Gabriel & Ashley

Hello! We’ve been together for a long time, always with the dream of raising a family together. Adoption has been on our hearts from the start! After going through a number of miscarriages and fertility challenges, we prayed about our next steps. We feel that adoption is the path God has always wanted us to take and we’re excited about building our family this way. Our friends and family would say we are calm, patient, kind, and genuine. It’s important to us that others feel at ease around us, and that our loved ones know we’re always by their side. We try to make others feel loved and valued, even if it’s just to brighten someone’s day with a little gesture. We keep our word and try to understand where others are coming from. It touches our hearts to be considered as adoptive parents for your child. We’d love to get to know more about you and your little one.

This is Us

Our Story, as told by Ashley: We met while working at Target when Gabriel was transferred to my store. We just started talking and it led to the relationship of a lifetime! We’ve been married over 13 years and are truly each other’s best friends.

As a couple we like:
• Hikes with our dog, Nova
• DIY projects around the house
• Having friends and family over
• Time with our nieces, like going to the arcades, fishing, swimming, theme parks, or museums
• Movie nights

About Ashley

Gabriel says: Ashley is kind, caring, and will go out of her way for others. She always sees the bright side and has a very positive outlook on everything. Ashley would be a fun, cool, fair mom who would love to be involved in PTA meetings and do anything with our children.

Ashley enjoys:
• Volunteering as a Girl Scout leader
• Playing the clarinet
• Painting and crafting
• Baking treats for us and her coworkers
• Board games

About Gabriel

Ashley says: Gabriel is funny, smart, and caring. He always makes me smile when I need it. Gabriel does so much for our family, including cooking dinner, helping with laundry, and just being there for me in any way he can. We’ve been through a lot together and he always puts our family first. I know Gabriel will be a great dad who is loving, understanding, and always there for his children.

Gabriel enjoys:
• Grilling and smoking meat
• 3D print design and computers
• Working on the lawn or home projects
• Taking our dog to obedience training classes
• Collecting comic books (I have since I was a kid!)

Our Home in Illinois

We live in a family-oriented neighborhood where you can always hear kids playing outside when the weather is nice. We’re close to 3 parks and many forest preserves. There is always an activity going on for families to do with their children. One of the things we love about our 3-bedroom ranch-style home is how open it is. Our kitchen and living room is one large space, so when we have people over everyone can easily spend time watching the game, talking, or celebrating together. Outside we have a fenced yard where we enjoy bonfires and time to relax. We’ve chosen a room to turn into the nursery after we know more about the child we will adopt. It’s across the hall from our bedroom and we’ve already begun to pick out trim and paint for it. We’re excited to raise a child here!

Our Families

We have a very big extended family, mostly on Gabriel’s side. Our loved ones are welcoming, friendly, and fun. It’s always a great time together, no matter what side of the family we’re spending time with. Some of our family is local, so we see them more often. For the relatives who live out of town, we enjoy visiting each other for holidays, school breaks, or birthdays and special events. We also have friends who are as close as family and are an accepting group of people who come from all different backgrounds. We talk with our family and friends all the time. Maintaining connections is important to all of us.

Thoughts from Our Hearts...

We promise to honor your child’s story, celebrate who they are, and be honest when they have questions. We want him or her to know they can talk to us about anything they feel or want to know. We will create a loving, safe, nurturing home to grow up in. We will use kindness and understanding to help guide and teach them. We promise to walk alongside your child through anything, with love, stability, and belonging.

Our goal is to raise our child to be independent, confident, and respectful. We’ll encourage them to learn from opportunities that come from schooling, as well as outside of the classroom. We want our child to feel empowered, capable, and supported as they become the unique individual he or she is meant to be.

We will honor your child’s roots and welcome an open adoption with you, if you’d like a connection after the adoption. It’d be great to talk about what that could look like together! You would always have a meaningful and special place in our hearts. Thank you for this opportunity to share a little about us and the life we would cherish sharing with your child. We’d love to talk with you: call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

Love, Gabriel & Ashley

In Closing

We love imagining life with a child and we can't wait to see where this path to adoption will lead us. As a couple with a diverse family background, we will also embrace our child's background and heritage, and to understand how we came together through adoption. It would be amazing to learn more about you, answer any of your questions, and to hear what you picture for your child's future. Just ask Lifetime about us and they'll set up a call or video chat when you're ready! We hope to hear from you and are praying for you as you make your plans.