We met online in 2015 and knew right away that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We got engaged on Christmas Eve that year, on the beach where Dena grew up, and were married on Cape Cod in 2016, at the same church where Brian’s parents and brother were married.

Dena loves being a mom and also enjoys travel, yoga, skiing, and walking the beach where she grew up. Brian loves soccer, travel, camping, playing games at family gatherings, and he is starting to get a little better at skiing. Mia loves swimming, dance class, the beach, her dollies, and most importantly is looking forward to having a new baby in her home.

Our families live within an hour drive of our home and have been a supportive and fun community to welcome Mia into our family. They are looking forward to having another child join the family real soon.

Dena is always so aware of how other people are feeling, and I truly admire this quality of hers. She can tell when others are upset, and always strives to help them feel better. Her empathic nature is one of the many qualities that make her a wonderful mother. I also admire her positive, self-assured attitude. If there is something that she wants to do, you can be certain that she will do it.

Brian is a calm, patient, caring person with so much love to share in his large heart. He finds a way to always see the positive side of life and has been teaching me and our daughter to do the same. He is honest, dependable and maybe, most importantly, so very funny. These qualities quickly made Brian my favorite person. It has been fun watching our daughter Mia admire these qualities about her Dad too.

We always knew that children were going to be an enormous part of our lives. After some challenges with pregnancy, we started thinking seriously about adoption. The truly amazing stories that we heard from friends, extended family, and through our interactions with Adoptions With Love helped us make the decision to adopt. Adopting Mia has been a magical experience. Becoming a multi-cultural family has been transformative for our family and we are intentionally creating cultural experiences and finding representation to provide Mia with the tools to be a confident individual. We can’t wait to welcome another little one into our family.

Our families love to get together for holidays. Brian’s birthday happens to fall on Cinco de Mayo and we’ve made it a great excuse to dress up! Christmas is now the time for our matching PJ tradition with both of our families joining in.