We both come from very different childhoods and at times, we find ourselves jealous of the other person's upbringing!

Julie was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up most of her life in the Middle East before moving to Oregon for college. It was wonderful growing up in Egypt; Julie traveled around the world and was raised with an appreciation and love for Arab food and culture.

Tyler, on the other hand, grew up in a small town in rural Oregon. Tyler spent his childhood playing outside, camping, making forts, and building deep friendships. Tyler never moved houses and graduated high school with most of the people he went to kindergarten with. During her first visit to Tyler's hometown, Julie met his 3rd grade teacher, his family friend, and the mayor all on the way to breakfast!

"Small town values" shaped Tyler as much as "worldly perspectives" shaped Julie. We have loved hearing the stories of each other's childhoods and how it made us the people we are today. Since being married, Julie has attended Tyler's small-town Fourth of July parade, eaten an "elephant ear" at the county fair, and even seen a rodeo. Tyler has traveled with Julie back to her childhood house, eaten falafel in the shadow of the Great Pyramids and spent Christmas in Jerusalem.

Julie About Tyler: I am so lucky to have Tyler as my partner through life. Tyler has a playful nature, makes others around him laugh, and brings so much creative fun to our lives. He cares deeply about the people he loves. Tyler has an amazing ability to make the people around him feel included. Our nieces and nephews absolutely adore their "Uti" (short for Uncle Ty) and he adores them back. Whenever we are together you will always find Tyler playing with the kiddos, building elaborate lego fortresses or playing outside in the mud. Tyler has an adventurous spirit that always keeps our family experiencing new and exciting things.

Tyler About Julie: Julie is the most amazing human I have ever met; after 11 years, I still find new things to love about her. Julie has the most compassionate heart of anyone I know. She has made a career out of caring for others; she has worked with teen moms, kids in foster care, and parents of at-risk youth. She is gentle when she needs to be, but able to be firm when the situation requires it. Julie has weathered the storm of infertility with grace and strength. Last year, Julie lost a pregnancy and, because of severe internal bleeding, was in the ICU fighting for her life. She went from the deepest depths of pain and loss to a place of hope and positivity as we reframed our future to include a family built through adoption. She is tough, kind, loving, and my best friend.

For us, leisure time is a healthy balance of adventure and relaxing. There are those weekends where we wake up early and grab bagel-sandwiches on our way up to the mountain for a day of playing in the snow, or days where we escape the summer heat in the city with a day-trip to the beach. We are a pretty active couple and love exploring the world beyond our doorstep. We cannot wait to see trees, hiking trails, river otters, and all the beauty the world has to offer through the eyes of a child. We are so excited to bring a son or daughter into the traditions we already have as a couple, things like stargazing with s'mores from our favorite campsites, buying every flavor of donut to conduct our own taste tests, playing songs on the piano together, or reading books stretched out on a blanket in the park. We know that our son or daughter will have their own interests, hobbies and ways to relax. We cannot wait to learn and explore these things with them. If there are experiences or traditions that you have and want to pass along, we are happy to find a way to fit those into the life of this child!

We love our life in the beautiful state of Oregon! We live in a quiet neighborhood within a medium-sized city that is full of great restaurants, museums, a zoo, and is famous for its parks (two are in walking distance from our house). Our home is part of a well-defined community and we love watching the neighborhood children draw with chalk and ride their bikes up and down the sidewalks.

We bought our house in 2019 and have loved creating our home. Our house has three bedrooms, generous living spaces, and a nice backyard. One of our favorite places to spend time is in our backyard. On a summer day you will find us barbecuing, doing yard work, or sitting around a fire pit with friends enjoying the outdoors.

We live just down the street from an elementary school, two blocks from a large wooded park with a new playground and an outdoor community pool. Many evenings we take walks around our neighborhood and have gotten to know of our neighbors.

Our community has riverfront beaches to explore and we keep a boat parked on a nearby river for a quick escape to tubing, swimming, and playing in the sun. Our little neighborhood has a downtown area with coffee shops, local businesses, a library, summertime outdoor concerts, and a community center. We love living in this area and have many friends right in our neighborhood!

Family means everything to us. With strong connections to both sets of parents and our siblings, we know our child will grow up in a loving family that enjoys creating memories together. Whether it is sledding in the mountains during a visit to Tyler's childhood home, or a summer expedition to the southern coast of Spain to visit Julie's parents, we know this child will have many memories of the places and people who will shape their childhood.

Our nieces and nephews mostly know us as "Uti" and "Uli" and we know this child will love getting to know their cousins that live close and will love visiting those who live across the country.

Our families and friends have been a huge supportive part of our journey to have a family of our own and we know they will be overjoyed to finally welcome a new family member.

We don't know what your family life is like, but we want you to know that you will always be honored as part of the family when we teach this child about their story. Our child will learn that family is created by the people who love them and are part of their story, we believe that includes you!

We cannot thank you enough for thinking about us. We know this is an important decision you are making and we hope our photos, videos, and stories have shown you a little bit about who we are. We know that "life doesn't have guarantees," but we can make you one promise, without a doubt. We promise that this child will have our unconditional love, from the first time they are placed into our arms, through our last loving breaths. This means everything to us and this child will be part of our family, and our lives will be forever shaped by your choice. For making that choice, you will always be honored in our stories. Your loving choice will be part of the story that we share with a child, and you can watch them grow up, too.

We have been married for 12 years. We know what it is like to work together and we are committed to staying strong and healthy. We have spent the last 12 years building a strong and loving marriage and we are in this together. We have always known that we wanted to raise a family. We began trying for a child about seven years ago and after a long journey of infertility, last year we had our first positive pregnancy. In a heartbreaking moment, at 15-weeks Julie had a life-threatening rupture in her uterus which resulted in a loss of our baby and a full hysterectomy. It was the closing of a long and painful chapter of our lives.

The one thing that did not change was our deep desire to be parents and share our love and life with a child. Adoption has always been something we were considering throughout this journey to be parents and we are so ready to provide a nurturing and loving home to your child. We know this is the right next step for us. We feel it in our hearts.

While we have experienced challenges in our life, we faced everything together and have a fearless relationship built with love. We are bringing a child into this life and their face will be the one that reminds us that love conquers everything.

It's so important to us that our child's adoption story is always honored. Throughout their life we promise to share pictures, letters, and emails. We welcome the opportunity to work together to establish and maintain a healthy relationship as you feel comfortable with. You take the lead and tell us what is healthiest for you. We trust and respect you. Our child will hear their birth parents spoken about with honor and respect.

As parents, we believe in the importance of providing a safe and stable home for our child. We will provide our child with a strong support system that they can rely on. We want to create an environment for a child that encourages them to explore, have adventures, and learn about the world around them. We both grew up with siblings and we want our children to have a brother or sister, too! We plan to adopt again and continue to grow our family. Even without a sibling, this child won't be alone. We have close nieces and nephews and friends who are having children. We both have parents who are active in the lives of their grandchildren; they cannot wait for us to welcome in a new family member!

We don't know what is going on in your life, or what brought you to this decision. We don't know the mix of emotions that you are feeling as you read this. We don't know what it feels like to be carrying this child and feeling the weight of making a decision out of love for the future of this child. We will be here for you, too. You are in our hearts as you are reading this. If there is anything more you'd like to hear about us, please reach out through our agency and we will do our best to provide whatever you need to feel good about choosing us. We know the right person will. Until then, we will wait, and hope, and dream about the family we will have one day.

Thanks,

Tyler & Julie