Trace & Tawni

Hello! We are adventurous, goofy and light-hearted, and we would love to share our zest for life with a child. We are passionate about sharing life with others and nurturing relationships with loved ones. We also have hearts for serving our community; Tawni is an agriculture teacher and Trace is a Sheriff’s Deputy. Our careers allow us to help the youth in our area to prepare for their future and build confidence, which is important to us. Together we like to explore and challenge each other to live life to the fullest! We’ve dreamed of raising a child and have talked about adoption from the very beginning. It means so much to be considered as adoptive parents for your child. We’d love to get to know you!

A Little About Us

How We Met: Our story began on a ranch that belonged to Tawni’s best friend’s family. The summer before her senior year of college, Tawni was staying there and helping out with the horses, cattle, cooking, photography, and marketing (and loving hanging out with her best friend!). Later that summer, Trace’s sister and family moved into the ranch house for a job as a ranch hand. Trace, newly out of the Marines, showed up to help his sister move in and was invited to dinner at the ranch owner’s home. Tawni was there for dinner after a hard day and we met over strawberries and spilled coffee creamer. We both have different memories of how the creamer spilled, but it led to Trace jumping in to help Tawni clean it up. After the dinner, when everyone went home, Tawni’s friend convinced her to message Trace because she was sure he seemed interested that evening. Later that night we talked for hours that led to date after date that summer, and then to a long-distance relationship while Tawni finished college. We were married just over a year later and have been living our happily ever after for almost 6 years!

Things we love to do together:

• Two-stepping the night away to our favorite country songs (even if we’re just at home!)
• Road trips along the countryside, talking and exploring as we go
• Supporting the local youth activities
• Playing board games or cards
• Lots of time with our families

This is Tawni

Trace says: My wife is adventurous, loyal, generous, and ambitious. She cares so much about the wellbeing and success of others. Tawni is always the first to lend a hand or comfort someone in need. For me and so many of our loved ones, she is a light house that helps people see through anything. Tawni is also passionate about experiencing life and making her dreams a reality. I know she will be an incredible, attentive, active mom and I look forward to seeing her share her enthusiasm and wisdom as a parent. She will pour her heart and soul into our children and help them become everything they could hope to be.

Tawni is into:

• Photography and capturing western lifestyle, or nature and landscape art
• Reading fantasy books
• Working with animals
• Training her personal service dog
• Horseback riding
• Roping with her dad
• Cooking for others
• Talks with friends over tea or coffee

This is Trace

Tawni says: My husband is loyal, reliable, and so fun. There’s nothing Trace would not do for those he loves. He is also driven to make sure he is at his own best, so that everyone in our circle can be their best. When Trace makes a promise or commitment, there’s no doubt he will be there and that it will get done well. He’s also a blast to spend time with! No matter what we do, he always brings the adventure and laughs. I know he would love to bring all of these qualities into his role as a dad. He will show up for our children in amazing ways and be a father they can count on.

Trace enjoys:

• Assembling and painting model cars
• Playing tabletop role playing games with my brothers or friends
• Participating in living history events
• Making early American quill art and accessories
• Exercising
• Camping, hiking, or trekking
• Riding horses
• Coaching wrestling for high school students
• Running a military preparation course for teens who are thinking of enlisting

Our Home in Colorado

We live in the eastern plains of Colorado. Although we can’t see the Rocky Mountains from here, we do have beautiful landscape views of rolling sand hills, canyons, and grasslands. However, the thing we like the most about living here is the people. It’s a small town with genuine, kind people who are truly interested in each other. (People will wave hello, even if they don’t know you!)

Our house has 3 bedrooms with a spacious living room, dining room, and kitchen. We have a big fenced yard in the back with rows of trees on the sides. We love our home! It’s full of love and is comfortable and inviting. There’s a room already cleaned out and dedicated for our future child’s nursery. We will have so much fun decorating and preparing this room more when we know more about the specific child who will join our little family.

Family Life

Our families have always been very accepting of others. We both grew up with parents who welcomed our friends in a way that they became like family. Everyone is excited about our plans to adopt! We have 3 nephews and 6 nieces who will happily welcome another cousin too! Our families live within a couple hours of us and we all stay in touch regularly. Trace comes from a big family who live the closest to us, including his twin brother and two other siblings. We enjoy the short road trips to visit each other for get-togethers or family celebrations.

We plan for Tawni to stay at home with our child or children until they are old enough for school. We grew up with parents who were able to raise us at home, passing down traditions and family values through big and little moments, and being there for us in everything. We want to prioritize these things for our children too.

Traditions with our loved ones:

• Board games are popular with both sides
• Playing cards, having a big meal, enjoying music, and telling stories with Trace’s family
• Practicing our roping skills or horseback riding with Tawni’s parents

A Heartfelt Promise to You and Your Child

Our promise you that we will do all that we can to meet your child’s needs, in every way possible. We have such a passion for life and living it to the fullest! We want to help our child or children grow up knowing we support them and will encourage them to be the best version of themselves, to be who God made them to be. Our goal as parents is to raise strong, independent individuals with moral compasses and compassion. We will model understanding and teach them how to accept those with differences, while also being proud of who they are and where they came from too.

We will always speak honestly and lovingly about how we became a family through adoption. Your child will grow up secure in how loved he or she is, from the start. We will answer his or her questions about their adoption with an attitude of love and connection. If you’d like an open adoption, we welcome ongoing contact with you. It would be great to talk about what that could look like! We want to honor you as part of your child’s story and promise to learn about and celebrate your child’s background or cultural traditions, especially if they are important to you.

We’d love to talk with you and we’re so thankful to be considered as adoptive parents for your little one. To contact us call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

In Closing

We're so thankful to be considered as a possible adoptive family for your child. It would be our pleasure to get to know you and learn more about the hopes you have for your little one's future. We've hoped to raise a family and are ready and excited to bring a child into our lives through adoption. If you'd like an open adoption we would love to hear what that might look like for you, such as sharing updates or how we could stay in touch as your child grows up. You will always hold a special place in our hearts and we'll make sure your child knows how much you mean to us. When you're ready, just ask Lifetime to set up a call or video chat with us! We'd love to hear from you.