Rob & Crystal

Greetings from Northern Virginia! We’re Rob and Crystal, a fun-loving and caring couple who enjoy living life to the fullest! Rob’s a lawyer and legal content specialist, and Crystal is a 2nd grade school teacher. We both enjoy living in Northern Virginia – there’s so much to do here! We enjoy exercising outdoors, going to the movies, spending time with family, exploring new restaurants, attending church, traveling to new places, cooking and baking at home, reading interesting books, and learning new things.

We are excited about growing our family. We have so much love to give a child; we’re confident we’ll be great parents and role models for a child.

About Us

We met and began dating in early 2017. We began to discuss getting married approximately one year after we met. Rob proposed to Crystal at a local romantic restaurant. The wedding took place in our old church with our closest relatives in attendance. After being married several years, we’ve felt a call to grow our family both through adoption and natural childbirth. We’re eager to open our home to a precious baby whom we can love, protect, teach and cherish.

As a couple, we enjoy exploring nature, exercising, and traveling together. We love being outdoors in nature. We’ve run two 10K races together and regularly walk up to 5 miles at a local lake trail. We’re also “foodies”! We enjoy dining and trying out new restaurants. We cook a lot together at home – some of our favorite meals are homemade meatballs, homemade pizza, soups, and tacos. Rob is an extraordinary baker- his specialty is chocolate cake from scratch. We attend professional sporting events – pro football, baseball and soccer, as well as cheering for our college sports teams. Some of our other pastimes include reading fiction and nonfiction books, visiting coffee shops, as well as enjoying blockbuster movies at our favorite theater. We’re part of a church group that meets twice per month where we fellowship with other families.

About Crystal

I love kids and learning new things! I’ve been a teacher of young children for more than 15 years. I’m patient with children and I believe in providing opportunities for a child to discover and explore, as well as structure. I’m from a mixed culture family and I grew up speaking English, Spanish and Portuguese. I’m fluent in Spanish and taught in Spanish and English in a bilingual school program for many years. I’m into cooking and have several cookbooks that I’m working my way through. I’m invested in eating clean and organic foods. I enjoy creative projects – I like to sew and make quilts. I’ve sewn 3 small quilts this past year and I’m planning to make a bigger quilt this year. I also like to paint with watercolors.

For fun and relaxation, I enjoy going on long walks and hikes in our community. I like visiting local coffee shops for a latte or specialty coffee. I enjoy the ocean, so beach travel is often planned each year during the summer. I spend time reading and meditating on the Bible each week. Having a relationship with God keeps me focused on what’s truly valuable in life.

I’m looking forward to going on nature walks with our child. I’d like to teach our child how to explore and enjoy the great outdoors. I would also like to share arts and crafts with our child through activities like playing with play dough, clay, painting, and creating art. Lastly, I look forward to reading stories together and enjoying books.

About Rob

I’m really excited to be a Dad! I have a soft spot for children and truly want what’s best for them. I’m very easygoing when it comes to family. Family time is sacred to me. I’m loyal and keep a small close circle of friends. I love self-improvement, and I’m always striving to eat nutritious foods and exercise to maintain my fitness. I love learning, reading, and trying to develop my creativity. Many times, I’ll listen to podcasts or watch YouTube videos about self-improvement. I truly enjoy watching good movies and I love the great outdoors! I also enjoy traveling a lot, having visited a few countries, eating different foods, and interacting with local residents. I love sports – the camaraderie, strategy, enjoying victory, learning from defeat. I think you can learn a lot of life lessons from sports – good lessons. My faith is very important to me, and I’ll always remind our child how much GOD loves them and wants them to be successful in life.

I’m looking forward to taking our child out to playgrounds, national parks, amusement parks, and helping them with their homework. I’m really looking forward to teaching our child how to ride a bike! I also would like to participate in sporting activities with our child, such as playing catch with a baseball or a football. I’m looking forward to building wonderful holiday memories with our child and taking lots of photos of them. Finally, I’m looking forward to teaching our child some basic agricultural skills, like how vegetables grow and planting seeds.

Our Family

When we gather with family, some things we enjoy doing are cooking special meals, telling stories, playing games, watching family friendly movies, and enjoying each other’s company.

Crystal’s parents live out of state, and we communicate with them each week via Facetime or a phone call. We try to visit her parents as often as we can, and we have a great relationship with them. Crystal also has two sisters that live in other states. Crystal’s sisters are both married, and one of her sisters has a daughter. We visit with Crystal’s family during our summer vacation or during the Christmas season. We enjoy a close relationship with Crystal’s siblings, and we communicate with them each week. Crystal has aunts, uncles and cousins throughout the United States, on the East Coast, the Southwest, and the West.

Rob’s father lives about 25 miles from us, and we try to visit him a few times a month. We will usually swing by his place and take him to lunch or dinner.  We also like to go to the movies with him as well! Rob’s sister is married with two daughters and lives in Australia. We like to Facetime her family as well. She and her family came to visit us twice in the past two years, which was really fun; we got to catch up in person and reconnect, and it was really special! Rob has extended family in our region – aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Our Home in Northern Virginia

We currently live in a Northern Virginia suburb. The homes in our townhouse neighborhood are new and modern. Our community is very walkable with trails in multiple directions, allowing us to enjoy exercising in wonderful weather! One of the best features is a modern playground where families meet up and kids gather to play and spend time with friends. Our neighborhood is very safe and it’s common for children to leave their bikes and scooters outside. There are two soccer fields along a walking trail located across the street from our community where families gather to watch kids’ soccer games. We also have a volleyball court and community center right across the street that has a gymnasium with basketball courts, exercise room, arts/crafts and meeting rooms to study in. All of these amenities are within walking distance, and we use them regularly. The neighbors are friendly and there are many families with children nearby.

Our home is spacious and cozy with 2 bedrooms and modern amenities. One bedroom is currently empty that we will use for a baby nursery.

Our Promise

We promise to provide a safe, loving, and fun environment for your child to grow up in. We will honor your child’s cultural heritage by teaching them about their birth family culture and language.

We will work together to give our child a strong education, both in and out of the home. We will teach them values at home such as being responsible, being kind, being a good friend, hard work, and helping others. Also, we believe it’s important to work with kids on reading, writing, and math at home, and we plan to do so. We promise to find a quality school for your child to attend that will challenge the child in their areas of strengths and weaknesses. We’ll provide opportunities for them to explore outdoors and engage with creative play. We promise to give them any assistance they’ll need to do well in school.

Thank you for considering us. We welcome an open adoption, and are comfortable with emails, phone calls, scheduled visits, and sharing photos of your child.

We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

In Closing

We thank you so much for viewing our profile and are honored that you are considering us as adoptive parents for your child! We are excited to become parents and promise to love your child and place their happiness and well-being as our number one priority. We are open to communicating with you through scheduled visits, phone calls, emails, and sharing photos of your child.