We are an outdoorsy couple who love adventuring through new cities and parks. Our favorite destination is the mountains, and we try to vacation there every year. We are a “5k on the holidays” kind of couple who enjoy spending time with our family. Sam is a police officer for a local town and enjoys playing piano in her free time, along with reading a good book. Catie is a nurse at the community hospital and enjoys gardening along with biking in her free time. We met online, even though we only lived 20 minutes away from each other, and have been together for six years, married for three. On days we’re not working, we love to go hiking at a nearby park with our dogs and then come home to have a fire on our outdoor patio.

We are both extremely close with our extended family. Catie’s parents are separated but still have an especially close relationship with each other. Her dad plays the guitar and her mom volunteers with environmental activities. She has one brother who has a long-term partner, both of whom enjoy running and yoga. Her brother is her best friend. Her extended family is very large and includes over ten cousins, many of whom have children. We spend lots of time with Catie’s family in the city going to sporting events, music festivals, musical theater and running local races. Her family loves their Slovak traditions around the holidays, many involving cooking food together!

Sam’s parents have been together for over 30 years. They both are retired and enjoy volunteer work, especially with the local fire department. She is very close with her one brother and sister-in-law, who enjoy motocross and hosting family dinners. Even though her extended family is smaller than Catie’s, it’s just as tight knit. We spend an equal amount of time with Sam’s family doing projects, going to concerts, and attending local festivals. Her family absolutely loves spending time together, and every holiday ends with board games and lots of laughter!

We live in a rural area 30 minutes east of a major city that we enjoy visiting for multiple attractions. We live about five minutes down the road from the local park with a lake, playground, and plenty of outdoor activities. We have three rescue dogs, including two special needs dachshunds who are sisters and a Boston terrier mix. We also have four ducks who venture in the unfenced portion of our property and swim in our pond. We have a spacious four-bedroom house on a dead-end street where we enjoy outdoor activities as much as indoor ones, like playing pool or foosball in our game room.

We have shared a dream of expanding our family and becoming moms since we were first together. We’ve witnessed positive adoption experiences with close friends and wished to expand our family through adoption. We adopted our son in 2023 with the help of LifeLong and it was an absolutely beautiful and positive experience. We hope to continue to grow our family with the gift of adoption. We have an extremely supportive and loving family, a comfy home with room to grow, and so much love to give.