We also want to say Thank You. Thank you for taking the time to look at our profile, thank you for making such a difficult choice, and thank you for giving a family like us the chance to be parents. What you are doing is so powerful, and we admire you so much for your strength.Our greatest goal is to build a happy life for our child where they'll constantly surrounded by people who love them, support them, and help us teach them the values we want them to learn. More than anything, we want to teach our child:That it's ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from themTo love and appreciate everyone for exactly who they areTo love and appreciate THEMSELVES for exactly who they areThat there's so much more to the world than just what's around themTo be adventurous and try new things (especially when it comes to food!)To explore art, nature, and the world around themTo always be open-minded to learning new thingsTo respect the differences of othersTo be kind (as Jaclyn used to tell her students, "Be a good dude.")As theatre people, empathy and kindness are very important to us, and what we want more than anything is to raise a kind human who treats others well and puts goodness into the world.

We met in junior high, sitting next to each other in the standardized testing room. We struck up a conversation about Jimmy Buffett because both of our dads are big fans. From there, we became friends, and that friendship grew throughout high school. In high school, we had a lot of classes together, including choir, and were around each other a lot because Jaclyn was on drill team and Brad was in band. We started dating the weekend before we graduated high school and have been together ever since!Brad proposed on the day that Jaclyn graduated college. and we got married a year later. We've been married for 14 years as of the writing of this profile book, and we're still absolutely best friends. We've been trying to have children for about 12 years, but due to some infertility struggles, we haven't been successful. We've chosen adoption because we're so very ready to start the grand adventure of parenthood together.

One of my favorite things about Jaclyn is that she is truly one of the most intelligent people that I've met in my entire life. I don't think there's any challenge in this world that she could be faced with where a lack of smarts would be her barrier to solving it. The world saw her as an amazing educator, but had she chosen to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or astronaut, she would have been one of the best.But her intelligence goes beyond book smarts. She's emotionally intelligent, which makes her extremely empathetic and caring, and I believe those are the best qualities a person can have. She's creative, and puts some wonderful art into the world (I wish we had a way to show you the breadth of what she's done in the theatre). She's worldly, which allows us to have meaningful conversations about the world around us.Jaclyn's Work:Jaclyn taught high school English and theatre for 14 years. At the end of the 2022 school year, she chose to step away from education so that she would have more time at home to focus on our family.Now, she works at an association management company where she works with associations and non-profits to help them with their events and day-to-day business. The two things she loves most about her job are that she gets to primarily work from home surrounded by dogs every day and that when she works onsite at events she gets to meet a lot of interesting people.One really cool thing: her boss is super supportive of our adoption because she's an adoptee!Jaclyn's Favorites:-Baking and Cooking-Crafting and Making Art-Hiking, Dancing, and Baseball-Acting and Costuming-Singing and Playing Piano-Gardening-Reading

Brad's best qualities are that he's loyal and supportive. He's such a good caretaker for the people who he loves, and I can't imagine how I would've made it through some of my most stressful times in the last 20 years without him carrying me through. He's loving, intelligent, and funny, and he knows how to appreciate what makes people different and special. He's dedicated to his work and passions, and when something's important to him, he's all in!I'm so excited to see him be a dad. When our exchange student Elena came back to visit us after she graduated, we got to take her to a baseball game. Just watching Brad explain the ins and outs of how baseball works while they watched the game together reminded me of cherished times with my own dad, and it gave me such a wonderful glimpse into the kind of dad Brad's going to be.Brad's Work:Brad works as a software engineer for a consumer analytics company. He started working there just a few weeks after graduating college, and has been there ever since (almost 14 years, as of this writing).One thing he really enjoys about his company is that they help businesses open successful new locations, which helps create jobs, so his work feels meaningful. The people he works with are fantastic too! Most of them are friends just as much as they are coworkers, and they're super supportive of our adoption journey.Brad also recently started a small side business selling movie-inspired art, and is excited to see where that goes!Brad's Favorites:-Acting and Singing-Playing the Guitar-Hiking and Baseball-Playing Video Games-Watching TV/Movies

Welcome to our home! We live in a small-ish town in Texas where we both grew up. Our town is growing in population and is a very short drive to a major metropolitan area, but it still has the quiet small town feel that we grew up with. All of our parents and siblings live within about a 20-30 minute drive from us, and Brad's dad is actually less than 5 minutes away! Our house is in a nice, quiet subdivision that's close to a good daycare, a good elementary school, and one of our town's two middle schools. We have a good sized, very open backyard that's surrounded by a privacy fence for safety. It backs up to a ranch, so it's also surrounded in the back by lots of trees, which gives us even more privacy. There's a lot of room to run around with the dogs. In the spring and early summer, Jaclyn usually has a garden where she grows vegetables, peppers, and strawberries until it gets too hot to grow anything. Our home is pretty colorful. We like to collect and create interesting artwork to hang on our walls, and we have a big picture window in the dining room where we keep house plants. A friend once told us that our living room looked like it would be on a jigsaw puzzle, and we took that as a pretty big compliment!

