Introduction

Dear Expectant Parent(s),

Hi! We’re Val and Kevin – fun-loving dorks who can be a bit shy at times. But we’ve got a lot of love to give. We see adoption as a beautiful way to grow a family, and we’re grateful to be considered as adoptive parents to your child. And excited!

We live about 45 minutes outside of Boston, in a lovely Massachusetts suburb. Boston’s always fun to visit, but we’re also all about tossing frisbees in the yard and grilling outside. We love our town! A big part of the reason we chose it was because it’s a great place to start a family and has an excellent school system. Our house is on a quiet cul-de-sac with friendly neighbors whose kids are always out playing, and there’s a bike trail right next to it that connects neighboring towns, which is great for taking a stroll or a bike ride. Also, there are elementary schools with nice playgrounds a short walk away, and an ice cream shop that’s open year round. We can confirm: it’s just as delicious in the middle of winter!

About Us

We met near the end of our junior year of college when our social circles began to overlap. Over the next three years, we became closer and closer friends. Our first official date lasted for an entire day. We ate lunch, spent hours wandering around our alma mater, went shopping for a rug, went out to dinner, and watched a movie at Kevin’s apartment. Kevin walked Val out to her car later that evening, and we shared our first kiss. We both knew at that moment that we each had found our person. It was so obvious that we were going to be together for the long run.

In April 2008, Kevin plotted out an elaborate proposal scavenger hunt, which began with a telegram and ended with a proposal in the gardens of our college. In 2009, we said “I do” in front of our friends and family, and we purchased our current home in 2011. We’ve spent a lot of time enjoying each other’s company and are looking forward to welcoming a new member of our team!

Adventure

We love to expand our horizons through trying new things, both big and small. One of our favorite things to do is travel. It is so inspiring to us to marvel at the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge in the Outer Banks, or the salt flats in Death Valley. We’ve taken cruises to beautiful Caribbean countries as well as to see glaciers up in Alaska. This past year, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Sweden. Everywhere we’ve been, we’ve met warm and welcoming folks and had interesting cultural experiences. This is something we are so excited to share with a little one.

There are so many wondrous things out there to see! It doesn’t have to be far, though. Sometimes we just need to look at things in a different way. One of the fun things we do is geocaching, which has taken us on so many adventures. Geocaching is a worldwide community of people who hide little treasures for others to find, anywhere and everywhere. When you find it, you sign a log and maybe swap out a little toy. Many times these caches are hidden in places with interesting backstories or beautiful views, so it’s always a learning experience and often some good exercise too. We’ve learned so much about local history and seen so many beautiful places this way. We even found a 120 foot long train set built into the landscape of a local town forest! Adventure can be found just about anywhere, and we can’t wait to experience that through the eyes of a child.

Our Family and Friends

Our families are looking forward to welcoming their first grandchild. Kevin’s parents and brother live just an hour and a half drive away. It’s easy for us to get together and celebrate birthdays and holidays throughout the year. Val’s mom lives 3.5 hours away by car, but we find that it’s close enough for weekend trips. Since Kevin’s family lives about halfway between us and Val’s mom, we all celebrate Thanksgiving together at their house.

In addition to our families, we have what we call our “friend family” – a close-knit group that grew out of our college friendships. They are basically our chosen extended family. We celebrate holidays, milestones, and take vacations together. Over the years, our friend family has grown with the addition of significant others and children. Hanging out with the children of our friend family has given us a taste of the joys of parenthood as we’ve watched them grow. We can’t wait to add a new member to the friend family – our child will grow up with a built-in set of buddies from day one!

Our Careers

Val is a web developer at a tech media company, and Kevin is a software engineer at a large tech company. These are stable careers that we’ve held for many years. We’re both in leadership positions, coordinating efforts among teams of talented engineers. These jobs have provided opportunities for us to solve interesting problems, learn new things, and work with great people. Perhaps most importantly, we both have a lot of flexibility in work / life balance. We have a generous amount of paid parental leave and continuing flexibility to work from home.

Kevin (by Val)

Kevin is my favorite co-conspirator. No matter what adventure we’ve embarked on, from sightseeing in Sweden to food shopping for the week, it’s 1000% better when we’re together.

