Watch Our Video
Hello! We are honored you are considering us as a loving family for your child. We are a fun family of 3 who are very involved in our church and with family and friends. We love to be outside, and we love where we live in South Dakota for that reason! It’s beautiful, full of activities, and you can be outside year-round (if you dress right). We love to laugh, and explore our daughter’s interests with her, and look forward to watching our next child develop, explore, and play their favorite games, try out new interests, and help them to be who they are meant to become. We are open to any form of communication you want to have and would love to be given the chance to give your child a supportive, loving, and fun home. Welcoming your child into our home would be a great treasure for us!
About Us
We met at church group over 10 years ago, and were married in the largest blizzard our area has ever seen! That was 9 years ago, and together we’ve built a life we love. We enjoy camping, hiking, trying new foods, movie nights, and playing family games.
Our Daughter, Rively, has been an amazing gift, after the loss of multiple babies along our way to parenthood. Rively is so excited to be a big sister and will show your child so much love and kindness. She loves to play, be outside, fish, camp, walk the dogs, and being silly. We can’t wait to share in the joy and wonder we seek to find, even in the most normal of days with our next child.
As a family, we make time for nightly meals together and reading at bedtime every night. We use this time to share about our days, pray for one another and grow deeper in relationship/fellowship with each other. We can’t wait to share those precious family moments with your child and get to know them on a deeper level every day!
Meet My Husband, Jared
Andrea says: Jared is an extremely caring and attentive husband, father, and friend. He recently started a new career as a Project Manager for an Electrical Distributor; this puts Jared very close to home and allows us more time as a family. Jared has a gift of making our family feel loved, taken care of, and special. He loves being active in softball and is the manager of our church’s league team. He and Rively spend lots of time going to local attractions and visiting our local zoo/reptile house. He is so excited to be able to spend quality time with our next child whether it’s building Legos, going to local attractions, reading, or going for walks. He loves being a dad and can’t wait to spend quality time with our next child as well.
Meet My Wife, Andrea
Jared says: Andrea is a fun and very caring wife, mother, and friend. I’ve never met anyone who is more in tune with other people’s feelings and needs. She works part-time as a Director of Marketing and has a passion for design and storytelling. Andrea loves to laugh, is super creative, and makes our home a happy and wonderful place to be. She is very active at church in volunteering and leading a Ministry she started in her mother’s honor. She and Rively dress up and love playing pretend every day. Andrea loves documenting our family’s activities and writing. She can’t wait to spend quality time with our next child blowing bubbles, doing art projects, baking, and is looking forward to including our next child in the beauty of our everyday lives.
Our Home in South Dakota
We love living in South Dakota! We live on a quiet cul-de-sac in a 4-bedroom home. We have a large backyard that our two Corgi-Mix pups, Olive and Tuna, love to explore. Rively loves her playhouse, playground, and giant swing in the backyard. Rively has a large playroom downstairs, and she can’t wait to play fun games with a little brother or sister.
Our house is centrally located in town, and we are a short walk to parks, the area’s best Christian schools, and our personal favorite the Strider Adventure Bike/Skate Park that is connected with the city’s wilderness dog park area, all a short walk or short drive away.
Our Family
Our daughter, Rively, is 5 years old and beyond excited to be a big sister. She prays for her future sibling every night and we know she’ll be a sweet helper with a new baby, and even share her favorite books.
We both grew up with families who have strong faith. Part of that included reading the Bible and books nightly with our parents. This is a tradition we have with Rively, and will continue to have with our next child as well. It’s important to us to pass down a strong foundation of faith to our children.
Andrea’s dad and sister, as well as cousins, live in the same town, and we spend every Sunday lunch with her dad. Andrea’s family is so very excited to welcome another child into our family.
Jared’s family lives further away, but we take every opportunity to visit them at holidays, during the summer, and other times throughout the year. They are so excited to show our next child the fun that comes along with living in the country, including animals, gardening, and going for walks with their dogs.