"Brad and Jaclyn have such huge hearts. They have loving and supportive families who value quality time together, and have already touched the lives of so many children through teaching and nonprofits. I am so proud to have them in my life, and I know they're going to be such good parents."

-Our friend and Jaclyn's former student, Kaleigh

"During my sophomore and junior years, I had the pleasure of having Jaclyn as my tech theater teacher. During this time, she was such a supportive and kind person in my life. I have such fond memories of being in her class as we learned about sewing and other elements that go into the costuming part of theater. She was always so patient with us and was always willing to teach us about different things we were interested in. I was always excited to hear about her and Brad's newest adventures and her tales about her dogs and what they were up to. At the end of my junior year, she shared with us that she was no longer going to be a teacher because she had another career opportunity come up. Although I missed her dearly my senior year, I always knew she was still there to support me. Whenever I was in her class, the phrase she used most often was "live your dreams", and I remember those words every day to help motivate me. Jaclyn is one of the most kind and generous souls I've had the pleasure of meeting."

-Jaclyn's former student, Hawaii

"Based on credentials alone, Jaclyn and Brad are excellent potential parents. Jaclyn has a deep understanding of childhood development due to her years of experience as a teacher. As a community theater director, she volunteers her time encouraging young people to try new things and express their creativity. She and Brad are a devoted aunt and uncle to their nieces and nephews, and enjoy close relationships with a loving and supportive family. More important, though, are the things that can't be listed on a r?sum?. It's been my privilege to know Jaclyn almost since birth. She is everything you'd want in a mother -- intelligent, warm, nurturing, and fun. When I think back on my best memories from childhood, Jaclyn is almost always involved. She was the shoulder to cry on after a hard day. She was the best person to share a deep, uncontrolled belly laugh with. She was the friend I could rely on, no matter what. I know without a doubt that she will cherish and pour herself into any child placed in her care, and I hope you feel confident that she and Brad are the best parents for your little one."

-Our former classmate and Jaclyn's childhood best friend, Carman

"Brad and Jaclyn have been some of the most important people I've ever met throughout my life. I met them through my high school's theatre program when I was 14 and had just begun thinking about what to do with the rest of my life. They have been nothing but kind to me throughout these years and has given me and so many others the courage to; be who they are, express themselves, and chase their dreams. I never told them this, but I thought of them as a set of parents to me; as family. It's because of them that I've been able to walk my current path and have the chance to chase my dreams. They've given so much to the community, and I know that they will have so much love to give to a child. This child will be so blessed to have such wonderful parents and to live in a community they have helped shape and brighten. This community loves their family, and we're over the moon to see them take this new journey to provide a safe and loving life to a child."

-Our friend and Jaclyn's former student, Thomas

"Jaclyn was my theater teacher for all four years of highschool. I worked with both Brad and her in community theater production over the course of those same years. Through some of the most fragile years of my life when I was trying to figure out my place in the world, Jaclyn was a rock for me. She challenged me to look at art -- and the world -- differently. And she challenged me to make my own mark on it. Jaclyn consistently encouraged me to audition for shows, especially when I didn't think I would get the part. Show by show, my confidence in myself grew. And I know that's all because Jaclyn was in my corner, believing in me before I believed in myself. Jaclyn and Brad's child will grow up in a home filled with art, encouragement and so much love. They will grow up learning to create, to believe in themselves, and most importantly, to be kind. I know that I am the person I am today because of the way that Jaclyn and Brad touched my life. Their child is going to be so, so lucky to have them as parents."

-Our friend and Jaclyn's former student, Jade

"As a mother, I can say wholeheartedly that Brad and Jaclyn are already parents at heart. Through my children's (their niece and nephew) lives, Brad and Jaclyn have been a constant source of support, love, conversation and fun. Brad is always our go to with questions about sports, technology, movies or music. He is always patient, kind and careful to explain things to my kids in a way they can understand what he is saying. My son has very fond memories of learning to play his first video games with Brad on his computer, tagging along to baseball games with him, and years of conversations over the breakfast table every Sunday. Jaclyn is a witty, patient and loving Aunt, always willing to love and accept my kids in their uniqueness and differences, and meet them where they are. Whether it's lengthy conversations about their love of dogs, sloths, or dinosaurs, my daughter is constantly reminded of Jaclyn in the fun things she sees in life. My children have always loved Brad and Jaclyn dearly and felt so safe with them. As a mom, there's nothing better than knowing that your kids feel loved and safe. It is without a shadow of a doubt that they will be exceptional parents with a home filled with love, support, compassion, music and dogs!"

-Brad's sister, Kim

"My sister is nurturing, empathetic, and open minded without judgement and ridicule. She and Brad both know tragedy and understand that emotions are real and valid. They will be beautiful parents and will give a child the chance to be themselves. They are both brilliant in their own separate ways, making them a power couple of knowledge. While struggling to bring a child into this world, I have watched them grow into this amazing team. They will be extraordinary."

-Jaclyn's sister, Jessica