Since we both work full-time jobs, we greatly cherish our leisure time. We have a lot of fun playing on the same softball team, and it's one of our favorite activities. We also like to go to the batting cages, practice, or play catch.

We both enjoy hiking and are really grateful that there are plenty of great trails and mountains close by.

Sydney played tennis growing up, and she has started playing tennis again with friends. We recently got a piano, and Sydney has taken to that as well. She has also mastered the craft of making sourdough bread and usually makes a couple of loaves a week.

Mike started woodworking a few years ago, and the garage has become a fully functional woodshop. He likes building things and has made furniture and some climbable structures for the cats. Mike also likes to garden. He maintains a number of citrus and other fruit trees, tomato plants, herbs, and more.

There are so many things that we look forward to sharing with a child. We can't wait to play sports, piano, build Legos, go hiking, and have endless adventures with them.

If our adopted child is a different race from us, we want to ensure that cultural diversity is addressed in the best possible way. It will be important for us, as parents, to expose them to different experiences with people of varying ethnicities. This could mean visiting parks in different neighborhoods, attending shows, or sporting events featuring participants of a race similar to our adopted child's, and teaching them at an early age that many cultures exist. Furthermore, we plan to celebrate different cultures with them by learning stories, listening to specific types of music, and eating traditional foods. Fortunately, we live in a large, diverse city and we have easy access to all of these things.

Providing our adopted child with a variety of resources at home will also be a key component in addressing cultural diversity. We are planning to provide movies, shows, books, music, and art from different cultures, especially our adopted child's culture, which will be a high priority for us. The human component will be very important as well. Making sure our child has friends, mentors, a barber/hairdresser, or a coach of their cultural background will be something we are mindful of addressing. We will face any challenges that may lie ahead as a family, and know there is an opportunity to learn so much about different people for us as parents and our adopted child alike.

We love our big family! Mike grew up in Chicago with an older sister and brother. They're both still in Chicago, and they each have two kids. We love going there for Christmas and spending time with Mike's whole family. Mike does a Christmas cook off with our niece and nephew every year, and it's always really fun, especially when Mike lost to our then-9-year-old niece. (Full disclosure: She did win a TV cooking show.) Mike's parents are also still in Chicago, and we recently had a big party for their 50th wedding anniversary.

Sydney grew up in Ohio with an older brother. She is also really close with her nine first cousins and their children. We love going back to Ohio to visit Sydney's family. We get to see her parents a lot since they spend a good part of the year near us in California. Syd and her mom's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because they love having the whole extended family together.

At home in California, we have lots of close friends nearby. We love having them over for dinner, a movie, or a game night. All of our family and friends are beyond excited about our hopes to adopt. They cannot wait for us to have a child to love and care for. They'll be by our side, providing extra love and support for this child.

We really love our house and have worked hard to make it a lived-in home. We like to have fun with our space as well. Mike has built a network of catwalks along the ceiling, allowing the cats to roam freely from room to room. He also built a structure in the backyard, called 'the hummingbird celebration station', completely covered in vines, morning glory flowers, and hummingbird feeders, that's always so full of life. There's a park just blocks away that lots of families take their children to, or where they walk their dogs.

Our neighbors, from the left, right, and across the street, have children of varying ages, from toddlers to preteens. It's common to see people walking up and down our street with their dogs, children, or just going on a leisurely stroll. We are thirty minutes to an hour from the mountains, beach, downtown, and other attractions. There are a number of major attractions not too far away, including Disneyland, Universal Studios, Six Flags, lots of museums, and other large parks. It's a great spot. We especially love going to Harry Potter Land and Mario World at Universal Studios.

Hello! We are Sydney and Mike, and we appreciate you taking the time to read about our family. We thank you for considering adoption, and we know that this is an incredibly important decision for you to make. We want you to know that if you choose us to be your child's adoptive parents, your child will be so well cared for and will be showered endlessly with love. Your child would know how much you love them and that you made the decision to give them to us because of that love. We would like to have an ongoing relationship with you, as long as you're comfortable with that. We are open to phone calls, emails, and visits with you, too. You can also be sure that we will be sending letters and pictures of your child as they grow up.

We started dating in 2013 and got married three and a half years later in 2016. We are looking forward to celebrating our 10-year anniversary in 2026. Over the 13 years that we have been together, our relationship has only grown stronger. We were so in love in 2013, but now our love has been fortified, and we know that we can tackle anything life throws our way as long as we're together.

We both have full-time jobs, and we can provide a comfortable and stable life for a child. Through our marriage, we have dedicated lots of time to making our house into a home. We have three pets that we love dearly and have taken many steps to make sure it's a comfy place for everyone. Outside of home and work, we try to stay as active as possible. We enjoy hiking, playing softball together, and walking our dog around our neighborhood and local park. We have been preparing to have a child of our own for years and cannot wait to have an adopted child to run around and play with, to teach, to love, and to snuggle with.

We have struggled to start a family on our own, and because of complications, we are unable to have a biological child. We so deeply want a child to love and to raise, and we would be forever grateful to you if you chose us to parent your child. If you decide to choose adoption for your child, we understand that it's a huge decision to make, but please know that it is the most selfless action that a person could ever do. While considering this decision, we want you to know that we would be incredible parents, and that your child would have every opportunity to succeed in life. We would teach this child to be kind, to be brave, and to be a good person. We will always be there to hold their hand and guide them along the way, and we are so looking forward to providing a loving and warm home for them. We have a really strong community, and our parents and close friends cannot wait to care for a child with us, as well.

We really appreciate you taking the time to get to know us. We yearn to have a child to love and care for, and we really hope that you consider us as potential parents for your child.

Mike & Sydney