We have one son, Preston, who is three years old. Preston came into our lives through adoption and he has changed our lives in so many ways from the time we first held him shortly after he was born. He has taught us what it means to sacrifice and adapt for someone you love.

Preston has always been a happy and energetic little guy from the day he was born. Preston enjoys playing outside, helping in the kitchen and riding his bike. He recently has started telling us he wants a baby brother or sister at his house. It is so sweet watching him interact with little ones and to see his gentle side.

We love telling Preston about how he joined our family through adoption. Adoption isn't a topic our family shies away from. We have several children's books that touch on the topic of adoption that we read to Preston. We talk about some of the ways the families in the books are like ours and then talk about his unique adoption story.

When explaining the inevitable question of why our children were adopted, it will be consistently reinforced that the act of adoption was one of love, both by us as the adoptive parents and by their birth parents. As our children get older, we plan on sharing other details that are known to us as our children are able to understand and process them. We desire to be a family that has open communication, where our children are free to ask questions about anything, including adoption.

We would describe our lifestyle as traditional. We both grew up in homes where our fathers worked a regular schedule allowing them to be home every night. Neither of our mothers worked before we were school-aged and when they did they had jobs that allowed them to be home when the kids were done with school. That was always something we appreciated from childhood and will be able to provide to our child.

Clinton has a job that allows us to comfortably pay all living expenses so that we don't have to rely on Michelle for another income source. Clinton also has a job that doesn't require travel or lots of overtime, so we are able to spend evenings, weekends and holidays together as a family.

We are involved in our church, attending regularly on Sunday's and helping with various church activities. We attend a small church of roughly 25 people so it is a great place to get to know people more closely than you would in a larger church. Our church is very loving and is so excited to see us grow our family.

We have a close network of friends that we spend time with camping, fishing or game nights. Most have young children which is perfect for setting up play dates with our son Preston.

Camping has always been something we enjoyed doing together. We go on both weekend and more extended camping trips. We have even gone on camping trips through Canada and other parts of Alaska. Our favorite campground is about 30 minutes from our house so it is perfect for a quick overnight. Living in Alaska we have amazing access to federal and state land and it doesn't take very long in a car to get to amazing camping spots.

Our favorite campground is situated between a glacier fed river and a beach with amazing views of the mountains across the water. It has over five kinds of wild berries that are fun to pick for morning pancakes on the camp stove or for bringing home to put into baked goods. It is common to see all kinds of animals and more eagles than you can count.

It has been really fun to take Preston camping with us. His first camping trip was at 4 months old. We have gone 2-3 times every year since he was born. He loves being outdoors and it has been amazing to see him also enjoy a place we love. We look forward to going on lots of family adventures and building more memories together.

We live in a modest three-bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood within walking distance of both an elementary school and a middle school. We bought our house in 2014 and think it is perfect for raising a family in. We have on open floor plan with both a living room and a play room off of our dining and kitchen area. It is the perfect area to have friends and family over with lots of room to play and visit.

Our city is not very small (population around 30,000) but has a small town feel due to its more isolated setting. It doesn't take very long at all to get to know a lot of people. Community and family are big pieces to daily life here. There are several families on our street with small children that we go on walks with and have over in our backyard. There are many parks, two indoor swimming pools and multiple indoor recreation centers that are heavily used by families and kids.

Living in Alaska, there's also an abundance of outdoor activities and cultural experiences. . Michelle grew up here and has amazing memories of field trips into the rainforest, seeing glaciers, and participating in Alaska Native cultural events.

We grew up on opposites sides of the country. Michelle in Alaska and Clinton in North Carolina. But we both had similar upbringings. Extended family lived nearby and holidays were spent with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles.

While we don't live near extended family, we still love making time to get together with our siblings and their children. Prior to Covid we were able to spend time with both sides of the family. Michelle's siblings and parents all converged on her brother's house for "Christmas in January." We did a lot of activities that Michelle did as a child with her cousins and siblings; made gingerbread houses, did craft projects, and played her families version of a white elephant exchange. It was so fun having all 15 of us together under one roof. Seeing the cousins, ages 12 to 2 play together was the highlight of it all.

We also were able to travel to a beach house to spend a week with Clinton's family. Clinton's sister has three kids and our son had a blast playing on the beach with them.

At this point you may have seen multiple prospective parent profiles and may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of having to choose the right fit for your child. Our goal is to be as open and honest with you as we can about who we are now and expect to be in the future. We would love to get to know you and to build a relationship beyond just letter and pictures and we are open to the possibility of future visits as the relationship grows. Our hope and prayer is that our relationship with you will be one where you feel loved and respected.

We want you to know that your child will be loved and cared for. With ongoing contact through letters and pictures we hope to be able to show you not only the joy they bring to our family but also the love and care they are receiving from us and the rest of our family.

While we aren't perfect parents, we strive to do the very best we can and have set up our lives in such a way to be able to devote ourselves to our family. We have been married for eight years and immediately after we got married we began saving for a home large enough for a family. Michelle has always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and we have worked to build a lifestyle that can exist on Clinton's paycheck alone. While we may not go on the most lavish vacations or drive the newest cars we love that Michelle is able to be home during the day. She takes care of the home so that evenings and weekends we have more time to spend together as a family. During the day Michelle is fully plugged into being a mom. She uses her creativity to plan activities and art projects for our son Preston. And she ties in activities to the books they are reading from the library.

We love going out together on the weekends rain or shine for family adventures outdoors. When our son Preston was small Clinton carried him in a carrier down trails and to our favorite remote beaches. We love showing him the beauty of Alaska and sharing time together. It is exciting to picture another little one joining us for more family adventures.

Adopting our first child Preston has been the most amazing thing we have ever done. Holding him for the first time in the hospital we were overwhelmed with joy and love. Seeing him grow and watching his personality develop is even better than we could have ever dreamt. We can't imagine our lives without him. We know first hand how adoption changes lives and families. And we still ask ourselves how we got so lucky to be his parents. We are so excited to be able to love another child and to get to see their unique personality.

Our son is also very excited about adding a sibling. He loves caring for his baby doll and interacting with babies. He has been asking God to bring him a baby brother or sister; he tells us God says yes. We know that he will be an amazing big brother and believe that God has just the right little one out there for our family.

Please know that we think about you and pray for you often. Our prayer is that you have peace and can be confident that you are making the right decision for your child whatever your choice.

Thank you for taking the time to look at our profile. We hope that it was helpful to you and that you could see our excitement in adding another member to our family. Maybe you even enjoyed seeing some of the pictures and the video showing some of the beauty of where we live. We hope to be able to meet you and our child in the near future.

Thank you!

Clinton & Michelle