Marie was born in Arizona, but lived in China with her grandparents the first 4 years of her life. Her parents came from China and eventually opened up a restaurant to support the family. She is closest to her grandmother who raised her. She can speak Chinese (Cantonese) through communications with her family. As the oldest child in an immigrant family, she had to help them translate, was the first to graduate from high school, college (interior design major), and got a doctorate degree (pharmacy). Marie has no regrets with taking a few detours to reach her goals. The challenges in her life made her respect hard work, grateful for her opportunities, and understand persistence.

Nick was born in Illinois to Greek parents and spoke mostly Greek before he moved to Arizona when he was 5. Nick was involved with sports and excelled in baseball and wrestling. He learned hard work from his family as well as his coaches. He also finished number 2 in his high school class. In college, he became an All-American wrestler. The lessons he learned from those years have shaped him to this day. Today he enjoys teaching medical professionals and coaching wrestling. He is still friends with many whom he has mentored over the years as they continue to pursue their own dreams.

One hobby that we really enjoy together is traveling. In England we got to see Buckingham palace and where the inspiration was for Harry Potter. From there we also got to take the train connecting London to Paris. France is one of our favorite places. The food, romantic vibe, history, especially the WWII history of Normandy, and our basic ability to speak French always makes for a memorable trip. Italy and its many museums showed amazing history and beautiful works of art. Seeing Spain and Portugal was also great for its food, history, and visiting friends. In Greece we also experienced ancient history, enjoyed Greek food/culture with Nick's extended family, helped with the gardens, and even milked a goat or two on their farm. We also stayed with Marie's family in China, experiencing everyday life with food, traditions, and stories. We also love going to beaches in Hawaii, San Diego, Cancun, St. Lucia, and Maine. When we only have short weekend trips we like to visit northern Arizona to escape the heat and be around nature. Traveling is important to us and it is something we hope to share with our family.

Between the both of us we like listening to music, creating art, writing, crafting, hiking, archery, dance, going to concerts, going to performances (ballet, musicals, opera, plays), cooking, going to the library or book stores, spending time in nature, seeing animals, and going to the parks. Nick is also a wrestling coach and Marie is a volunteer for the food bank/hospice/health fairs/clean ups. We also enjoy games, whether it be video games, game night, or recently playing D&D with friends. We also enjoy watching movies and TV shows with a bag of popcorn. Recently, we've made more of an effort to workout at the gym and try to be a little healthier. Lastly, we both really enjoy traveling. Experiencing different places, cultures, and seeing things in different ways helps add to our overall perspective of life.

We live in a wonderful community that is very supportive of families. Our neighborhood green belt has a beautiful walking path with acres of grass, numerous trees, bridges over creeks, and lakes with different wildlife (birds, ducks, cranes, turtles, and fish).

There are about 30 families here and we know and have a close relationship with many of them. Many of the homeowners are either original owners with grandchildren or new owners who are starting their families. The community also hosts bonfires, neighborhood parties, potlucks, and ice cream socials.

Our house is a four-bedroom, single-story ranch-style home with a nice porch and large backyard. We have a fenced pool on one side and turf with trees on the other side for play. Our favorite room is the open concept kitchen and living room. Marie designed this space so we can cook and prepare meals while watching and interacting with our child at play.

Our neighborhood is a diverse and supportive place for children. We have an elementary school that is walkable. We also live in a good school district that has great opportunities for children with dual language (Mandarin and Spanish), leadership, computer science, and arts. There are also great nearby Montessori schools.

Most of our family lives in Arizona. For Marie, this includes her grandma, parents, and uncle. She also has a sister who lives in Las Vegas. Nick's immediate family includes his mom, three siblings, and nieces/nephews. We are also blessed with having many friends who are like family to us.

For holidays, we often celebrate between both our families and friends. When celebrating with Marie's family, we do a traditional Chinese feast and receive red envelopes with money. With Nick's family we would do American/Greek food and traditions like opening gifts and Easter baskets for the kids.

When we spend time with our friends and family, we usually socialize over a meal, or we host Game Nights, which include games like Card Against Humanity (food and a lot of laughter is involved). We try to have a relaxed setup so the kids can roam, play after they eat, and we take turns spending one-on-one time with them.

We feel that our family is unique because we have a lot of diversity and opportunities for a child to explore and grow with.

Our family and support system is supportive of our plans in adoption and willing to provide assistance in any way they can for this child.

It is our honor and privilege to provide support, guidance, and above all love for our child. We have known each other for over 21 years and have been together for over 14 years. During that time we have created a life that fosters joy, respect, learning new things, growth, fun and games, excitement, and our child will surely flourish in such an environment. Our dog, Daphne, who is no longer with us, was a big part of our story and shared our journey for over 14 years of her life. She helped teach us how to love and shared so many wonderful moments with us. Maybe one day our child will experience the joys and lessons of having a young pup.

We have made many lasting relationships and have a large support system between friends and family. We can see our child learning many things through our diverse friendships. This includes learning about robotics, medicine, coding, game design, storytelling, woodworking, archery, film development, music, and cultural traditions. Our joys of traveling have taught us much about different cultures as we ourselves are multicultural. We are excited to teach our child about our different cultures, world cultures as we continue to travel, and about their own culture. We look forward to having our child share in all these interests so that they can happily explore the world around them. In addition, we feel strongly about fostering good mental health. Instilling positive coping mechanisms and regular check-ins will help create a safe environment. As the child's interests and passions emerge, we will continue to foster their individual growth and encourage their self development, whether that be with sports, arts, or other activities. In addition, it is important that we raise them to be kind, confident, independent, and of course, we will always be there for them whenever they need it.

We feel it is important to communicate with you, the birth mother. This includes sharing pictures and updates on how the child is growing and developing. Their precious milestones such as their first words, tooth, steps, school, and all other major events will be captured in shared pictures and videos. This will let you have a relationship with your child and reassure that the child is happy and healthy. It is also important that the child in return knows you as their birth mother. For this reason scheduled visits are important. We feel an open and honest relationship is best for everyone, especially the child who will ask more and more questions as time goes on. It is important that they know they are loved by all of us. Together, we will ultimately do what is best for the child so that they can live up to their potential. Then, one day when they are adults, we hope they will be happy, and more importantly, capable of returning love, because they will have known affection from the start from us and especially you. We understand that the choice of adoption is very difficult. We fully respect your decision making process and want to reassure you that we will treat your child as if they were our own. We will be truly grateful and thankful for your gift of completing our family. We promise to be the best parents possible. Thank you again for considering us.

Sincerely,

Nick & Marie