McKenzie & Jason In Nebraska

We met while McKenzie was finishing college and Jason was managing a restaurant. We were inseparable after our first date and have been together ever since. After graduating college, McKenzie got a job on the trauma floor at our local hospital. We got married a year later.

We welcomed our son in 2018, and it was truly the most amazing experience. We love being parents so much! In 2020, we welcomed our second son and decided to move to be closer to our family. Now we live by aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents! McKenzie just works a few shifts per month now, and the boys get to hang out with grandparents when she works. Jason currently works as a field service technician for an equipment company and really enjoys his work.

We have two boys, ages 3 and 6. They are both so excited to have a new little brother or sister. We’ve been talking with them about what adoption is and what it will mean for our family. They frequently ask us when “their baby” is going to be here so they can all play together. They have the biggest hearts and will be the best big brothers to their new brother or sister.

Our oldest is in kindergarten this year, and is currently playing baseball. This is our first season and we love encouraging our kids to try new things! Our youngest is trying out soccer this spring and loves it.

We love being outside, whether it’s taking walks, sitting around a fire or going boating with family. Our family absolutely loves to travel, and we love taking our children on family trips every summer. We’ve taken road trips to Texas and Colorado and even flew to Puerto Rico last year. They love flying and do great on long travel days. We will truly cherish all the memories made on all our family trips.

We have lived in our home for 3 years now. We chose our home because it is right across the street from a park and big open field with walking trails. Our neighborhood population is made up of primarily families with young kids and is culturally diverse. We love going for bike rides, nature walks and playing at the park with the neighborhood kids. We also have several beautiful state parks nearby that we love to visit with the kids and go swimming and hiking.

We live in the number one school district in our state. Our son in kindergarten has learned so much and enjoyed his first year of elementary school. There are also many different sports complexes in our area, and we currently play soccer and baseball.

Our home has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, so each child will have their own bedroom. We also have a basement that the kids love to hang out and play games and watch family movies together. We’re so blessed to have all of our family close by and get to have them over often. We have a big backyard that’s fully fenced in. We love playing soccer and catch, and of course lots of bubbles and chalk. We also attend church every Sunday and are involved in the children’s group.

We are very blessed to live nearby both of our families and have tons of support. We’re currently less than 10 minutes away from McKenzie’s parents, sister and grandparents. Jason’s family all lives less than an hour from us. We also have lots of aunts, uncles and cousins nearby. We love having family dinners and getting everyone together.

Holidays are very important to both of our families. Christmas is definitely our favorite time of year! We have the tradition of getting everyone who is available together to bake Christmas cookies and wear ugly Christmas sweaters. On Christmas Eve, we normally celebrate with our kids and then go visit the grandparents on Christmas Day.

Our boys have loved Halloween the last couple of years. Our entire neighborhood is basically school-aged kids and younger, and they have so much fun trick-or-treating together. We also all get together for the 4th of July and grill and light off some small fireworks for all of the kids.

Our most favorite family tradition is how we celebrate our kids' birthdays. The night before their birthday, we decorate their bedroom door with signs and streamers and fill their room with balloons. We also set up a birthday table with their presents and more decorations. We wake them up in the morning by singing “Happy Birthday” and then make a special birthday breakfast.

We had talked about adoption after we got married before we had our own children. It’s something we both had wanted to do. After we had our second child,
McKenzie had to have a hysterectomy. After that, we spent a lot of time thinking and praying about adoption, and decided last year it was the right choice for our family.