Hello! We are Sarah & Kirk, along with our daughter, Sadie, from Santa Barbara, California! We are a family who loves life, from the everyday moments to the big adventures. So far, our biggest adventure has been becoming parents and we cannot wait to welcome another child into our warm and fun-loving household. It took us a long time to become parents, and because of this we don’t take many moments for granted. We truly love our lives today and can only hope our children will feel the same way.

We may not know you just yet, but we know that we admire your strength and selflessness as you consider adoption. We are grateful for the opportunity to give you a glimpse into our lives and who we are as a family.

We have always hoped for the opportunity to raise more than one child, and for years we have considered adoption to continue growing our family. After years of hope, our biological daughter Sadie was born in 2020 and it seems natural to us to now grow our family through adoption. Both of us have had our lives touched by adoption. Sarah has an adopted cousin whom she was very close with as a child, and Kirk a close friend and roommate. To us, family is more than biological ties, and we are excited to grow ours through adoption.

We met while Kirk lived in Orange County, California and Sarah in Los Angeles, 40 miles yet potentially hours apart, depending on the traffic. We soon found we had a lot in common, especially in our love of spontaneity and adventure. After dating for only a few short months, Kirk invited Sarah to a friend’s wedding in Italy and she agreed to go! We completed a road trip through Slovenia to Lake Como and never looked back.

When determining where to call home, we packed up and discovered a place we both love. We are now happy to call Santa Barbara, California, our home, where we have time to spend together as a family and experience the beauty in nature all around us. We are also surrounded by a wonderful and diverse community of families.

Being together as a family is what is most important to us. We love spending time with each other outdoors, partaking in new experiences, learning anything new and helping others. Sarah has worked with children with special needs and their families since she was a teenager. While she currently takes care of our daughter full-time, she volunteers as a reading tutor with the public library weekly. We chose to enroll our daughter in a co-operative preschool which requires all parents to work with the children at school one day a week. We value being a part of our daughter’s educational experience and helping out as part of a community.

Some of our other family activities include growing fruits and vegetables in our garden, cooking healthy meals, camping, entertaining friends and family, and attending cultural activities such as live performances, festivals and museums. We both value living a healthy lifestyle and incorporate exercise into our daily lives. We have been overjoyed to involve our daughter in these aspects of our lives and are thrilled at the possibility to include another child in our adventures and curiosity about the world.

I like to think of myself as considerate, caring, empathic, and fun. I do my best to stay present and be grateful for the good in my life, even when faced with challenges. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada before moving to Boston for graduate school, and finally to California. My passions include spending time in nature, getting lost in a book, traveling to new places - close to home or across an ocean, spending quality time with loved ones, learning anything new, and laughing! I worked as a Special Education teacher for preschool and elementary aged children for nearly 20 years before taking a break to tackle my most important job yet - being home to raise our daughter, Sadie. It’s by far been the best time of my life and I plan on continuing to be a stay-at-home mom when we welcome future children into our family.

What I love about being a parent is watching my Sadie learn and develop as her own person, and being with her during her most joyous and most difficult moments.

I was first struck by Sarah’s pursuit of adventure - she agreed to travel through Europe together within weeks of our courtship!

This spirit has endured years later, through major life changes, because she prioritizes experience and the important people in her life above all else. Sarah is content cozying up with a good book or working on her garden, but I love that she is always willing to explore and try something new. This mindset has led us to world travel, rare experiences and ultimately finding our dream home! Most impressive is Sarah’s ability to tackle our biggest challenges while maintaining a wonderful smile; our family relies upon her persistence and huge heart. She worked tirelessly in her career to help kids with special needs. Now she maintains endless patience while introducing our daughter to a variety of interests through school, arts and music. She is always elated by the smile on Sadie’s face. Most telling - my own mother agrees, Sarah is a great mom!

Helping others reach their financial goals gets me going to work each morning. I’m fortunate to have a career where I work closely with families, develop deep relationships, and celebrate as they reach various milestones throughout their lives. This path also provides independence and flexibility for me to pursue other interests - surfing, backpacking, boating and travel.

The best part of parenting is getting to share these experiences with a child and seeing what fuels their interests!

