We currently live in a small city in the mountains with our dog, Cricket. Past homes ranged from a beautiful old farmhouse in the middle of the woods to a small downtown apartment in a vibrant city. We made lifelong friends everywhere we lived, and we found time to go on unforgettable trips - to Iceland, Belgium, India, and Belize. Through all that, we've been madly in love. We've supported each other in difficult times, celebrated each other's successes, and actively prioritized our love for each other.

Now that we've started to settle down, we're ready to expand our family and share the love we've grown with a child. Emily's step-sister navigates an open adoption for our nephew, so we know open adoption can be both emotionally difficult for birth parents, but provides much-needed clarity for adoptees. We'd love to have you present in our child's life. We've seen firsthand that having more family members to love a child is only ever a good thing.

• Botanist at a beautiful public garden
• Loves to hike, rock climb, ride motorcycles, and drink tea
• Very tall
• Favorite music genres are jazz, funk, soul, and hip hop

• Fundraiser for a wildlife and conservation nonprofit
• Loves to cook, work on home DIY projects and kayak
• Very short
• Favorite game is Yahtzee, despite playing wrong for years

• 4 years old
• Loves to run and make new friends on bar patios
• Very gentle
• Great Dane Labrador Retriever mix
• Adopted in 2022
• Loves babies and children

We love a lot of stuff about our home, but the big, fenced yard is our favorite part. It's where we play frisbee, grow wildflowers and vegetables, and watch birds raise young in our plants each spring.

Jack plays a ton of instruments and there's always music (and dancing!) in our house. We have an upright bass, electric bass, saxophone, piano, kalimba and sitar.

We've lived in our small city for 5 years. Nestled in the mountains 1.5 hours from the nearest major city, we were attracted to the area by the car-free downtown district that hosts frequent festivals. We walk to all our favorite restaurants and we're only a block from a diverse elementary school.

Jack is on the board of a local environmental non-profit and helps to install native wildflower meadows in our local parks and other public lands.

Emily volunteers a few times a year at our election polling place. It's been a great way to meet our neighbors!

Jack's parents live in our hometown, about two hours away. We do many fun outdoor activities with them and look forward to seeing them even more frequently as they transition to retirement.

They recently purchased a rustic cabin nearby and we've had a blast camping and riding dirt bikes at the new family outpost.

We're also close with Jack's sister and her family, including our nephew, age 4. They recently moved nearby from many states away, so we're excited to transition from video calls to backyard barbeques!

Emily's father and stepmother are both newly retired and enjoying full-time grandparent life! We visit their home every few months, where we love to watch our dogs play together. They visit us, in turn, to assist with home DIY projects.

Emily's step-sister has two young sons, one of whom is adopted. We love seeing our nephews when we visit.

Emily's mother generously stays at our home with Cricket any time we can't travel with him. We're grateful to have so much support from our families and we can't wait to share all that love with our child!

Nature is important to us and we spend as much time as possible outside! Most weekends we're hiking, kayaking, gardening, or camping.

We can't wait to take our child with us on outdoor adventures!

We always make sure to decorate the house and give out candy for trick-or-treat while listening to "Monster Mash." We'd love to continue the tradition of great handmade costumes!

Emily really loves cooking Thanksgiving dinner! We've hosted family and friends for the past three years.

Christmas means one big thing for our family: cutting down a fresh tree. Emily likes a big, round tree, while Jack prefers a slimmer profile. We've lived together for over ten years, so we're well-practiced at compromise!

You've already met our dog, Cricket, but it's worth stating again that we LOVE dogs, and so do our family and friends! We'll always go out of our way to pet a dog walking down the street.

As a child, Emily was so dog-crazy that her parents enrolled her in a Dog Safety class. That's where she learned what might just be her most-uttered phrase: "Excuse me, may I pet your dog?"

Our favorite part about falling in love as teenagers is that we've shared so many friends and new experiences!

Though our fifth move in ten years (!) did push us to finally settle in and purchase a home, we don't regret our whirlwind years! We made close friends during each chapter and we make a point to keep in touch with them through trips and visits that take us all over the country.

We hope you'll become a friend that our family travels to visit!

Thanks for taking the time to look through our profile. We can't wait to meet you!