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State We Live in: Minnesota
Our Religion: Christian
Stay At Home Parent: No
Our Age Preferences: Newborn-3 Months, 3 Months – 12 Months
Our Gender Preferences: Either Gender
Our Race Preferences: African American/Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, Caucasian/African American, Caucasian/Asian, Caucasian/Hispanic, Hispanic, Native American
Sibling Group: Yes
With oldest up to 2 years old
Open to Twins: Yes
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Call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784.
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Hello from Minnesota!
We are Ryan and Jess! We are so excited to meet you! We look forward to becoming first-time parents through this adoption journey and will provide a stable, loving home to raise your child in. We are an active, fun-loving family that is thrilled to share our home, hearts and our love of the outdoors with our first child. We are beyond excited to get to know you!
About Us
We met through a mutual friend in 2009, got engaged in 2013, and were married in August of 2014 in Minnesota. We enjoy doing all sorts of outdoor activities together such as fishing, hunting, and going for walks with our dogs. All of our individual special interests usually include the other person in some way. We enjoy being part of each other’s interests! We also love spending time with our families doing cookouts, celebrating holidays and birthdays.
After our struggle with fertility, we feel called to adoption and foster care, and feel that this is the path meant for us to grow our family! We are currently blessed with fostering an amazing 4-year-old girl. We look forward to sharing our interests with our future child(ren) and creating new memories together as a family!
About Ryan
Ryan is a hard-working, fun-loving guy who will drop everything to help someone who needs it. Ryan loves everything to do with the outdoors- hunting, fishing, hiking, and more! Ryan’s absolute favorite thing to do is go pheasant hunting with our dogs. I think he would go out hunting every single day if he could! Ryan also loves woodworking and tinkering in the shop and is also a licensed Emergency Medical Responder.
I know that Ryan will be an incredible dad! He absolutely loves spending time with our nieces and nephews. He is patient, kind, loving, will jump right in to help when needed, and is goofy when with them. Ryan is most looking forward to teaching our child to be handy like him and is excited to have a little buddy out in the shop!
About Jess
Jess is without a doubt my better half. She is patient, understanding, and always willing to listen. Jess loves to spend time working in the garden or her flower beds. She certainly has a “green thumb”, always planning what fruits, vegetables, or flowers she is going to plant. Jess also likes to spend time fishing. Over the last couple of years, she has become pretty good at tying knots, netting fish, and baiting her own hook. She can even outfish me some days! Jess love spending time with our family and friends kids. It is such a joy to watch her with them and I know she is going to be a great mom. Jess is most looking forward to making new family traditions and memories with our child and sharing her love of gardening with them.
Our Home in Minnesota
Our home is nestled in the woods in a quiet neighborhood. We live at the end of the street with private woods on the north side of our large yard. Just a few blocks away is the lake with a walking path that goes all the way to the state park. We have been remodeling our home over the past few years and have enjoyed putting our touches on it. We have a shop that houses Ryan’s tools and toys, and a garage for Jess’s gardening supplies. We hope to build a chicken coop out by our vegetable garden someday. There is plenty of room to roam in our peaceful, northern Minnesotan home!
Our Family
Ryan comes from a large family and is the oldest of four brothers. Ryan’s family all live out West, and we have many amazing get-togethers throughout the year with them. Jess comes from a smaller family and has one older sister. Her sister’s family only lives a few miles away, so we all visit often! Jess’s parents, Nana and Papa, live in a cabin on a lake in the area so we always enjoy getting together. Our families are all thrilled to welcome a child into our family through adoption!
Our Promise
We promise to love and care for your child unconditionally. To raise them with a strong faith, good values, and love for themselves. We promise to always be there for your child through the good and the bad, to support them as they grow, and to encourage them every step of the way. It is important to us that our child knows the love that went into their adoption.
