Adam and Sarai

We first met the first week of our freshmen year at Wake Forest University and began dating shortly thereafter. Early on Adam knew he would ask Sarai to marry him. Sarai’s personality was conscientious, kind, incredibly smart and a committed Christian. We began attending church together and spending much of our free time together. Sarai appreciated Adam's integrity, fun loving nature, and drive to achieve his goals. We got engaged in the middle of our junior year and married shortly after we graduated. We have been married for over 16 years now, and we have found that marriage only gets more fun with each passing year.

Our relationship is a strong one because we put our faith commitments first. Other ways we keep our marriage strong include prioritizing time each morning for conversation before the kids wake up and making time for shared activities like hiking. We value hospitality and welcoming others from our community into our home.

Even before we tried to get pregnant, we agreed that someday we would seek to adopt. After years of infertility we got licensed as foster and adoptive parents. Soon after this we were surprised to find that Sarai had become pregnant with our daughter Aurora. When she reached the age of two we looked again to fostering and adoption and were thrilled to have our son Ezekiel placed with us through Virginia DSS when he was two days old. His adoption was finalized shortly before his second birthday. For now, his parents have chosen not to maintain contact, but there is some contact with his paternal grandmother and his older brother. For future adoptions we are open to whatever level of contact is desired.

Aurora and Zeke are full of joy, energy, and noise. Current favorite activities include pillow fort construction, story time, and family walks. They are outgoing kids and love to greet passing neighbors and college students (we live close to a University) on our walks. We have flexible jobs so we can be with the kids a lot. Everyday we sit down together for breakfast and dinner. Our children also spend time each week at their grandparents’ nearby alpaca farm, where they have responsibilities like feeding the animals, and (Zeke’s favorite) scooping poop.

Our kids have come to know and appreciate a routine that involves sitting down to meals together each day, praying together as a family over breakfast, playing together, helping to cook dinner, taking walks to visit friends, welcoming others to our home for fun and feasting, and watching the occasional Mr. Roger's episode with a home baked treat.

Our home is also the site of many traditions that combine our life of faith with fun, hospitality and food. For example, the kids help to pick out a tree to cut down from the grandparents' farm and decorate it on Christmas eve. And on his Adoption Day anniversary, we tell Zeke's adoption story over his choice of dinner.

We greatly value family and know that as it grows there is only more love and joy to share. The kids have been asking when we might add a new sister or brother to our home. We are excited to pursue this through adoption.