The beach has always been our favorite vacation spot. It doesn’t really matter where the beach is. We live in a beach town as is, but our most relaxing and memorable vacations involve the sun, sand and surf. We’ve been on beach vacations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and even St. Simons Island, Georgia. In particular, we especially love a family beach vacation. We have fond memories of throwing our nieces and nephews into the water, turning them into sand mermaids, or an all-out adult siblings vs kid siblings hand stand competition in the waves. We love the heated family canasta and Mahjong game nights and trying to teach Abby’s father how to snorkel.

One of our favorite vacation activities is to seek out local food tours or cooking classes when we travel. A vacation isn’t complete without getting a taste of the local cuisine. At our local beach, we bring a picnic and put up our beach tent and beach couch, and then we’ll enjoy some putt-putt golf and soft serve ice cream from the local creamery. Our local beach also hosts summer programs. Our favorite is salsa night. Whether it’s a couple of hours on a Saturday at our local spot or a couple of weeks in an exotic location, the beach is our favorite place to recharge.

We have both known since we were children that we wanted to adopt one day. That was one of the important compatibility questions that arose early on when we were dating.

Spencer’s uncle fostered and adopted 4 of his cousins. He grew up very close to his cousin Corey, going to summer camps together and having sleepovers at each other's houses. Abby’s aunt Debbie, who was very active in her upbringing, was adopted, as well as a good childhood friend and a professional mentor. Spencer’s best friend in high school, Bryson, who was more like a brother, was also adopted.

We colloquially use the language of bio-Mom vs Mom in our families regarding our adoptive aunt and cousins. It was never weird to us, and we think being open and honest about it is important. For Abby, adoption is how she planned to grow her family, even as a little girl. For Spencer, his family and his faith have given him a perspective that it's both natural and amazing to adopt. Moses in the Bible was adopted! We’d tell our children about how we hoped and dreamed of being parents and were blessed to receive them.

We both have very close relationships with our parents and are grateful that they made our childhoods so exciting. For Abby, it was celebrating Christmas, Easter egg hunts, hand-made Halloween costumes, and spending summers visiting family in Taiwan or her great Aunt on St. Simons Island off the southeast coast of Georgia. For Spencer, it was cooking with his mom on Thanksgiving, listening to music with his father, amusement parks in the summer and Church socials. We are the culmination of our parents' love and their desire to make our lives better than theirs by making our childhoods safe and memorable. We want to do the same for our children–make it exciting. We are most looking forward to that wonderment and merriment of childhood, but we are also prepared that that is not all of life. It will be a privilege to nurture them through life’s struggles, share in their triumphs and empathize with their failures. We are here for all of it. And above all, to make them feel safe and loved.

We live in a coastal town in Connecticut. We have bikeable streets and lots of neighborhood kids with yards to play in. There are sidewalks along every street and multiple, walkable playgrounds near our home. Additionally, we are five minutes to the beach, which hosts family-friendly summer events, and the beach itself has a pool for more organized swimming and playing. Our town also holds many festivals throughout the year. We are so lucky to have such a strong community.

Our home is four blocks from Abby's work. We have our main bedroom and 2 guest rooms. We have a large living room and dining room - perfect for hosting guests and parties since we have family coming to visit so often. Our favorite rooms would include what we call "the cafe" which is a reading nook inside the dining room that has comfy chairs and lots of light from windows - perfect for chatting or reading, like in a cafe. The living room is similarly set up with lots of seating and space for table games and conversation.

We have a small freedom garden that boasts cabbages and peppers, herbs and mint. Our property also has blackberries and blueberries that we have planted, all of which to share and enjoy.

We bought a house last summer (first time homeowners!) and wanted our siblings to come and visit. Between the two of us, we have four sisters, three brothers-in-law and seven nieces and nephews. We have been the cool aunt and uncle for a very long time. What we did not expect is that they would all come back-to-back weekends (along with our parents) over the summer. In hindsight, the fact that we live in a beach town was probably a big draw. Plus, one of Spencer's sisters and her family live a couple of hours away, making the journey an easy one. This summer was filled with beach trips, making s'mores over our backyard fire pit, delayed Easter Egg hunts (Abby was working on Easter), birthday treasure hunts and lots and lots of food. We feel blessed that even though our immediate family is not in the same town we still see them regularly.

We are also blessed to have our "chosen" family, our tight-knit group of friends that have become family, that do live in our community. Most of them have children, so when we have get-togethers, we foster a family-friendly environment usually over cook-outs, game nights and trips to the local aquarium.

Our families are hopeful that we can adopt soon and add more cousins to the mix for the younger generation!

Thank you for reading this letter. We wanted the opportunity to express our gratitude for even considering us as the adoptive family for your baby, our admiration for your courage, and our respect for your decision to place your child for adoption. Our hope in writing this letter is that you come to know our intentions and feel reassured by our desire to provide a safe and loving home for your child.

We want to tell you a little about ourselves and the life we are excited to share with your child. We live in a quiet, coastal town in Connecticut in a neighborhood that decorates for holidays and gets hundreds of trick-or-treaters on Halloween. We know our neighbors and our neighbors know us, and our street has an old school feel where kids ride bikes and play outside.

Our home is very old, and it comes with a lot of personality and charm. It’s perfect for hosting potlucks and game nights, and when our nieces and nephews are in town, we like making s’mores over the fire pit on our patio. Spencer has a green thumb, and we have a garden in our backyard where we grow peppers, herbs and cabbages. Spencer also enjoys cooking and likes to find creative ways to incorporate our local produce into healthy meals.

Abby is a doctor and works at the local hospital. Spencer is a banker and works at the local bank. We have a lot of pride in our community and enjoy the seasonal events at our local beach and festivals that celebrate our city downtown. We are both very close to our families, and while not all of them are close by, we have a lot of support. We have seven (soon to be eight) nieces and nephews and want very much for our child to grow up with cousins.

As a family, we envision our weekends filled with lazy beach days, yummy meals, youth sports and playdates. We plan to spend vacations travelling to see family, both domestic and abroad. Spencer can’t wait to share his love of anime and basketball. Abby is eager to share her favorite fantasy novels at bedtime. We are so excited to share our love of food and music and travel with our child and to create new traditions together.

We have been together for seven years, and through COVID, career changes and transcontinental relocations, we have always envisioned growing our family through adoption. We were both adamant about this desire when we first started dating and were delighted to find out that we both felt the same way, having both grown up with adopted relatives and friends. For us, this is a dream come true. Your child is already so loved.

We promise to honor you and this precious piece of your heart by raising this child in a home full of love, stability, and opportunity. We want this little one to know where they came from and are excited to share photos and letters with you as they grow. We are open to building a relationship.

Spencer & Abby