Dear Expectant Parent,

Maybe we should think of this letter as speed dating. We are going to try to tell you who we are in several short paragraphs and you can see if we are what you are looking for. And if you are really serious about getting to know us you can go watch our videos on our "About Us" page. Then you can see us live and in person.

Merrill and I have been married for just over 8 years now. After 4 years of being unable to conceive it was apparent that adoption was the path that God had intended for us. Maxwell was placed into our family in 2010 by his wonderful birth mother whom we continue to have an open relationship with. I stay at home as a full-time mother after retiring from my profession as an academic counselor. Merrill currently works as an engineer for a great company. We both graduated from ASU (Go Devils), Merrill with a bachelor of science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, an MBA, and I with a bachelor of education.

Now that was have the basics out of the way, let's talk about some of our favorites. We love to ride our bikes as a family, we all go swimming at least once a week in the summer and hold dance off competitions from time to time. Popcorn is a staple food item in our house, we have family traditions for each holiday, and family vacations are a must.

We feel very blessed to have had to wait for children. Waiting to have children was not fun but we made up for it by having fun traveling and spending quality time together. We honestly feel we are better prepared parents now than when we were a younger couple. During this period we have grown together as husband and wife, finished our educations and bought a house. We are also fortunate to be debt free. We feel that longing to have children has increased our gratitude for the privilege to be parents. It is because of our birthmother’s selfless love that our lives have been greatly enriched. We are grateful to have an open adoption and hope to continue open relationships with our future placements. We feel it is an honor to be Maxwell’s parents and we are constantly seeking for ways to help him learn and grow.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. We are open to letters, emails, phone calls, visits, etc.

Merrill, Mary, and Max