a men's board game group. While we have fun on our vacations, we are always happy to return to our house and relaxed, everyday life.

Karen appreciates that Felipe is so creative, adaptable, and hardworking. He is very family--oriented, and enjoys his time with Karen and his family. Felipe is very caring and a good listener. He is a collaborative partner, working together with Karen in the garden and taking care of our house and cat Sophie. Felipe enjoys trying out cooking new recipes. He is dedicated to helping students with their writing, and enjoys talking about many different writing subjects. Felipe is very extroverted and enjoys speaking with people, whether in the community or at book talks and lectures. He is always willing to take on a new challenge--whether it is a new role on a committee, setting up my mother's new computer, or fixing something around the house.

Felipe loves Karen's strength, resilience, and kindness. Karen stays calm and focused in trying times and has smart solutions for all kinds of problems, from the organization of the house to where to find something on the internet. Karen is a great researcher, which is ideal for her library work. Also ideal for her library work is her immense care for others. She is always thinking of everyone's needs whenever she makes plans. Felipe says that everything that is lovely in his life comes from Karen, because she is dedicated to creating beautiful and cozy spaces. Felipe delights in Karen's sense of humor, which is low-key but surprising.

We live in a family-friendly college town in Arkansas. Children often play in the front yards of our quiet suburb and our house is within walking distance of a community trail where families ride bikes and walk. We walk on the trail to get ice cream, go to a restaurant, and see herons, turtles and bunnies in and around the creek. We are a short drive away from splash pads, a community swimming pool with waterslides and a lazy river, and playgrounds. The local park has a lake and frisbee golf course. There are many walking and bike trails in our community. Within a thirty-minute drive we can see some of the most beautiful parks in the state, with lovely hiking and swimming locations. The town and colleges stage children's plays and theatre productions and host bands and symphonies. The colleges have many activities for kids, such as cultural festivals, sports games, and camps. Our town has a yearly arts festival and a town festival with games, music, and fairground attractions. We are within driving distance to art, history, and science museums. Our house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a large cozy living room, dining room, and a sunny eat-in kitchen. We have a large back and front yard, and a raised bed for vegetables.

We love spending time with both sides of our family and travel to visit each of them once or twice a year. Felipe's exuberant family lives in a large, cosmopolitan city in Mexico. Felipe's mom, aunt, uncle, and great-cousin all live in the same apartment building, and his brother David, sister-in-law Alia, and cousin Mitzi visit frequently as well! Our favorite activities include taco nights with family, playing lotería, visiting museums, watching plays and movies, and going on daily walks in the neighborhood. We can walk to the grocery store, movie theater, restaurants, and a very fancy mall! One doesn't have to walk far in Mexico to find many wonderful sights.

Karen's DIY-enthusiast family visits Arkansas about once a year. We travel to see them in Karen's Connecticut childhood home, which is surrounded by woods. Karen's brother David and his partner Jacqueline live right down the road. The town is a popular destination for families, with an aquarium within driving distance. We love going out to eat lobster rolls, and sometimes Karen's aunts and uncles join us. We also enjoy walking to the downtown area, going to the movies, and visiting our favorite hometown bookstore. The beach is only 25 minutes away, and we try to visit several times each trip. We enjoy eating ice cream afterwards and seeing Karen's childhood carousel. Karen and Felipe's families are looking forward to welcoming a child to our family through adoption.

Hello.

We are Karen and Felipe, and we hope you will get to know us a little bit through these words. We want to start by telling you that we understand considering adoption must be tremendously difficult. We believe that whatever decision you make for your child will be the right one. We will support you in your journey, and if you choose adoption, become a loving family for your child.

We will provide a nurturing, caring, and peaceful home for a child, where we teach them about the importance of kindness and encourage them to follow their dreams. It will be a home that fosters their curiosity and creativity, and gives them ample room to engage with the world on their own terms while receiving warm, committed guidance. It will be a safe place where they can find themselves, feel like they're part of a community, and lead a meaningful life. We think what makes such a home are the small moments. A day at our home can be a slow Saturday morning, when we sit on our patio after tending to the vegetables in our raised bed; it can be looking forward to an afternoon at a museum, or an evening at a play, concert, or movie; it can be deciding what we will read or reread while curling up with our cat Sophie.

We've been together since college: 19 years in total, 14 married, so we know how to work well as a team. We understand each other's strengths and lean on each other when needed. Soon after we started dating, we began discussions about our shared values and the importance of family. We always had planned on having children and we've made many life decisions accordingly, such as choosing family-friendly careers and a safe and walkable neighborhood when buying a house. After we discovered we weren't able to have children, we considered our options for several years before deciding on adoption to grow our family.

We work with college students, Felipe as a college administrator and Karen in a university library. Felipe has summers off, and he would be ecstatic to spend those summers with a child if they're not at camp or other fun activity! Karen previously worked in schools with children, teaching high school for two years and working in K-8 schools with students with disabilities for five years. Karen also worked at a daycare and camp in college. All of these experiences have prepared us to raise your child thoughtfully and lovingly every step of the way.

We will be excited to see the child's interests develop and embrace their identity. We both experienced childhoods full of fun, structure, and respect for the persons we were becoming. Family time was the top priority. As parents, we will always put your child first, and love them for who they are and who they will be.

Storytelling matters to us. This home is filled with it, which is why we are drawn to the idea of open adoption. Hearing the stories of both the birth and adoptive families is a positive experience for a child. They are the tales of the people that love them. We believe that we have the thoughtfulness, dedication, and humility to talk about adoption with the child and ensure they know where they come from and how much you love and care for them. If you are interested in an open adoption, we will join you wholeheartedly. We will send letters and pictures, and would welcome emails and phone calls. We would like to talk with you more about what you envision for an open adoption. We will try to find opportunities to meet in person through the years if that would work for you.

We're filled with hope for a future that will surprise us. It will be our honor to share that hope with you. Should we have the fortune to become the adoptive parents of your child, we will keep our eyes, minds and hearts open to what's to come. In every scenario, the child will be loved.

We'll be thinking of you. Thank you for reading.

Warmly,

Felipe & Karen