A Letter from Clayton & Sarah
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to learn about us – we’re excited to get to know you too. We became parents through adoption a little over five years ago, and we’re excited to be on the same journey as we prepare to welcome another child into our little family! We hope to show you who we are, what our life looks like, and how excited we are to share our hearts and love for Jesus, family, and travel with a second child. Open adoption has meant the world to us and we welcome a connection with you as your child grows.
Our Story
A guy from Texas and a girl from Ohio: We met and began dating during our second year of college and have been inseparable ever since. Now we’ve been married for almost 10 years! Though we grew up in different states, we have a lot in common. We have a similar sense of humor, love for coffee and good food, and dedication to our faith that keeps us connected and constantly learning and laughing together.
We were blessed to become parents to our daughter, Aubrey, through open adoption. Our days now are filled with living room dance parties, splash pads, legos, playdates, and weekend adventures all together and we wouldn’t change a thing! As we look ahead to becoming a family of four, we’re excited for all the things that come with a new baby, and we can’t wait to see the sibling bond that develops between Aubrey and our future child.
Meet Clayton (by Sarah)
Clayton is a fun, caring, and involved dad and a natural protector and provider for our family. He is kind, smart, and really funny. He can do a spot-on “Piglet” voice from Winnie the Pooh (it’s hilarious!), makes me laugh until I cry, and makes me feel loved every day. He’s a hard worker who always does his absolute best. Whether teaching, cooking, mowing the grass, or helping out a friend, he gives his all in everything he does.
Clayton sings and plays the guitar (he will gladly teach our next child an instrument if they’re into music!). He also loves working outside to make our yard a special, beautiful place to play, relax, and invite friends and family into. Aubrey likes following him around the yard as his gardening helper. They share a sweet, special bond, and I know he’s excited to bond with our next child. He can’t wait to have a new little helper in the kitchen or with projects around the house and to play at the park with!
Meet Sarah (by Clayton)
Sarah is an incredible mom who amazes me daily by the love, sacrifice, effort, spirituality, and intentionality she puts into life. She loves making memories with our daughter and finding places to explore together around our city. Cuddling up on the couch with a book, playing in the back yard, and just being present each day to watch them grow and develop are some of the things I know she’ll continue to share with our next child.
In addition to being a great mom, Sarah is an amazing wife. She knows just what to say to encourage me on hard days and reminds me of truth when I need it most. She makes me a better, wiser man, daddy, and pastor. She makes me laugh like no one else can (we have a lot of random, inside jokes we have after 10 years together!). Sarah is my confidante, morning coffee date, and best friend. She makes our lives abundantly sweet.
Our Daughter
Aubrey is pure joy. She is funny, generous, compassionate, has a huge imagination, and loves her family fiercely. We adopted her at birth and have been blessed to share a sweet, ongoing relationship with her birth mom and extended family! We all stay connected through texts and visits. Aubrey is THRILLED to become a big sister and is excited to teach a baby brother or sister everything she knows, such as how to ride a scooter, her amazing dance moves, building with Magna-tiles, and teaching them about how much Jesus loves them.
Our Home and Pup
Our house is a three-bedroom brick ranch home with a full basement and fenced backyard. We have a swing set out back and a park within walking distance that we like to ride scooters and bikes to when it’s sunny. Our home is in a safe, quiet, family-friendly neighborhood in Michigan. We view our home as a gift and try to use it to bless others. We love to have people over for dinner and game nights, and you’ll often find us hosting playdates, holidays, and get togethers with new and old friends.
We share our home with a loving little 10-pound Yorkie named Piper. She’s been in our family since she was a puppy. She is incredibly gentle with our daughter and other kids who come over. We love having her in our family!
Our Promise
We will be honest with our child about how he or she came to be a part of our family and will always speak of you with love and respect. We will honor the amount of contact you’d like to have throughout your child’s life. Please know that your child will grow up in an emotionally and financially secure home full of love. They will have the opportunity to attend college, if that is their desire, and will be supported to pursue his or her personal interests and career goals. Our home and family will be filled with faith, laughter, togetherness (and lots of good food!). We promise that your child will grow up provided for, loved, and fully accepted by us.
We’d love to talk with you! Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
Learn More About Clayton & Sarah
| Clayton | Sarah | |
|---|---|---|
| Our Education | Master's Degree | Bachelor's Degree |
| Our Professions | Pastor | Stay-at-home mom, Copywriter (remote) |
| Stay-At-Home | No | Yes |
| Our Racial Background | Caucasian | Caucasian, Middle Eastern |
| Some of Clayton & Sarah's Favorites | ||
| Late night snack | Popcorn | Cold Stone ice cream |
| Hot drink | All coffee, especially pour-over coffee | Spicy chai tea |
| Childhood movie | Jurassic Park | The Secret Garden |
| Candy | Skittles, gummy bears, peach rings | Chocolate covered raisins/pretzels, peanut M&M's |
| Thing to bake | Homemade cinnamon rolls | Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies |
| Childhood memory | The first (and last!) time I saw it snow in my hometown in south Texas | Canada family vacations, irish dancing with my sister, Christmas traditions |
| Travel memory | Going to Bosnia with Sarah | Most recently, visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Puerto Rico |
| More About Our Family | ||
| What matters most in our family... | - We model our lives after Jesus' example of sacrificial love and service | |
| Our Typical Week | We like to spend as much time together as we can. We usually eat breakfast all together before Clayton leaves for work, and we're almost always back together for a home-cooked dinner. Throughout the week, Aubrey and I (Sarah) can be found at the library, playing in the playroom, snuggled up with a book on the couch, at a park, baking a surprise treat for when Clayton gets home, or wandering around Target. On the weekends, we try to relax and spend extra time outside. We like to explore new parks, restaurants, markets, and coffee shops. We also attend church and will often have friends or family over for dinner or game nights. | |
| Our Extended Family | We love spending time with our families as often as we can! We are very close to Clayton's parents; although they live in Texas, they make regular trips to visit us. We usually meet up with them for a vacation (last year was Dollywood and the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee), and we try to visit them in Texas at least once a year. Sarah has an older brother who lives with his wife in Puerto Rico. She also has two younger sisters, one who lives with her parents in Ohio and another who is married and lives nearby here in Michigan. We visit with Sarah’s family often and are thankful to have a close relationship. Everyone has been supportive and excited about our adoption story. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents on all sides are looking forward to loving on and spending time with the next child we adopt! | |
| How Faith Shapes Our Parenting | Our love for God and each other shapes our parenting. So we try to make our home a place where talking to God (through prayer) and talking about God's Word is as regular as eating a snack (and we love snacks around here!). Whether we're reading, singing, or acting out a Bible story, we find creative ways to weave Jesus' message of love, forgiveness, and hope into the little hearts and minds that we get to parent. We model forgiveness, unconditional love, prayer, and generosity in hopes of making it easier for our children to understand the God who loves them, made them, and has an incredible plan for their life! | |
| We Prefer a Child Who Is... | ||
| Age of Child | Newborn | |
| Twins | Yes | |
| Gender | Either boy or girl | |
| In Closing | ||
We promise to love, protect, and share our faith in Jesus with your child. We will honor our commitment to you and your child, always. We will show them unconditional love and raise them in a safe, secure home full of joy, books, good food, and laughter. As we have with our daughter, we will raise him or her to know and treasure their adoption story and to deeply appreciate you and the choice you made to place them into our family. It would be great to talk with you to learn more about how you picture your child's adoption. We'd love to get to know you! |
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