Our Dance of Love and Life

We met dancing on December 20th 2002. It was love at first sight. As we became dance partners, our partnership turned into a partnership of life. We were married in a candlelight Christmas wedding exactly one year after we met, and have been dancing through love and life ever since. Open adoption is a beautiful way to create a family. At Thanksgiving in 2006 our daughter Monique entered our lives through open adoption. “Thanksgiving” held a new meaning for us. We are forever grateful to her birthparents.

Judy... by Paul

Judy is a lady who loves the outdoors and is tender hearted. Her love for animals and the outdoors is contagious. Through her enthusiasm she inspires you to explore mountains with waterfalls & abundant wildlife, and appreciate the beauty around us. With patience and calm support she can’t wait to teach our new child about the wonders of nature. Judy is a volunteer tutor for 2nd grade ESL students learning to read, she also tutors college level coworkers pursuing higher education. This gentle guidance and love transfers itself into the family as she cares for all of us while supporting our family as a Chemical Engineer. Judy gives any activity her all, be it gardening or dancing or being the best mother possible. She looks forward to hiking, dancing, playing in the garden, giving the animals love and enjoying the wondrous beauty in our world with another child. Monique adores her Mama and I know our next child will too!

Paul... by Judy

Paul fills the room with smiles and laughter! He has a big heart and is kind and gentle. He has a way of engaging even the shyest child (and grumpiest adult), bringing them out of hiding and into laughter. Currently Paul is a full-time dad. During the day he enjoys helping the children with their artwork as the art docent for Monique’s kindergarten class. Volunteering in the school garden, Paul loves to inspire the kids to plant, taste, eat and find a connection with the garden, encouraging them to explore and take ownership. In the evenings he pursues his first love: music. Paul is a freelance French horn player and plays with several local orchestras and bands. Music and dance follow Paul everywhere, our new child will always be surrounded by harmony. He looks forward to introducing our new baby to drums, shakers and the xylophone and having a percussionist to add to the family band.

Adoption is Close to Our Hearts

Adoption is close to our hearts. Paul has a twin sister who is a birthmother. Out of her unfailing love for her baby, selflessness and courage, she chose a family to adopt her baby girl. From this experience we learned about the incredible gift of adoption as his sister had the wam knowledge that her baby was placed in a wonderful loving home, and she gave the adoptive family their dream of creating and raising a family. When we made the decision to adopt Monique, we were touched by the incredible excitement and support from our family, friends and church community. Recently we announced that we were planning to expand our family and adopt again. We are so excited and can’t wait to shower our new baby with love as we welcome him/her into the family. It is difficult to describe the overwhelming love and support we feel around this decision. We are blessed with a large family spread over the west coast. Our family here in Santa Rosa as well as in southern California and Washington are ready! Monique can’t wait to have a baby brother or sister to play with and nap with. Her baby brother or sister will have a loving gentle big sister to look out for him/her.