Kirsten & Jon In Nevada

We are a couple who love adventure, challenging ourselves and practicing self-care often. Over the course of our lives, we have learned that hard work and dedication pay off, and we have also learned that enjoying as many moments in life as possible is where true happiness comes from.

In July 2022, we were fortunate to adopt our first child and the love of our lives, Carson. He is the greatest part of our day, every day. Since adopting Carson, Kirsten has become a stay-at-home mother, spending all her time creating fun activities and spending quality time with Carson. We have always wanted to adopt several children, and we can’t wait for Carson to be a brother! Outside of being parents and Jon working as project manager for an engineering firm, we love going out to do fun activities like movies, bowling and Top Golf. We also love working out, reading, swimming and hot tubbing, walking/hiking with our dogs Lily and Sadie, doing arts and crafts and playing board games. We make sure we have something fun to do, plan or talk about each day, so life is never boring.

Up until Carson was born, Kirsten was a teacher. Now, she is currently a stay-at-home mom, and a high school track and field coach. In addition to caring for Carson, she works daily to build relationships with her students and athletes. Having those relationships with students is Kirsten's favorite part of her job. Jon is a structural engineer, and he really enjoys the challenging job, setting a good example of hard work for the family. When Jon is not working, he is spending his time with Kirsten, Carson and the dogs as well.

Long before we met, we both knew being parents was one of the biggest goals for our future. After meeting, we very quickly started talking about adoption as a strong option to start a family. Since Kirsten was a teacher, she was exposed to many different students daily and adoption has always been something she has found to be beautiful. Additionally, Jon and Kirsten both have several family members who have been adopted, so adoption has always been close to their hearts. Since adopting Carson, we’ve only grown to love the adoption process even more. We have always dreamed of a big family with multiple kids, and we cannot wait to see Carson as a big brother. We wouldn’t have it any other way and we are so excited to see what the future has in store for us.

We live in a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home in a gated community. The house is 15 minutes from Kirsten’s family and 40 minutes from Jon’s dad in a great area of town. It has a beautiful pool and jacuzzi for summertime, which is already gated off and child-proofed. We already have a nursery set up right next to the master bedroom and we have a giant playroom ready to go too.

The house is next to a huge, beautiful park where we take our son Carson and walk our dogs, Lily and Sadie almost every day. Our house is also walking distance from the nearest public schools with high rankings. When picking a location to live, we also wanted to stay close to the town where Kirsten grew up as it hosts fun community events every few weeks. We feel this house offers us everything we want and will be a great home to raise a family in.

Kirsten’s family originates from both Canada and Germany. Both her mom and her dad moved to the United States when they were in their twenties. Growing up, Kirsten lived with her mom, dad and younger brother. When Kirsten was 17 years old, her mother passed away from ALS. Kirsten’s dad remarried five years later and now Kirsten’s family consists of Kirsten, her dad, her brother, her stepmother and her stepsister. Her extended family still lives in Canada and Germany, but Kirsten goes to visit them often and they come to visit the United States as well. They stay in contact over Facebook and text frequently.

We go to see Kirsten's extended family every couple of weeks for dinners and Kirsten's dad and step-mother love being grandparents! Kirsten’s parents are in love with Carson, and they love spending time with him.

Jon is an only child. His mother passed away in 2020, but his father still lives in the home Jon grew up in. We make sure to visit with him on a weekly basis to eat dinner and play board games. We go to sporting events with Jon's dad frequently as well. Jon’s paternal side is from California and New York. Jon’s maternal side is from New Mexico. He sees the California and New Mexico family annually and tries to see the New York family for important events and when near each other. Jon's dad loves Carson, and he brings little gifts for him every time we get together.

Kirsten's family loves to get together for family dinners and holidays. We go on a trip almost every Christmas and we love spending a whole week together, uninterrupted with work and other distractions. Kirsten loves cooking Thanksgiving dinner for everybody. Last Thanksgiving and Christmas were extra special with Carson added to the family, and we can't wait to celebrate these holidays as a family with a new baby again. With Jon's dad, we do weekly dinner and board game nights. Jon's dad comes to visit us or we drive to him every week. We also enjoy going to baseball and hockey games with him. We will be taking up golf lessons soon with him as well.

We have always felt drawn to adoption since we were both young. We both have many adopted cousins in our family, so adoption has always been close to our hearts. We actually talked about adoption on the day we first met, and since learning we cannot have our own biological children, we haven't looked back. We adopted our first child, Carson, in July 2022, and he has changed our lives in the best way possible. We can't wait to be blessed with another child in the near future.