When we began discussing adoption, the question of race was not even in the forefront of our thoughts. Our dream is to become parents; and will welcome a child of any race or ethnicity into our lives. We will love them, support them and encourage them their entire life. We want to provide a loving, supportive environment for the child to grow and learn who they are as an individual and to do so with confidence.

We understand there are cultural differences in every race and that there are traditions and customs within races that are important to understand and respect. We want to learn about those things, to not only improve our personal knowledge, but to also be able to assist our child in understanding who they are and where they came from. The relationship we build with you as the birth parent(s) and family will help us in that pursuit of knowledge.

We are fortunate to live in a smaller community that is very open and supportive. However, we know there are people in this world who have prejudices. We will take those challenges as they come, but believe us when we tell you we are fierce in protecting those we love and will do everything to keep our child safe and ensure they are not broken or discouraged by that negativity.

We are a pretty laid back couple. We enjoy spending time at home relaxing with a good movie, book or board game or at social gatherings with friends and family. But we also appreciate the beautiful part of the country we live in. We have mountains, rivers, deserts and everything in between accessible to us for exploring. One of Brian's favorite things is to go hiking or camping in all of these places. Cora appreciates the camping aspect but is more inclined to set up camp and relax in a camping chair or hammock and enjoying the scenery than to hike about all day. There are many lakes around us that offer both hiking options as well as swimming or fishing which are excellent ways to spend a summer day in the mountains of Colorado.

Cora enjoys drawing and painting and fairly often goes with friends to paint classes or various craft events. Brian spends some of his indoor leisure time reading or playing video games.

We both like to travel as well and try to go on at least one vacation a year to somewhere we either haven't been before that is nearby or, lately at least, do some sort of big trip with Brian's family somewhere much further away like Hawaii or Alaska. We would like to continue traveling with our child to show them more places in the country and the world.

One of the more unique family traits or traditions we have revolves around hot air balloons. Brian's uncle is a balloon pilot and the family as a whole is his flight crew. Every year we participate in the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. This is a week-long event with various competitions for pilots and activities for the public. The flight crew gets to help launch and then follow and "catch" the balloon upon landing. When not flying or chasing, the family sets up "camp" on the field and socializes or waits for the evening events like fireworks or drone shows.

Besides ballooning our family participates in Snowdown, a local winter festival in our town that runs one to two weeks long and has events ranging from music trivia to dress up contests for family pets. There is a HUGE amount of events for children that we would love to let our child participate in, we did them as kids and have fond memories of playing in the snow or wearing matching outfits with our pets to win trophies. Its a fun local and family tradition.

Christmas would be the next big family time or tradition. Usually Brian's immediate family (mom, dad, sisters, grandma) are in town for several days and we do meals together along with movies, gingerbread houses, and so many board games. A big dinner with all the fixings on Christmas Eve and posole and tamales on Christmas morning. The light decorations at grandma's house are always a sight to see.

We live in southwest Colorado and are close to mountains, rivers, and the desert for outdoor activities. Our home is on three acres of land and we are next door to Brian's parents' property, which gives us even more room to develop the space as we need and lots of space for our child to explore outsid. We are also within a short 15-minute drive of three different towns for school, community events, playgrounds, etc. We have a three-bedroom home with a large open concept living room and kitchen where friends and family congregate for get togethers. The house was placed on the property only a year or two prior to us buying it so there is still landscaping to plan and finish as our family and needs grow. We envision establishing a welcoming outdoor seating/fire pit area beyond the big back porch for evening campfires as well as a play ground area for our future child. We share our home with our two dogs, a Great Dane (Kiara) and an american bully (Lilliana), as well as our three cats (Bob, Maxwell and Moxie).

With grandma and grandpa next door comes the fun things they have like a four wheeler and chickens currently with plans to get more livestock in the future that the child would get to help play with and care for.

There are seven homes in our neighborhood and two of them have small children who are often out and about exploring in the wooded area between their house and ours. Our neighbors are friendly and always looking out for one another with occasional community events for the neighborhood.

We are fortunate to have a loving group of extended family, some live nearby while others are a bit further away. Brian's parents live on the property directly next door to us as well as his youngest sister and her husband. The rest of Brian's family are about four hours away and we see them regularly throughout the year. Get togethers with Brian's family always means competitive board games and lots of joking around.

Cora has two sisters who live out of Colorado which offers us wonderful opportunities to visit and see different parts of the country, one is in California and near the beaches and the other is in the Midwest. We travel to one or the other's home typically once or twice a year. Beyond the sisters Cora's parents have both passed and the rest of her VERY large extended family is spread across the country.

We have several very close family friends in town that we regularly have dinner with or go to various shows/events around town. Several of them have children that refer to us as "aunty" and "uncle" even though we are not biologically related, watching these children grow into young adults has brought us great joy, we love being a part of their lives.

First and foremost thank you for taking the time to look at our profile and consider us in your decision making. We want to tell you how much we admire and respect the strength you have and the emotions you must be feeling as you make some incredibly tough life choices. Just considering us as parents for your child is an honor, an honor we promise to never take for granted.

We have been together since 2017, married since 2019 and our love for each other grows deeper everyday, that love will undoubtedly be shared with our child as we welcome them into our family. Due to infertility issues we have not been able to build a family on our own and have put faith into wonderful individuals like yourself to grant us that long desired dream of parenthood. We look forward to the opportunity to watch our child grow and learn all that life can offer to them.

We live in an area that offers a lot of outdoor exploration which sparks children's imaginations and wonder for the world and all it holds. Our child will have the opportunity for activities such as swimming, rafting, hiking, hot air ballooning, skiing, sledding and ATV or horseback riding. Beyond those exciting opportunities they can join us in more relaxing times like enjoying a good book while swaying in the breeze in a hammock or building campfires and cooking over an open flame under the starry night sky. But we are not so rural that the benefits of city life such as good schools, shopping, concerts, theater and various community events escape us. We have multiple options for schools in our area and will ensure our child gets a good education to set them up for their future dreams, whatever those may be.

Our extended family is very close both in camaraderie and physical proximity, most of Brian's family lives within 4 hours of us and we see them often. His parents live directly next door so the opportunity for spoiling by grandma and grandpa is ever present. Cora's family is further away but spread across the country which allows us the opportunity to travel to different areas and enjoy different parts of the country. With our family we do many activities like game nights, vacations, hot air balloon festivals, community parades and celebrations or sometimes just a night on the couch watching movies together.

If you select us to raise your child we can guarantee the child will know unconditional love for the entirety of their life. We will raise them to be proud of who they are as an individual as well as the birth family they came from and their heritage. We hope to remain in contact with you to the extent you are comfortable with through various forms of communications such as phone calls, emails, texts as well as hand written letters and photos. If it is feasible to us, and you, we would be willing to figure out in-person visitations if you are open to that during the child's life as well. We will never lie to our child about where they came from and will make sure they are aware that you and your family, as their birth family, placed them with us out of nothing but pure love and good intent. Their adoption is truly a gift to everyone involved and we, again, are honored to even be considered for this gift.

As our hearts jump into our throats with each ring of the phone, thinking it may be "the call" telling us you have selected us as parents for your child please know that our heart is also with you as you make hard decisions and are faced with unimaginable emotions. Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us a little bit, we hope to get the chance to get to know you as well.

Sincerely,

Brian & Cora