We met in high school and started dating Dalton’s senior year and Ashley’s sophomore year. We attended a small school, which had about 400 total kids attending the high school. Dalton and Ashley were aware of each other their junior and freshman years but never talked. During the summer of 2008, Dalton requested Ashley’s phone number from a mutual friend and started texting Ashley. We continued texting throughout the summer and proceeded to start talking to one another once school started back up in August 2008. We flirted back and forth and started dating in October 2008. Like most high school couples, we had our ups and downs but always came back to each other and continued dating after high school. We attended separate colleges, which were approximately four hours away. Even though this provided its own challenges, we made the best of it and stayed strong together.

We moved into our first house together in 2015. After more than one year of living together, Dalton proposed to Ashley and she immediately said yes. We proceeded to get married in December 2017 and have been happily married since 2017. We are the classic “high school sweethearts” couple who fell in love and continue to love each other more and more as the years go on.

Honestly, family is the biggest priority in our lives outside of our relationship. We started dating in high school and the majority our siblings were very young. So, we have had the privilege of also helping to mold them into the people they’re growing into.

Outside of sibling game nights that we host every few months, three of Ashley’s younger siblings end up at our house sometimes on a weekly basis for homecooked meals or playing hide in seek in the dark. We enjoy spending time at Dalton’s parents’ pool or lake house in the summertime.

Ashley works for her family’s logging business handling the administrative work but also helping handle any medical bills, watching nieces & nephews or taking her parents to hospital procedures. We would agree that the best part of our family dynamic is how much fun we have together. When we lost Ashley’s dad in 2011, we really learned how to lean on each other and look out for the family members who are still with us. Life is precious with the ones you love and we definitely do not want to take that for granted.

In our leisure time we try to be active by exercising, taking walks, and playing basketball in our court. During the summer, we tend to spend time at Dalton’s parent’s house who live on a nearby lake to swim and ride the Jet Ski. During the winter months, we play board games and when we have our teenage siblings or nieces and nephews we play the classic hide-and-go-seek game inside the house, which is a favorite amongst the kids. If we’re looking for more a relaxation kind of night, we tend to watch tv shows or movies. We take vacations to all-inclusive resorts in Mexico or Jamaica, explore cities throughout America and visit amusement parks such as Universal Studios, Disneyland and Disneyworld. We would love to share the experience of going to a Disney park with a child. We are big Disney fans and can’t wait to take a child(s) to experience the Disney parks.

Dalton plays recreational sports (hockey, softball, basketball, etc.) throughout the year when he has free time. Dalton has always envisioned bonding with a child and teaching them how to play whatever sports a child would be interested to play. We go to professional sporting events and would love to share though experiences with a child(s).

Ashley loves to read books throughout the year no matter how small the amount of free time she has. Ashley loves cuddling with our dog, Rocky, and coloring with sidewalk chalk on sunny days.

We both come from big, beautiful, blended families. Family is at the heart of everything we do. Ashley is the oldest of 13 siblings and Dalton is in the middle of 10 siblings. Most of our families live in the area (a few out of state). Ashley actually works for her family’s logging business, seeing part of her family on a daily basis.

Ashley’s dad passed away when she was 18, so we decided a few years ago a way to keep all of the siblings together as they are getting older, starting careers and families. We host sibling game nights every few months at our house by providing food and drinks. Some of those game nights have consisted of kickball, volleyball, dodgeball and the tortilla challenge. Sibling Christ-Giving is where we combine our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Typically, this consists of Secret Santa gift exchange, board games and ugly sweater contests. This is the only game night we request each sibling to bring food “Ricky Bobby Style”. Everyone brings some type of fast food like Domino’s pizza, White Castle Crave Case, Texas Roadhouse Rolls, etc. As the family grows, game night grows too. Usually about 16-20 of us laughing and spending time with each other. With our families being so blended, we had such great reactions from our families when we told them our plans to adopt. They know we’ve dreamed of being parents for a long time and cannot wait to go on this journey with us.

We are blessed to live in the area we do especially because of all the parks. The neighbors in our court all have little ones ranging from infants to a couple teenagers. We have great relationships with our neighbors and their children.

The kids enjoy having sidewalk chalk wars, talking a little smack on each other's driveways. Some Friday nights lead to firepits and s'mores with anyone who would like to join.

We live in a 2-story house with 3 bedrooms and a basement. Most of neighbors know our house with the bulldog statues on our front porch. Our favorite room is probably the living room; either playing with our English bulldog, watching tv or chit chatting. We have an open-floor plan so you can see the kitchen from the living room. Dalton loves to talk to Ashley in his recliner while she cooks breakfast or dinner.

We are blessed to live in the area we do, especially all the parks. We like to take our nieces and nephews to different parks in the area. We also enjoy visiting the St. Louis Zoo, the Magic House and Six Flags for rollercoasters.

Thank you for taking the time to consider us as potential parents for your child(ren). We know this decision is the hardest one you will ever have to make. We hope we are the right fit for what you have in mind for raising a child(ren).

We met in high school, started dating Dalton’s senior year and Ashley’s sophomore year in 2008. Went through a few years of typical high school relationship rollercoaster but have been together since 2011. When Dalton first started flirting with Ashley through text, he told her “The first girl I date is going to be the woman I marry”. Ashley of course thought he was full of it but he thankfully proved her wrong. We moved in together in 2015 and adopted our English Bulldog, Rocky. Dalton proposed in 2016 during a surprise photo shoot with our pup Rocky and we got married in 2017 surrounded by our friends and family. Our lives have gone through many ups and downs, such as Ashley’s father passing in 2011 a couple months before her high school graduation, long-distance during college years, and unexplained infertility. We rely on each other when times get tough typically through love and laughter. We truly are each other’s best friend and enjoy each other’s presence more than anyone else’s. We pick on each other, speak in sarcasm and movie quotes. Dalton loves making Ashley laugh, sometimes even at the worst possible times but there isn’t much he wouldn’t do to make her smile.

One thing we have in common is we both come from large, blended families. We learned at early ages that blood isn’t the only thing that makes you family. Adding to our family with a child(ren) always has been a dream of ours. Unexplained fertility has slowed down the timeline of adding to our family and becoming parents; however, that won’t stop us. Even miracles take a little time. Starting the adoption process has been a scary and exciting journey getting us closer to growing our family.

If we are blessed enough that you choose us, we want you to know your child(ren) will always be taken care of. We will love them, teach them and protect them. Ashley has always dreamed of rocking a child(ren) to sleep while reading to them. Dalton has always pictured playing outside or cheering them on at sporting events. We will take them to the zoo and the park with their cousins. They will enjoy lake and pool days with their grandparents. We will teach them the best hiding spots when we play hide-n-seek in the dark with their aunts and uncles. We will share our love of dogs, teach them all the Disney movie songs (especially the classic 90’s movies) and dress up whatever costumes they want for Halloween as a group.

We look forward to welcoming a child(ren) into our lives but we also want them to know where they come from. This beautiful soul will need to know you as well. We are open to emails, letters and obviously pictures to watch them grow. Love is putting someone else’ needs before yours. A child’s needs will always come before ours.

We thank you for taking us into consideration and truly hope we can be everything and more you are looking for. Again, we promise to do the best we can and to always give our 100 percent to your child(ren). They will always know how loved and cherished they are. They will always know we have their back and will do anything for them. We truly cannot express how grateful we are for this opportunity. Although we have had many hardships in life, this would be happiness at the end of the rainbow for us and will complete our life's dream. We thank you for taking the time to read our story and genuinely hope you choose us to give your child(ren) the happy, love-filled life they deserve.

Thank you!

Dalton & Ashley