We’re Jessie and Joe! Jessie is organized and loves a good plan and routine. While she does not have a career, she keeps very busy being a stay-at-home mom and including our daughter in day-to-day activities. She has begun passing her time by being a substitute preschool assistant. She has a culinary degree, so she really enjoys getting creative with cooking, reading books, or going to one of the three nearby parks or to the aquatic center down the road. Joe is very curious with a passion for learning. Joe is a Marine veteran and is now working as a machinist. His notary signing business offers stability and allows him to spend more time at home. Joe enjoys nature walks (He is an Eagle Scout after all.) and roughhousing with our daughter. To say Joe loves the fun and games part of parenthood is an understatement!

Jessie comes from a family of eight. Mom and dad are divorced, and Dad is remarried to a woman we adore. Our daughter loves the time she gets to spend with Grandpa, whom she affectionately calls “Bumpa” or, better still, “Bumpa on a log.” We enjoy golf cart rides, trampoline time, and singing with his guitar. Jessie has two older brothers, two younger brothers, and a little sister. We are close to four of her siblings and have been a large part of the upbringing of the youngest two with many sleepovers, vacations, and day trips. We have one nephew, who is our daughter Lily’s age. Some of our favorite traditions with her family are threshing shows, French onion soup and the pumpkin patch, and the Wisconsin Dells.

Joe has two older brothers. His oldest brother is married with two girls. We enjoy trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s; Lily loves overnights with them and going out for breakfast. Joe's aunt has been an active part of our lives and has a strong and consistent relationship with Lily.

We live in a four-bedroom house. The backyard is fully fenced with a swing set and a garden. The backyard also has a fenced area for our chickens to roam. We enjoy hanging out on the porch with neighbors while the kids spend many summer nights outside playing. The elementary school is within walking distance, and on the way is a park, aquatic center, and ice rink. We really enjoy playing at the park after school! Our community loves Halloween and puts on parades, one of which is entirely for the elementary students to show off their costumes! We have a cat named Princess Zelda who loves snuggles, we added a puppy who loves kids to our crew last February, and egg laying chickens.

Parenthood has been one of the biggest joys of our lives, and we would love nothing more than to grow our family. We came to adoption based on a hereditary condition that Jessie gets when pregnant, making pregnancy dangerous for both mom and baby. Jessie has been anticipating adoption being an amazing family planning option for many years. We have known we wanted to add to our family for a while now. We did foster care for a while and had the privilege of caring for a six-year-old girl for seven months before she moved in with her forever family. The experience was amazing and confirmed what we already knew: that we wanted a child to raise and love and never have to say goodbye to.