Dale & Julie met as teenagers at church and began dating in college. We dated for a year and a half before we got married in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003. More than anything else, we love being together. We feel incredibly blessed to have each other. After longing to become parents, parenthood is pretty close to what we thought it would be and we love it! We began loving both of our children before they were born and know that we will love every child that enters our family the exact same way. We feel the best way to show our love for our children is to spend time with them. We enjoy doing the little things – cuddling on the couch, chasing each other around the house, playing catch, reading stories, playing board games, and all of the other small moments that parenting involves. One of our favorite parts of each day is family dinner time. It's wonderful to be all together and hear about everyone's day! Julie always wanted to be a Stay-at-Home Mom, just like her own mother. She is grateful that she is able to stay at home and focus her attention on the kids. Together they stay busy with lots of park dates, day trips to the city or zoo, bike rides, sports practices, library story times, painting together, and so much more. We were both raised in families that went to church weekly and we continue that tradition with our children. We are grateful for the many programs that our church has for our children to help them learn of Jesus Christ. We believe Jesus is our Savior and try our best to center our home around our faith in God. Our faith gives us comfort and peace when life gets hard. It especially helped us when both Dale and Julie's fathers passed away a few years ago from cancer. The knowledge that God is aware of us and loves us is a wonderful blessing in our lives. We value education and live in a suburb that has top rated elementary, middle, and high schools. Julie volunteers weekly at the kids school and has a good relationship with the faculty there. She serves on the PTA Board and is also a Room Mom. We hope that our children will attend college and are excited to see what careers they choose for themselves. So far Jaxon wants to be an engineer like Dale and Britta wants any job that involves dogs. Jaxon was born in March 2008 in California and was adopted as an infant. Jaxon is in 5th grade. He is a smart boy, but prefers gym and recess over the other parts of school. He has a great imagination and loves to play at the park. He likes flag football, swimming, drawing, all board games, reading, Star Wars, and playing video games, especially Zelda. Britta was born in January 2011 in Georgia and was adopted as an infant. Britta is in 2nd grade. She enjoys being with her friends at school and going to art & gym. Britta is a natural nurturer and takes good care of her many stuffed animals. She likes soccer, dancing, painting, crafts, play-doh, watching her shows, and playing with her figurines. When Britta was a baby, there were times when Jaxon was the only one who could calm her down. The way that they looked at each other was proof to us that they were meant to be siblings. They are great friends and are SO eager to add another sibling to our family. They often ask if "the baby" is here yet and are praying for their baby brother or sister to come soon. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a little bit. You are in our thoughts and prayers.