We are both are pretty involved in our community. Jackie volunteers with Junior League and our parish. She is also an advisor to an Alpha Chi sorority chapter. Kyle also enjoys volunteering throughout the community.

We love going to sporting events! We even have season tickets to the St. Louis Blues. We also love the arts and have season tickets to some traveling Broadway shows and musicals.

During the summer we enjoy swimming in our backyard pool. Our dogs will even get in the pool and splash around! During nice spring and fall days will love to take our dogs on a walk to the parks by our house. Our Golden Retriever cannot wait to have a stroller that he has to walk next to!

We absolutely adore our two dogs! We both had dogs growing up and believe that having a pet is a great addition to a growing family.

Our Labrador, Dexter, is 11 years old. He was originally Jackie's parents' dog, but about three years ago he became really sick. He was diagnosed with diabetes and became too much for her parents, so we decided to take him in. Even though Dexter has gone partially blind in the last few years, he still loves to play ball and you cannot keep him from jumping in the pool!

Caffrey, our energetic 3-year-old Golden Retriever, prefers to go on walks over swimming. We call Caffrey our little quarterback. He loves to play fetch, chase and be outside in the yard rolling in the dirt, but he knows how to suck up to you like no one's business when you have food. If you have food, especially popcorn or bananas, he'll lay his head on your lap giving you the cutest puppy dog eyes. He also LOVES kids. He's trying to teach our youngest nephew how to play chase, which our older nephews know all to well. Caffrey feels the need to constantly watch over any kids in our house and to make sure they are OK. We are already taking bets that he will be sleeping on the floor of the child's room!

We are both of German decent, and Jackie has some Irish heritage. We would love to one day visit both Germany and Ireland.

Jackie's mom's family always has a big party on St. Patrick's Day where all friends and family(that includes even great aunts and uncles, parent's cousin, etc.) are all invited. Her aunt's house is decorated from head to toe in Irish decorations. On years that her aunt cannot host the party her family still gets together and has an Irish dinner with extended family.

During Autumn, we will attend a local Oktoberfest that is going on in our area. Where we will eat and drink German cuisine and listen to polka music. Probst!

We take pride in our cultural heritage and would feel the same way with the child's heritage, too.

We live in a quiet friendly neighborhood at the end of a cul-de-sac in a four-bedroom, two-story home with a pool in the back.

We walk to a park that is about a 10-minute walk from our house. This park contains everything you want in a place: walking paths, a small pond to fish, athletic fields, playgrounds and even a waterpark that has slides, a small lazy river and a kiddie area.

We go to a Catholic church close by that has been around for 200 years with a community that is more than welcoming. Our church has plenty of activities through the year such as the annual school picnic, (that we volunteer at), and the Fall festival in September.

Our house is a short ride from an old historic area that looks like something just out of a Hallmark movie, with all the small shops and restaurants that it entails! During Halloween and Christmas, the entire area is completely decorated and even has people volunteer to dress up and have a character meet and greet. We love to explore the area and will continue with our whole family. We may even get a picture with Santa Claus!

Although both of us have lived in different states from our families at various times, we all have remained close. They have been supportive throughout this process. Jackie's dad even said he can't wait for him to have another grandchild to watch.

Our families talk on the phone at least once a week and consistently text throughout the week. Jackie's family loves to bowl, so Kyle has joined her brother's bowling team on Thursday night. Her father and brother already have plans to teach our future child to bowl.

Whenever we get a chance to go up to Kyle's parent's house in Wisconsin, we take boat rides on the lake. We usually bring our dog along, so he can swim and go on the boat too. Our nephews will come over to play trucks with us and also love to chase our dog around. I know they cannot wait to have another buddy to help play our dogs favorite game of chase.

During the holidays, both our families celebrate many traditions. When we are in Wisconsin during Thanksgiving, Jackie's extended family has a competitive pie contest with different categories. We look forward to helping our child make a pie with us. Both of our families celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, have dinner, and then attend Mass together. At Kyle's parents' house, we leave cookies for Santa and wait upstairs for him to come. Once we hear Santa's bells, we know he has come and left presents to open.

We know this is an extremely emotional time for you. We can only imagine the mixed emotions that you are feeling. Since this is such a hard decision, we are most thankful you are considering adoption as an option. We would like to make this process as easy as possible. Please, let us know how we can facilitate that for you. If we are chosen, we will forever be grateful for your generosity to give us the gift to love a child, unconditionally.

We always knew we wanted to have children when we first talking about marriage. We also knew that we would have to adopt at least one child because Jackie would only be able to carry one child because of a preexisting condition. We tried for about three years and have been unsuccessful in getting pregnant, which means the path to adoption came quicker than we originally thought.

We know we would make great parents because of our natural caring personalities. Most of our friends have kids, so we get to be around kids all the time and learn from them as much as they do from us. We almost always get called into the play room to see their Barbies or cars. We love hanging out with them, and have no problem being able to watch them if our friends need a sitter. Kyle is such a natural when it comes to hanging out with children, they are always wondering where he is. We plan to take the child with us to do almost everything, whether it being just getting lunch at a local pizzeria, watching Kyle in his bowling league, visiting the zoo, or seeing friends and family. And when are not out doing things with them, we will relax on the couch or play on the floor with our two dogs.

We plan to tell the child right from the beginning about their adoption. We want to be open with them and let them know how they came to be in our family. When talking about you, it will be of only good things and how much you loved them for them to be with us. The child will have a great life and future with us. We want them to dream big and to achieve the highest they can reach. Whatever their future goals may be, we will always be there cheering them on. Once they get to school age, will make sure they study well so their opportunities will be endless.

As for communication afterwards, we are very open to setting up a plan that is comfortable for both of us. We would want to tell and show you all that the child has been doing and that you made the right choice in choosing us for adoption. Would be very happy to send you letters, emails, and pictures as we both see fit and how the relationship progresses. We believe that communication is important in the child's life. If the choice of adoption is made by you, it is because you love them and want them to have the best life possible.

We know that we would make great parents. Your child would not only have us to rely on, but a community of family and friends surrounding them. As you go through this adoption journey, please remember how you are so brave and tough, as you make this decision.

Love,

Kyle & Jackie