Our Promise
We promise to provide a loving, creative, fun, safe, and Christ-centered home for your child. Your child will never question the amazing way they are loved by God, and our family. Your child will be able to explore, learn, and create in our home. We will always pray for you and your child, and provide unconditional love. They will grow up in a beautiful area full of outdoor activities, educational attractions, and will lead an active and fun life in a family who will value them for exactly who they are.
If you’d like, we welcome an open adoption and will gladly share future contact with you. To learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
More About Jared
Education: Masters of Engineering Management
Profession: Project Manager: Electrical Distributor
Stay-At-Home: Part-time
Racial Background: Caucasian
His Favorites:
Food: Sushi
Sports to watch: Baseball (MN Twins)
Past time: Softball
Show: Anything Marvel
Dessert: Pie
Vacation Spot: Disney
Breakfast item: Coffee
More About Andrea
Education: Bachelors of Art in Theater Performance/Film/Communications
Profession: Director of Marketing
Stay-At-Home: Part-time
Racial Background: Caucasian
Her Favorites:
Food: Sushi
Sports to watch: NE Husker Football
Past time: Hosting friends and family
Show: The Office or Anything on HGTV
Dessert: Dairy-free ice cream (I'm allergic to dairy!)
Vacation Spot: Disney
Breakfast item: Smoothie
More About Our Family
5 Things We Love On a Weekend
1) Camping in the Black Hills and Colorado (just a day trip away)
2) Taking our dogs on hikes on one of our local pet-friendly trails
3) Making lots of popcorn & snacks and having a cozy movie party
4) Hosting family and friends for a board game night
5) S'mores on our deck with friends and family
Our Values
We love Jesus, and that reflects in everything we do. We value people and creating meaningful relationships with them. We hope to treat each person we meet as a friend. We also believe that life is short and worth celebrating, so we go all out for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, including matching pajamas and themed outfits for movie nights. We have a welcoming and open home where we host get-togethers, small groups, and family.
3 Reasons We Love Where We Live
1) South Dakota, specifically the Black Hills, is one of our nation's top family travel destinations. Not only is it beautiful and full of rich history, but there is no shortage of family fun. From a steam train ride through the trees, to finding mammoth and dinosaur fossils in the soil... we live in such an amazing area for educational and fun activities. People travel from all over the world to see our local area. Personally, we value where we live every day. It's a wonderful place to raise a family & enjoy the beauty of the outdoors.
2) Even though it's colder in the winter, we have more sunny days than Hawaii. (And lots of fun indoor activities)
3) We are just a short drive away from Mount Rushmore, The Custer State Park Wildlife Loop, hiking trails, camping, and everything that the Black Hills have to offer. We have no shortage of outdoor sports and walking trails.
3 Family Traditions We Love
1) At supper each day, we have a tradition of sharing these 3 things with each other: " What was the best part of your day? What was the worst part of your day? Where did you see God today?". It leads to amazing conversation and growing closer as a family. We can't wait to share in this tradition with our next child.
2) We read as a family at bedtime every night. We all snuggle together and read Bible stories, fun books, and even make up bedtime stories. We always end in prayer together praying over what is on our hearts as a family. We are excited to pray with our next child and read stories to them too.
3) At Christmas time we have a lot of fun traditions, but one of our favorites is going to a local shop called Christmas Village. They have hundreds of ornaments and a fun Christmas train. We each pick out an ornament that shows the things we did and the great adventures we had the past year. Then they write our names on the ornaments and give everyone a candy cane. Next, we drive through our favorite local coffee shop and get warm Christmas drinks like coco and teas, and drive around and look at Christmas lights. It's one of our favorite parts of the season.
In Closing
We are so excited that you are taking time to get to know us. We can't wait to take our next child on walks in our neighborhood, to fun local attractions, to share nightly dinners, and read books with them. We are open to any form of communication you are comfortable with. We promise to raise your child in a loving and creative home and to celebrate them exactly as they are. Your child will be loved beyond measure, prayed for, and lovingly challenged to become the best and most kind person they can be. We are thrilled to be on the path towards adoption, and our hearts are so ready to love your child.