Maggie and Joshua

We live in the cozy farmhouse that Josh grew up in.
Our favorite part of the home is the backyard. We have a play set with swings and slides, and a
sandbox that our son could spend hours playing with. We enjoy grilling and setting up the
picnic table outside when the weather is nice.
Our house is in the country and overlooks a valley of farm fields. We have a great view of the
most beautiful sunsets from our front porch. As we live in the country, we have a lot of space
for adventures! We have plenty of room to go on walks, ‘hike’ through our pasture, ride our
bikes, and play baseball in the yard. We also have a pond in the pasture behind our house,
where we enjoy fishing in the summers.
While we live in a rural area, the town is not too far away. It’s a smaller town, but it has some
nice playgrounds, a small water park, a movie theater, and a little bowling alley. Our small town
has sports, music lessons, and art activities that kids can choose from! We live close to Josh’s
family. Our church community is a group of caring and supportive people, who love to get
together at church events. Our community is a wonderful place to raise a family. It is small, but
has a lot to offer!

We both grew up in close-knit loving families, who enjoyed spending time together. Our
families prioritized family time with our small family, as well as our extended families. Our
cousins were some of our very best friends. We were raised with love and good morals, and
we hope to pass these ideals on to our children.
Maggie and her siblings have a close bond and remain some of her best friends. They
spent many late nights playing Nintendo or board games, drinking Mountain Dew, and
laughing till they cried. Maggie’s family members live a few hours away, allowing for many
fun sleepovers!
Josh’s family spent a lot of quality time together traveling as his dad was a custom harvester.
They used to travel around harvesting other peoples’ crops for them. Josh has many special
memories of visiting new places and riding along with his dad and siblings in the combine.
Josh’s family all live close by, and we are partners in the farm with some of them. We are
close enough to attend all the family birthdays and events; our proximity allows Josh’s
parents to attend all our son’s baseball games and school programs!
Our families are very excited and supportive of us welcoming another beautiful child into
our lives. We have been so humbled by the excitement and support we received when we
first announced we would be pursuing adoption. We cannot wait to see the excitement
when another child joins our family.

Spring:
Springtime brings planting season on the farm and in the garden. Maggie and
Jace join Josh for tractor rides, and bringing meals out to the field. Maggie plants a
garden near our house, and Jace takes an active role in helping. It is wonderful to watch
him get excited when everything starts growing. Many afternoons turn into water fights
with the hose, running through the sprinkler, or playing in the mud.

Summer:
The highlight of each summer is our tradition of visiting Maggie’s hometown
for two weeks where Jace joins his cousins for swimming lessons. During these two
weeks, we spend time with family going to zoos, splash parks, museums, and just playing
at cousins’ houses. It is special to see close bonds forming between Jace and his cousins,
and their play offers the adults time to relax and enjoy our siblings and parents.

Fall:
In our family, fall means harvest time!
Many days/evenings are spent
in the fields working with family to
get everything done. For the kids, it
is the best time of year! Tractor rides
with Grandpa, meals outside in the
field with cousins, and learning about
farming are so fun! We are also big
football fans and love to watch The
Chiefs.

Winter:
Our family loves to play in the
snow. We have a large area around
our home perfect for sledding and
building snow forts. After we play,
we gather up enough snow to make
snow ice cream with hot chocolate to
drink. We enjoy taking ski trips, and
Jace has a blast! We hope to share
our love of playing in the snow with
future children!