I had the privilege of meeting Travis and Amanda, a vibrant multicultural military couple from Oklahoma whose hearts are set on growing their family through adoption. Their story illuminates one of adoption’s most profound opportunities: the chance for birth parents to truly know the families they’re considering.
Picture this: you’re not just handing over paperwork or making decisions based on profiles alone. Instead, you’re having real conversations, asking the hard questions, and getting authentic answers. What are their Sunday mornings like? How do they handle conflict? What traditions will they pass down? These moments let you peek behind the curtain of their daily lives and witness firsthand whether their values, dreams, and parenting instincts resonate with the future you envision for your little one. It’s about finding that spark of recognition, that sense of “yes, this feels right” when you discover a family whose vision for childhood adventure, learning, and love mirrors the hopes you carry in your heart.
I asked Travis and Amanda some fun questions that you won’t find in their adoption profile, and I learned that they’re a warm, adventure-loving couple who’ve built their life around family connection and purposeful living. Together, they’ve created a home filled with both tradition and spontaneity, where perfect Saturdays include family snuggles, park playdates, neighborhood pool time, and Disney movie nights with grandparents. What shines through most is their intentionality as parents.
1. What would a perfect Saturday look like to you?
- Sleep in until about 8 am and be woken up with snuggles in bed by our daughter. Have a tasty breakfast as a family with fried eggs, bacon, croissants, jam, and a cup of tea.
- Have a playdate with our friends and their kids at the park downtown and, if we’re lucky, grab a real fruit popsicle.
- Drive home and swim at our neighborhood pool for the afternoon.
- End the day with a family movie night, featuring a Disney movie (currently, the favorite is Moana), while enjoying pizza and popcorn with Grandma and Grandpa (Oma and Opa!).
- Our daughter’s bedtime routine goes smoothly, and she falls asleep easily. Then the two of us read our books in bed until we fall asleep.
- Oh, and all the laundry from the week was magically done, folded, and put away. 😅
2. What is a piece of advice that’s always stuck with you?
Travis: My Dad had two rules for my brothers and me when we were growing up:
#1: Always be a gentleman.
#2: Don’t embarrass your mother. (Apparently, he was okay with us embarrassing him 🤣) But in all seriousness, those two rules were constant reminders growing up to be kind to others and that there’s a time and place for everything. My parents made sure that we boys and our older sister knew how to have fun, but we had to keep our silliness in check during church.
Amanda: I came home from school once and got a bad grade, I told my Mom, “But I did better than so and so!!” My Mom replied, “Always compare yourself to someone who is doing better than you, that’s how you grow.” It’s been a great life lesson. It keeps me humble yet always trying to do better!
You can get an even better glimpse into
Travis and Amanda’s lives in their video:
3. As parents, what is something specific you want to teach your child?
Amanda: To be brave & adventurous in all different kinds of ways… try new hobbies, eat new foods, put your hand up to answer questions in class, meet new people, travel the world, take risks sometimes.
You only live once, so be courageous and do it all! I have learned so much by stepping out of my comfort zone. To name a few… I have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, which taught me perseverance and hard work. I have set up my own company (which was scary!) that has taught me a lot about finance, taxes, and legal contracts. I have friends and family all over the world, which teaches me the value of communication. I want all of this for my children and more.
Travis: How to sew so they can mend clothes or put a button back on. I know, it sounds boring compared to Amanda’s answer because it’s a very specific and practical thing…but my mom taught me the basics when I was a kid. I used it a fair amount with my uniforms, mending holes to extend the life of my graphic tees or fixing our daughter’s dresses after she had worn them out.
4. When you were a kid, what did you absolutely love to do?
Travis: I loved playing outside with my older and younger brothers. We had a pond behind our childhood home, so we were out there a lot looking for frogs, turtles, and crawdads.
Otherwise, we would be out on the street riding bikes or playing with our neighbors. We also really enjoyed messing with our older sister. I absolutely loved having siblings, both then and now as an adult, and I really look forward to having two kiddos in our home someday.
Amanda: My sister is 16 years older than I, and she had her first daughter when I was 8 years old! That made me a very young Aunt, but I absolutely loved it because she felt like a little sister to me.
My two other nieces came along in quick succession (when I was 10 and 12); we used to visit them after school and almost every weekend, and I just couldn’t wait to be with them, play with them, and help to take care of them.
I also loved my purple bicycle that my Mom bought me when I was about 10 years old. We lived in a second-floor apartment with no backyard, so she would carry my bike downstairs and take me to the park. I would zoom around as fast as my legs could pedal!
5. What is your greatest accomplishment so far?
Travis: Before our daughter was born, I began working with a group of volunteers to help improve the lives of military families. Back then, military dads only got three weeks off when they had a new baby, while moms received more time due to recovery and bonding. That didn’t feel fair or right — all parents need time to care for and connect with their child.
After years of work, I’m proud to say the military changed the policy: now all new parents, including adoptive and foster parents, get 12 weeks of leave to bond with their child. Our daughter was 3½ years old by the time that change finally happened, and I can’t wait to use that time to be fully present with our next child — to love, care for, and get to know them from the very beginning.
(A quick aside, Travis actually helped with some of the content on this adoption blog for military families.)
Amanda: The family, life, and home that Travis and I have built together. It’s not something that is built overnight… We work really hard every day. We take care of one another, and we address any issues we have with respect and understanding.
We love our daughter with all our being, and I am so proud to say that she is already growing to be a good member of society. We can’t wait to share all of this with another little one!
Would you like to learn more about Travis and Amanda?
You can check out their adoptive family profile online. If you’re interested in talking to them as potential adoptive parents to your baby, just text or call Lifetime at 1-800-923-6784, anytime, even right now! We’ll get you connected to talk with Travis and Amanda over the phone or through a video call.
Heidi Keefer is a Content Creator for Lifetime Adoption and has over 15 years of experience in the field of adoption. An author of thousands of articles and social media posts over the years, Heidi enjoys finding new ways to educate and captivate Lifetime’s ever-growing list of subscribers.
Heidi has a keen eye for misplaced apostrophes, comma splices, and well-turned sentences, which she has put to good use as a contributor to Lifetime’s award-winning blogs. She has written and published hundreds of adoption articles which explore the various facets of domestic infant adoption today.
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