Kirk is driven, reliable and intelligent. He has a terrific sense of humor and I do some of my best laughing with him. I love that I can always count on him for stability as well as adventure! He has a knack for coming up with the best ideas, such as watching movies outdoors on summer nights, or kayaking to lunch instead of driving. He is an amazing cook and has a passion for providing our family with healthy, delicious meals and special treats. He is the pancake master every Saturday morning in our home! Kirk is the best father to our daughter and loves to be with her, at the beach, playing soccer, with breaks to watch squirrels in our backyard, carrying her on his back while hiking in the mountains, or reading her favorite books. He is equally great during the tears, disappointments, sleepless nights, and other difficult moments for Sadie. He is there for her no matter what. I can’t wait to see him share his passions and unwavering love with another child.

Sadie was born in November, 2020 and loves to climb, dance and laugh. She currently considers herself a ballerina and can be found dancing to the Nutcracker at home on a Monday morning. She adores her stuffed lamb and spends a lot of her day taking care of it as she would a baby brother or sister.

Sadie is sweet, thoughtful, full of wonder, outgoing, observant and funny. Some of our favorite moments are watching her connect with other children.

We are so lucky to call beautiful Santa Barbara our home. We moved here from Los Angeles close to two years ago and have already built an incredible community of families we call friends. Our home is situated in a quiet, safe neighborhood with easy access to nature. We are a short walk to the beach, a beautiful nature preserve full of wildflowers in the spring, and an amazing park and playground. The neighborhood elementary school is located two blocks away. We have a nice big fenced-in yard at home where Sadie loves to spend time. She plays soccer on the lawn, helps us take care of our vegetable garden, climbs the tree to pick oranges, and plays in the mud kitchen we built for her.

When we do get on our bicycles or in our car, we are close to scenic mountains for hiking, great kid-friendly places such as a zoo and museums, and venues for live performances. Santa Barbara has a small-town feel; we regularly run into other families we know at restaurants and grocery stores. It also celebrates diversity and is an inclusive, welcoming community. This can be seen through cultural events such as Fiesta, an annual festival honoring Spanish and Latin heritage which goes back 100 years, as well as the diverse racial and cultural makeup of children attending Sadie’s preschool, which families are encouraged to share.

One of the best parts of our family is our sweet, gentle 12-year-old dog, Abbey, whose passions are tummy rubs, naps and treats. She is a great fit for kids!

Our families may be spread far and wide, but we are so lucky to see them as frequently as we do. Sarah’s family lives in Canada but often visit us in Santa Barbara. We meet at Sarah’s father’s home in Canada in the summer for days full of swimming and boating on the lake and hikes in the mountains. Sarah’s family stays with us over Christmas in Santa Barbara where we cook and bake up a storm. Kirk’s parents spend summers in Sequim, Washington State where we visit and take walks on the beach, eat all things seafood and watch magical sunsets over the ocean. Kirk’s oldest sister lives in New York and his other sister lives in Singapore with her husband and two children.

Sadie has so much fun with her cousins, aunties and uncle when they visit each summer! Last year we all met with Kirk’s family in Ireland to celebrate his parents’ wedding anniversary. This year we hosted them at our home in Santa Barbara for two weeks. We can’t wait to take family adventures to New York, Singapore and beyond! When we are not together in person, we are a mere video chat away.

We value spending time together and connecting as a family, whether during everyday tasks such as making dinner, folding laundry or gardening, spending the afternoon at the beach, or playing in the snow in the winter. We’ve eaten dinner together at the table nearly every night since Sadie was a newborn. We feel strongly this keeps us connected as a family.

We also value being together during the more challenging moments, such as the nighttime wakings, disappointments and tears. Our biggest lesson in parenting has been in flexibility.

Every day is a new adventure and we’ve found we provide the best support if we listen, are open and stay curious.

We believe in setting firm boundaries but allowing for a lot of choice and freedom within those boundaries - there is so much to learn through experience.

We are very much looking forward to continuing a relationship with you in whatever form of an open adoption is best for everyone. All family is important to us!

Thank you again for sharing your time to get to know us. We should be so lucky as to invite your child into our home and a life brimming with love, laughter, and endless possibilities.

Our commitment to nurturing their dreams, creating a sense of belonging, and embracing their unique identity is unwavering. We promise open communication and a deep respect for your role in their life, ensuring they will grow up understanding the strength of your selfless love. Together, we can create a supportive and genuine relationship, cherishing the journey that brought us all together. Your courage touches us deeply, and we are excited for the opportunity to embark on this remarkable journey with you.