The People We Love:

Our extended families are all waiting with open arms for yet another child!  Live Ava, your child will have the best of both worlds - only the second grandchild on one side of the family (Tad's) and many cousins (both girl and boy) to play with on the other side (Barbie's).  Both of our families are very close, and one of our favorite things to do in life is to be together on special occasions.

Barbie's family is a fun-loving and active family.  When we get together we go hiking, do sports, play music together, and other active fun activities.  Tad's family is cozy and close-knit, when we get together we chat, play games, and enjoy each others company in a comfortable, relaxed setting.  With Barbie's extended family your child will be highly entertained and active, traveling a lot, and playing with cousins.  With Taddy's family your child will be quietly adored, affectionately loved, and the center of attention.  Hopefully this is again the best of both worlds!  Our two families are so different from each other, and yet the absolutely most wonderful families for a child to grow up in.  And there might even be a third family for baby to grow up in - yours!  If you think it is a good idea (only), we would love to become part of your extended family, with visits to biological mom (you!), grandparents, and other people whom you love.  (Again, only if you desire this). We think the more people to love the baby, the better!

Here are some pictures of our families for you:

This is us with Barbie's parents at dad's nursing home.  We call daddy "papi".  He loves holding babies... he plays with their feet!

Here is Barbie playing music with her baby brother, Chris.  Barbie was 14 when Chris was born.  To this day, everyone is amazed at how much Barbie loves changing diapers; she learnt to love it when she changed Chris' diapers!  He is following the adoption news excitedly and often asks for updates.

Remember we said Barbie's family is active?  Here is a picture of Tad chatting with Barbie's mom during a hike.  You would never ever know Heidi (Barbie's mom) is a senior citizen - she looks like she could be Barbie's sister!  True to her name, Heidi is of German heritage, and she had that cute lilting German accent.

This is Barbie's sister, Susanne, playing with her dog Tara.  Her nickname is "Sassi" and "Sassi" was one of Barbie's first words when she was a baby.  (Actually it was "Sassi, no!" - Barbie was very protective of her little sister).  Susanne is a doctor, so we get lots of medical help when we ask for it!  She helps tutor foster children, they like her so much they often sleep over at her house!  She has saved her money for years and is working on using that money to start a free medical clinic in Roanoke, VA.  She is very close with Barbie, and is waiting to play favorite Aunt to our children...

Tommy is Barbie's middle brother. In this picture, our kitty Pumpkin is playing with Jill's (Tommy's wife) hair.  Jill and Tommy have a baby girl, Lily, and a brand new baby boy, Samuel.  They cannot wait for our children to grow up together as cousins and playmates!

Taddy's mom Connie and grandma just moved to within 1 mile of our house, to be near Ava and future grandchildren.  Barbie and Ava (and sometimes daddy) go for walks to grandma and great-grandma's house at least once daily, and often more! Tad is an only child, and mom Connie is thrilled to be so close to her grandchildren.  With Ava she is so warm and extremely giving; she has a very calming influence on her. Grandma Esther is almost 90 and still loving life greatly; she is very religious and just sweet as pie.  She'll be great-grandma to your baby.

Tad’s father lives very close to us, and he likes to do “manly” things with Tad.  We hope that his love of nature rubs off on our grandchildren. He likes to be a very involved grandpa, and he just melts when Ava is in his arms.

We hope you enjoyed meeting our family. Our family and friends are so very important to us, and we are so lucky that they are so supportive and loving toward our adoption plans.  They are all so excited about the children coming into our family, and await with open arms to welcome you to the family, as well!

Barbie & Tad