Sally & Alex

Writing about yourself is weird, let me just say that. :D Anyway, I am a direct communicator, and I always want to be genuine, honest and authentic. I like my friends to be that way, too. Hosting friends and creating a fun and relaxing environment is one of my favorite things to do. I’m pretty social, but I really like to have a small close group of friends. I am so lucky to have found a few best friends who have stuck with me through thick and thin. While I love to dress up (I am very into French style, well French everything), I’m really a tomboy at heart. I grew up in a neighborhood with a whole bunch of boys who were my age, so we played army, ninja turtles and soccer. I was even Batman for halloween one year (my parents tried to get me to be Batgirl, but I wasn’t having it). I love playing sports and being outside. And I definitely have a competitive streak and work hard at everything I do. I worked for 10 years in marketing at a financial company as a senior manager, and now I am starting my own branding consulting business. I work part time, so I can spend more time with Pine. I love being able to have that time to connect with him, while still being able to pursue a career. It is a huge blessing to know I will have that time with our next baby, too!

Hey, nice to meet you! I like to spend my time solving hard problems, learning and teaching. At work that looks like computer programming to solve some pretty tough problems. But raising my son has been the best experience of my life. I’ve had to learn so much, and there is so much to teach him. There is so much that I want to do to help Pine have the best childhood he possibly can, and grow into a strong, wise young man. I’m excited to have more children to raise. It is so very rewarding to watch them grow up and turn into amazing people. Really tough, but amazing! You are doing an amazing thing for your child, and we’d love to be part of that story. On a less serious note, I’m interested in sci-fi and fantasy. I’ve been reading through the top 100 sci-fi books and I only have 10 left to go. I think the Lord of the Rings is an amazing series of books (and a pretty good set of movies, too). Before covid hit I was learning blacksmithing from a local smith. Maybe someday I’ll have a forge of my own in the backyard. I’m learning classical guitar and, after a couple years, am no longer completely awful. Some of the songs are even recognizable now. :)

Our son, Pine, is creative and funny and loves school. He is a big talker and always has many thoughts and interesting opinions to share. He goes to a small Christian school near our house and is enjoying making new friends, choir, and recess. He played on a soccer team with his classmates this year and loves playing at the playground, riding his bike, making forts in the woods, and building with Legos or in Minecraft with Alex. He also loves to travel—his favorite places are Wyoming and France. Pine is really looking forward to having a brother or sister. We have always talked about adoption being a part of our family, so when he started asking for a sibling over the past couple of years, he has always said, “You need to adopt a baby! I want a brother or sister to play with!” :) Adoption has always been a part of his worldview, and he has many friends from our church and his school who are adopted or have adopted siblings so it just seems like a normal next step to him. Pine has two younger cousins, and our best friends have a little boy, and he is very good with them. He really likes teaching them things and helping take care of them. We know he will be a great big brother, and we can’t wait to see Pine and our new baby grow into great friends.

Oh, our sweet, old dog, Enoch! We adopted him from a boston terrier rescue 12 years ago. He made quite the impression on us with his big personality and endless energy. He is an old man who is now blind in one eye, but that hasn’t changed his energy level or his love of food. About 5:00 p.m. every day, he starts letting us know it’s dinner time by huffing around by his bowl and trying to corral us to the food bin. He loves to go on our family walks and play in the backyard with Pine. Enoch has been a good doggy big brother to Pine, and shown him how to welcome a new baby with open paws (err..arms)!