Hello, 

We are Katie and Anthony and we want to begin by thanking you for considering us as adoptive parents. We cannot even begin to understand this difficult and emotional time in your life and want you to know your strength and courage is admired. You are giving an amazing gift of family to someone and for that they will be forever grateful. I hope through this letter we are able to show you how much love and stability we have to give to an amazing child.

 About Katie:

My name is Katie and I am 31 years old. I was born and raised in Southern California with my younger sister and both of my parents. As a child I was very much into sports and playing outside with my sister and neighborhood kids.  I participated in many activities as a child such as gymnastics, dance, soccer, and basketball.  My love for sports followed me through high school where I played basketball for 4 years on the high school girls’ team.  This is where I met many of my friends and some of those friendships are lifelong.  I now continue my love for sports by watching my favorite professional teams on T.V. or attending live games. 

In addition to sports another passion of mine is education. I went to college straight out of high school and received my bachelor’s degree in Psychology. After receiving my bachelor’s degree, I continued my education and received my master’s degree in Psychology. I also have two teaching credentials, one in general education and one in special education. This leads me into my career as a special education teacher. What can I say? I love to learn and help others understand and appreciate the importance of learning as well.

I currently teach a Kindergarten through Second grade class of students who have Autism. I have had many of my students for multiple years and they are an absolute blast! I love teaching them not only academic skills and concepts but also social and emotional skills. There is not a day that goes by they do not surprise me and make me smile.

My family is especially important to me. I currently live about 90 minutes from my parents and younger sister as well as my other extended family members. We all love spending time together whether it is on a vacation or at a family event. In between we keep in touch through our large family group texts or weekly phone calls. My parents are close to retirement and plan on moving within 15 minutes from us in the near future. My entire family is extremely excited to welcome another member to our family. 

About Anthony:

My name is Anthony, I am 30 years old, and I was born and raised in Southern California. I am the youngest of 4. I have two older sisters and one older brother. Although my parents separated when I was very young, we still spent and continue to spend all family events together. I have 2 nieces and 3 nephews ranging from 7 to 16 years old.  I love spending time with them whether it is on a family vacation or a lazy day at the house.

Growing up I was very athletic and played many sports throughout my childhood. In high school I played varsity football where I learned many life lessons and skills. After high school I spent a lot of my free time at my family’s cabin in Big Bear, where I learned to snowboard. Going to the cabin is something Katie and I love to do as weekend getaways throughout the year. 

After graduating high school, I continued my education at the local community college where I completed my Associates Degree in Administration of Justice. I currently work for the state of California as a Correctional Officer. I have been a Correctional Officer for the past 5 years and have spent the last year and a half as a K9 Officer. Being a K9 Officer is an extremely rewarding job and has always been a dream of mine. No two days are the same when working alongside my four-legged best friend. I have held many titles throughout my life such as son, brother, husband, and Officer, but I  am ready for the biggest title, dad.

About Rocky and Bryant:

Bryant is our spunky little 5-year-old chihuahua who we named after our favorite basketball player, Kobe Bryant. We rescued him from a shelter when he was a year and a half old and brought him in as a member of our family and let me tell you he thinks he is as much human as either of us. He can be found many days playing with his toys, cuddled up under a blanket on the couch, or basking in the sun outside taking a nap. He is a friendly, loving, and playful pup who loves his daily walks. 

Rocky is our 3-year-old Belgian Malinois who earns a paycheck. He is a police K9 who is trained to detect the odor of narcotics. Although he looks intimidating, he is a big softy. He loves to roll around in the grass, watch Anthony mow the lawn, and get belly rubs, but is most happy to get up and go to work in the morning. 

Our story:

Anthony and I met in 2008 when we were just 18 and 19 years old. We worked retail together at a sporting goods store near our hometowns. We immediately became friends and often spent time together when we would go out with coworkers. After 4 years of friendship we began dating and realized we were a perfect match.

We had a lot of the same hobbies and interests which made the transition from friends to a couple extremely easy.  After only a year and a half of dating Anthony proposed to me on a dinner boat cruise in Maui.

Shortly after the proposal Anthony was offered a position as a Correctional Officer. After completing a 4-month academy Anthony and I packed our bags and moved to a small town near the Colorado river. It was here I started my teaching career.

In December of 2015, we got married in front of our family and friends in the most beautiful ceremony.  After 3 years of marriage Anthony and I moved to the Palm Springs area so we could be closer to family and friends.  This is where we began our journey of growing our family, but unfortunately due to infertility this was difficult.  We decided rather than continue with infertility treatments, we would expand our family through adoption, and we could not be happier about this decision.

Some of the things Anthony and I enjoy doing together are exercising, attending sporting events, going to  concerts, and most importantly traveling. We have been fortunate enough to travel to many places together throughout our first 5 years of marriage. Some of the places we have gone together and with family are, New York, Florida, Utah, the Bahamas, and favorite trip, which took us to Spain, Italy, and France. We love to explore new places and cannot wait to add a little explorer to our family.

Our home:

We own a single-story, 3-bedroom,3-bathroom home with a fenced in backyard. We enjoy spending time in our backyard playing lawn games and playing with our two pups. We have an open concept living area which  makes it easy to see what is going on from the kitchen to the living room and dining room.

We live in a gated community that includes a security guard who patrols the area at night, keeping our neighborhood safe while we sleep.  Inside the community there is also a swimming pool where we are excited to  teach our child to swim. Often you will find several families with children at the pool on any given weekend. There are several parks throughout the community which includes a play structure for the kids. The homeowner’s association puts together several community events throughout the year for the kids and families who live here. There is snow brought in each winter for the kids to play in. They have an annual Easter egg hunt in one of the parks, and they even have movie in the park night where you watch a movie and camp overnight.

There is an elementary school that was recently built down the street from our home, however we plan for our child to attend the school where I teach. The school I work at is a blue-ribbon school and has an excellent reputation in the school district. Not only will the education be great, but I will also be able to  spend more time with our child being on the same campus during the school day.

In our home togetherness is especially important. Anthony and I enjoy spending every minute we can together, and this will be the same for when we add a child to our family.  Whether we are doing house chores, lounging on the couch, or running errands, we love being with each other.  We are constantly laughing and having fun together, we truly are best friends.  Every night we eat dinner at the table while talking about our day at work or any other important things going on in our lives. Communication and quality time are two things we do not take for granted and will take full  advantage of with our child.

Thank you so much for taking the time to get to know us.  We cannot wait to shower a child with unconditional love and provide a loving and supportive environment for them to grow and flourish.

With love, 

Anthony and Katie