We both have the same wacky sense of humor. As I sit here writing this and looking at Kevin, he’s making silly faces and hand gestures to make me chuckle. There is a lot of laughter in our house from sharing inside jokes and watching (or re-watching) our favorite sitcoms, like Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine… basically, anything Michael Schur has touched.

One of Kevin’s ongoing projects is rebuilding a remote control truck that he’s had since he was a kid. It started out as just a couple of upgrades when he had some disposable income as an adult. At this point, though, there are hardly any original parts left, but you can still sense the spirit of the original truck lingering underneath. I can just see him and our child out in our cul-de-sac, chasing each other’s remote control vehicles around in circles!

Kevin is one of the most empathetic, kind, and compassionate people I have ever known. He always strives to see the best in people. Even when he fundamentally disagrees with someone, he wants to understand their viewpoints and find common ground.

In times of turbulence, Kevin is calm and level-headed. He balances out my tendency to become anxious and worried, and keeps me grounded. It feels a little cheesy to say, but he’s my rock.

Val (by Kevin)

My life is so much cooler with Val by my side. She expands my horizons, challenges me to think differently, and is always on my team. She makes fun happen!

I really admire Val’s artistic side. She’s awesome at things like crocheting, painting, playing the flute, and photography. Don’t get me wrong though, she’s just as much of a dork as I am – and this is a wonderful thing to me. Her creativity is often channeled into fun ideas for traveling or just killing some time agreeably.

We both really value experiencing culture and seeing the world. For both of us, some of our fondest memories have been traveling with our families, and we can’t wait to make some new ones. One life experience I won’t soon forget is taking photos of the starry night sky with Val on a trip to a desert town across the country that has neat metal sculptures of dragons and eagles everywhere.

Val is just as adventurous with food. I wasn’t the most well-rounded eater when I was young, but Val was fearless. She happily chomped down some escargot at age eight. Now, she’s constantly exploring new cuisines and coming up with interesting twists on things I would never think of.

There’s no one I would rather have in my corner. When I was feeling chronically sick from food issues and a doctor suggested cutting out gluten and dairy, Val cleared out the kitchen and up-ended everything about how we eat without missing a beat. She took it as an opportunity to try things differently, and make me feel like I wasn’t missing out one bit. No matter what life throws at us as adoptive parents, I know that she will make our child feel endlessly loved and safe.

Our Cats

So yeah… we’re those people. We have 3 cats that we absolutely adore, and we’re excited to share our love of felines with our child. Each cat has a very distinct personality, all of whom will adapt well to a newcomer.

Amber, our oldest cat at 13 years old, is a small, squeaky brown tabby. She’s shy around new people, but loyal and loving to those who spend a lot of time with her. Once she determines that you’re one of her people, she will insist on your full attention!

Orville, our middle cat at 9 years old, is a soft, fluffy orange and white tabby. He has some extra toes on most of his paws – it looks like he is wearing mittens with big thumbs. He’s very social and curious, and loves to meet new people and enjoy their affection.

Parker, the 6 year old, is our youngest cat. He’s also a brown tabby like Amber, though a little larger than her. He’s energetic and loves to play and run around the house, but he is also our most chill cat. He spends a lot of time curled up next to us, purring loudly and looking for belly rubs.

In Closing

The decision you are making is not something we’ve ever had to face, and we know we can’t put ourselves in your shoes. Please know that we are committed to whatever level of openness and forms of communication you are comfortable with, not just now, but in the future as well. No matter what, we love taking photos and will be constantly documenting life as it happens. We will share as much as you’d like at any time.

We appreciate you taking the time to learn a little bit about us as a couple, and hope that you have gotten a sense of what kind of parents we would be. We want to thank you for considering us. We are humbled and promise to provide your child with unconditional love, always. It would be wonderful to meet you, but please proceed however you are most comfortable. No matter what, we will raise your child knowing how much you love them, and we will remain open to whatever level of contact you would like to have.

Please call Full Circle Adoptions at 1-800-452-3678 if you would like to learn more about us or speak with us.

Sincerely,

Val & Kevin