We are so fortunate to have a lake house 2.5 hours from home. Dylan grew up vacationing at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. Alecia's parents fell in love with the place after vacationing with us and decided to build a house there as well. We spend almost every weekend at the lake during the summer months. A typical weekend at the lake consists of waking up early, water skiing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, fishing, kayaking, hiking, watching all the boats from the dock, cocktail cruises, and too much food! Most weekends we have family or friends join us to share our beautiful home and favorite spot with them. We love to teach our friends how to waterski and wakeboard. Dylan has dreamed of the day he gets to teach his own child(ren) how to waterski and wakeboard! We can't wait to be able to share our love of Deep Creek and all the activities that come with it, with our own child(ren).

One of our favorite family traditions is to have a nice home cooked meal on Sunday and topping off our weekend with a movie in our basement. Alecia loves to cook, entertain, and care for others. It's one of her love languages. A typical Sunday for us consists of chores, errands, and spending the evening in the kitchen together prepping and cooking a nice meal. We often invite family or friends over to join us. Alecia's parents live about five miles from us and they often join us. They love to play with Rosie and visit with our friends. When it's just the two of us, we top off the night with a movie – we love to watch movies together!

As for holiday traditions, we love Christmas. Alecia decorates the house with five Christmas trees! We have a newer tradition of making chicken alfredo on Christmas Eve and snuggling up by the fire to watch holiday movies. We love all the magic the holiday season brings and dream of the day we can share it with our own child(ren).

We currently have a 9-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback named Rosie. She is our world. She is one of the many reasons why we look forward to coming home after a busy day at work or a late night out with friends. Being able to care for another living being together has been so rewarding. Rosie is not just a dog. She is our best friend and family.

Alecia grew up with always having a dog. Dylan grew up with cats but longed for a dog. When we moved in together after college, we couldn't wait to get our routine figured out and add a dog to the mix. We literally saved extra change and money in a jar with pawprints on it and called it the "puppy fund."

Rosie is so patient and gentle with our nephews and niece. We have dreamt of the day we get to bring a baby brother or sister home to her for her to watch over.

We live in a beautiful neighborhood with mature trees, beautiful landscapes, and lots of kids! Our home was built in 2011 and is a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath two-story home. Our outdoor patio space has a firepit and outdoor kitchen where we love to entertain. When we can't be outside, we love to spend evenings watching movies on our big screen TV in our basement. Every room in our home is beautiful but our favorite is the piano room. Our piano was one of the first things we bought after graduating college and whichever room it ends up in tends to be our favorite.

We live within walking distance of the school campus. Dylan enjoys running on their track. Our neighborhood also has a walking path and many cul-de-sacs to take our dog, Rosie, for walks. Many of our neighbors also have dogs. Everyone is friendly and we've enjoyed getting to know our neighbors because of our pets!

There are many parks nearby and our country club has a beautiful pool, tennis courts, pickleball courts, golf, etc. They put on many events geared towards children of all ages and we look forward to being able to take our kiddo to the club for these occasions!

Alecia's parents Tracy and Linda live close by to our home, and we spend a lot of time together at the lake as well. We all get together at least once a week for a meal or just letting the dogs play together. Alecia's brother Jonathan and his wife Lauren live with their kids near Philadelphia, which is only a two hour drive from us. We see them around the holidays a lot and we make a point to get together with them a few times throughout the year, especially during Penn State football season.

Dylan's dad and younger sister live in northeast Ohio with their spouses. We are all very close as well, but because of the distance our visits tend to be less frequent. We spend a week vacation at Deep Creek Lake every summer fondly known as "Ski Week" which is always something we look forward to. We usually make a point to travel there during the holidays, sometimes with another trip throughout the year for a special occasion.

We're very grateful that our families all get along really well. There isn't any family drama, and we easily keep in touch. We seek out opportunities to spend time together. In addition, everyone has been very supportive of our entire process of family building. They have been there since we initially reached out for professional help, through the decision to pursue adoption. Our family is one of our primary motivators for being parents ourselves.

We are Dylan and Alecia from Pennsylvania. Thank you for taking the time to review our profile and consider us as prospective parents to raise your child as our own. We are so grateful for people like you who are making one of the hardest, selfless decisions of your life while giving us an incredible gift; to love and share our life with your child.

We met at Penn State University during our junior year of college and had an instant connection! We are truly friends which makes our marriage strong, trusting, and fun. We've been married for over 8 years and together for 12. After 5 years of marriage, we decided we were ready to grow our family and start trying for a baby. We never dreamed we would be faced with so many challenges and obstacles while trying to start our family. We spent years going through infertility treatments, suffering miscarriages, and the odds against us. We gave it our all and we are excited to transition all that love and energy into the adoption process.

As kids, we were both raised with every opportunity to succeed and with tremendous support from our families. We were taught from an early age the importance of family, and that lesson has paid off immensely as adults. We have a close relationship with our parents and siblings, who have been so supportive as we've tried to build a family. We can't wait to welcome a new child into the family so he or she can experience the love our family has to offer.

We are most excited to share our love of the lake, boating, watersports, Penn State football, music, and movies with our child. Dylan looks forward to hopefully having a son or daughter who shares his love for competitive swimming and exercise. Alecia is excited to make memories in the kitchen and teach them that a good meal is a love language. We love our home. It has plenty of room for our children to have their own rooms, a big yard to play in, and other neighborhood kids to be friends with. Our school district is one of the best in the area and we live within walking distance of several of the schools. And when they graduate high school, they'll have the option to go to the college or university of their choosing.

Your decision to choose us is probably not an easy one, but we want you to know they will be SO loved by us, our dog, our families, and our friends. We want you to have comfort in your decision and we are happy to exchange photos and life updates via email. As our child gets older and shows a desire to want to reconnect with you, we are open to in-person visits. We will be open about their adoption. We look forward to building a relationship with you and being able to tell our child how loved they were by you and that is why they ended up with us.

Sincerely,

Dylan & Alecia