We first met in high school when Cameron was a sophomore and Samantha was a freshman. We started dating a couple of years later and have been together for over 20 years now. We have truly grown up together. It's hard to believe but we have been with each other for over 20 years now and have spent more of our lives together than not. We both feel incredibly fortunate that we are able to make each other light up when we are around each other.

After high school, we went to colleges that were not too far apart and would commute back and forth as much as possible. When it came to graduate school, Cameron went off first and, after three years of long-distance dating, Samantha followed for medical school. We finished our degrees within a few years of each other and were married shortly after.

From there, we have lived in several different places for work and adopted our two beautiful fur babies along the way. In 2018, we returned home to live near family and friends, all of whom have been so supportive throughout our adoption journey and are so excited to welcome a new addition to our amazing group.

Our path to adoption is not unlike so many others. We have always wanted a family and the opportunity to share our lives with a child. Although we have had some difficulties with pregnancy losses, infertility, and unsuccessful attempts at IVF, our determination has never wavered.

We quickly realized that our dream did not have anything to do with having a biological child of our own. We simply wanted a child with whom we could share our love and feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to do that through the process of adoption.

Our hope is to provide a loving and stable environment for our child so that they are able to reach their full potential. Above all else, we value love and respect for all, curiosity, and a sense of adventure, and hope to instill those same beliefs in our future child.

We live in a 100 year-old, two-story craftsman-style home in a vibrant and diverse historic district. We have lots of families in the neighborhood and multiple schools within walking distance. There are ample sidewalks for getting out and enjoying our neighborhood, which is just a few blocks away from a fun street with plenty of restaurants, coffee shops, and amazing ice cream.

One of our favorite things about our neighborhood is how much everyone decorates for the holidays. Whether it is for Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, the Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday, you can imagine, you'll find houses all over our neighborhood (ours included) decked out to celebrate.

We have a special addition to our house in our yard dinosaur Andy (the apatosaur), who loves to get dressed up for all the holidays and is a fan favorite for all the neighborhood kiddos!

I knew Cameron was special from the moment we went on our first date when we were both still teenagers in high school. We went to an elementary school and read to kids, before going out to dinner. Seeing him interact with those children, I knew even then that there was something about him. He was then and continues to be the most kind and patient person I have ever met.

Cameron is always there for anyone who needs him whether it's me, his family and friends, or our fur babies. He takes such good care of all of us. I love that he makes me feel special and loved every day and still makes me laugh even though we have been together for over 20 years. I have watched him work so hard on everything he does over these last two decades and I could not be prouder of the man he has become.

Samantha is the smartest, most hard-working, and dedicated person I know. Being by her side as we have both grown up has made me a better person in every way imaginable. Seeing how she has so gracefully handled all the challenges life has thrown at her has been nothing short of amazing. Whether it was the trials and tribulations of a long-distance relationship, getting into and going through medical school and residency, or our more recent issues with infertility, she has never let anything weaken her resolve.

Samantha is, without a doubt, the most supportive spouse I could have ever asked for. No matter what personal or professional troubles have come up in my life, she has always been there to back me up and encourage me to continue moving forward. I am so proud, appreciative, and lucky to call her my wife and best friend.

Two of the things we value most are curiosity and having a sense of adventure. Whether it is through travel, cooking, reading, or anything else, we love to learn and try new things.

Cameron, for example, is currently in school for his second master's degree and graduated from culinary school in 2020. Outside of class, he very much enjoys reading, cooking for family and friends, and following his favorite sports teams.

When she isn't working in the emergency room, Samantha enjoys crafting and decorating for the different holidays. Right now, however, she is most focused on running as she is training for her first full marathon after competing in half marathons for the past few years.

Together, our biggest hobby is traveling as much as we are able to, especially to explore new cultures and countries across the world. We especially enjoy going to beautiful places where we can get outdoors to hike, ski, or kayak. This love for experiencing new things is something we really hope to be able to pass along to our children.

We also spend a lot of time walking our dogs all around our beautiful neighborhood, attending sporting events, baking together, and spending time with family and friends.

Traditions are a big part of our life and something we very much look forward to passing along to our child someday.

We especially love finding new and unique traditions from other cultures around the world and incorporate them into our holiday celebrations. Every New Year's Eve, for example, we eat 12 grapes and make 12 wishes at midnight, one for each month of the coming year.

While we try to do big family dinners as often as we can and love to get everyone together, this is especially true for holidays when we like to go all out with decorations and festivities. We have several different themed Christmas trees every year, including one filled with ornaments we have collected on our travels and one for our favorite schools and sports teams.

One of our favorite holiday traditions is giving each other matching pajamas on Christmas Eve. We trade off gifting responsibilities every year, so it is always fun to see how creative we can be with our choices.

Birthdays are a big deal in our family too, and Samantha is the official birthday cake maker. She loves making a special treat for everyone's special day and her cake decorating skills are getting to be quite impressive!

Finding out that we could not have children was not something we planned for. It was not in the life plan we laid out for ourselves when we first started dating all those years ago. It has, however, brought us to this point and we are forever grateful for that.

If you were to choose us for your adoption, we can promise you that this child will be loved beyond measure. We promise to do everything in our power to support this child and give them every opportunity to achieve anything they want to in their life.

We promise to love them for who they are and encourage them to be curious and explore all their interests. We promise to show this child the world and all that it has to offer. We promise to teach this child to respect everyone, the importance of giving back to others, and the value of putting in the hard work needed to achieve a goal.

In short, our promise to you is simple. We promise to love this child with all our hearts.

We may not be able to be parents on our own but, if you were to choose us, you would be giving us the chance to do something that we know in our hearts we are meant to do, but otherwise would be unable to.

You would be giving us the opportunity to have a family and we do not take that responsibility lightly. We promise that we will do everything that we can to raise this child into a person that you will be proud of.