If you would like to learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
More About Ryan
Education: Bachelors of Science in Business Administration
Profession: Telecommunications
Stay-At-Home: No
Racial Background: Caucasian
His Favorites:
Movie: Sicario
Food: Meatloaf or taco salad
Hobby: Fishing, hunting, or wood working
Candy: Symphony toffee bar
Beverage: Blue Gatorade
Christmas Tradition: Watching others open gifts
Way to Relax: Walking the dogs
More About Jess
Education: Masters in Special Education, Bachelors of Science in Education
Profession: Teacher
Stay-At-Home: No, although I am during Summer time!
Racial Background: Caucasian
Her Favorites:
Movie: Harry Potter
Food: Homemade Spaghetti
Hobby: Gardening
Candy: Twizzlers
Beverage: Coffee with lots of creamer
Christmas Tradition: Decorating the tree
Way to Relax: Drinking coffee on the porch
Gallery
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More About Our Family
Family Traditions
Special Event Dinners- Whenever we have something special or exciting happen in our family, we go out to a restaurant for dinner. Whether it is just the two of us for our anniversary, or our extended family celebrating a birthday, it is our way of making people feel special!
Fishing/camping trip- Every summer in July, Ryan and I go on a week long fishing and camping trip with Ryan’s family. We spend the week catching walleyes, grilling, hanging out by the campfire, and enjoying time with family.
Christmas Eve- We always spend Christmas Eve with Jess’s side of the family out at her parent’s cabin on the lake. Everyone brings something to contribute to the meal that we enjoy together. After we eat, our niece and nephew open their gifts. We also do a “White Elephant” gift exchange game with the adults in the family, which usually gets pretty silly!
After work walk- We try to go for a walk with the dogs every night after work. This is our time to talk about our day, get a little exercise in, and spend time together. It has become our favorite time of the day, and a way to de-stress before dinner.
Everyone in our family (including us!) is so excited to include our future child in all of our family traditions. We can’t wait to start making memories of these special traditions with our child.
Our Pets
We absolutely love our pets and they are a huge part of our family. They are all gentle, well-trained, and love people. They are all excited to share their home with their new human baby brother or sister. Here is a little more about our three pets!
Dakota: - 9 year old black Labrador retriever
- Nickname is old dog
- Favorite treat is veggies from the garden
- Loves belly rubs and her humans
Izzy: - 8 year old grey tabby cat
- Nickname is Izzy Thomas
- Favorite treat is ice cream
- Loves to lie in inconvenient spots
Luna: - 4 year old yellow Labrador retriever
- Nickname is Loony
- Favorite treat is anything edible
- Loves going on walks and chasing rabbits
Words to Describe Us
Ryan:
- Handy man
- Nap-lover
- Hunter
- Fisherman
- Comedian
- Solution-finder
- Giving
Jess:
- Teacher
- Musician
- Coach
- Gardener
- Cook
- Reader
- Planner
Three Things We Love About Where We Live
1. The Lakes-there are so many amazing lakes in our area! Our home is located less than 1 mile from our favorite lake. We take full advantage of being so close to the lake by enjoying boating, fishing, going to the beach, and hiking on the paths near the lake.
2. The small town feel- our town is a perfect size. It has the charm of an old, small tourist town, but has all the conveniences of a larger community like numerous restaurants, grocery stores, a bowling ally, a movie theater, and Jess’s favorite-Target!
3. The Events- our town always has special events going on, especially during the summer time. We have an event center that brings in concerts, shows, and conferences. There is an active arts community that puts on plays, musicals, and art galleries. There are also fairs that come to town, and a farmer’s market every Saturday!
In Closing
Thank you for taking time to learn about us. We are thrilled to be on this adoption journey and are excited to welcome your child into our home. Our family and friends are all so excited to welcome a little one into our family, and promise to be a supportive part of their lives. We promise to love and care for your child, and create a stable home for them to grow up in. It is very important to us that they knows their story and the love that brought us together. We are excited to meet you and learn more about you!