Dallas and Lauren

Although we haven’t met, we’ve been thinking about and praying for you for a long time. We want you to know how amazing we think you are. The sacrifices you’re making are seen and noticed, and we are in awe. We recognize the choices you’re considering may be challenging, but we pledge our support to be there for you.

We love our life and are so excited to welcome another member into our family.  Keaton and Gunner will be incredible big brothers, and they will shower their new sibling with love and affection.

Our goal is to provide our children with all kinds of learning opportunities and experiences that lead to understanding how joy can be found in life. We want to help them develop strong moral values and outstanding personal character. We certainly aren’t perfect parents, but it’s a job we value more than almost anything else. We will happily attend every soccer game and dance recital, take care of every scrape and fall, and support your child in every possible way.

We are grateful to you for taking the time to consider us and wish you all the best no matter what. We hope everything in your life works out for the better, and we will continue to pray and think about you.

Love, Dallas & Lauren

Dallas and I met in college, attending the same church group. We became fast friends, and after a year and a half of friendship, we started dating. We’ve been married for ten years now and over these years we’ve grown closer together and are still best friends. Our loyalty, trust, and communication have deepened each year, and we’ve loved cheering each other on in our endeavors. Being each other’s biggest cheerleader has always provided a loving and encouraging way for us to feel seen and supported individually. We’ve realized regular date nights are important for us, and we prioritize time together regularly. We like going on long walks, watching our favorite shows, cheering on the Texas Rangers, and experiencing adventures with our family.

Dallas is the most selfless, caring, and calming person—his mere presence speaks peace to my soul. I was initially drawn to him for his fun-loving nature but got hooked when I realized what an incredible friend he is. He sees others’ needs and makes them a priority. He serves often at church, and I’ve loved watching him grow as a father. Dallas is driven, confident, humble, and always knows how to make me laugh. Fun things about him: he swears he has another stomach for pizza and pasta (I believe him!), he loves The Office and Seinfeld, and he speaks three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese).

From very early on in our relationship, I knew Lauren was extremely goal-oriented, loyal, and thoughtful. When she commits to do something, she follows through. More importantly, she’s the same way with her friendships. She values quality over quantity and doesn’t get distracted by what everyone else is doing but takes the time to see to the needs of the individual she’s with. When we started dating, she was always present and made me feel important. I fell for her quickly and forever wanted to hold onto that feeling. Lauren knows how to lift me up when I’m down, and apart from being the love of my life, calling her anything less than my best friend doesn’t describe what she means to me well enough.

Kids are drawn to Lauren. She understands them and is sensitive to their needs. She’s the first to help a new mom or offer toys to a struggling toddler at church. Lauren’s a pro at understanding toddler gibberish and half words, along with the unspoken words of an older child. Her inventive mind continually tries to create magic for our kids and others. From hand-cutting 300+ hearts for a Valentine’s craft activity to building a 6-foot-tall funny display for a church carnival, she gives incredible effort to help kids feel seen, special, and loved.

Keaton is an imaginative six-year-old with spunk, energy, and the deepest heart. He loves to read, play outside, and spend as much time as possible in imaginative play. His kindness and loyalty consistently make him friends in new places, and he is an incredible helper. Gunner is our powerhouse two-year-old who keeps us on our toes. He’s incredibly observant and smart and is always trying to figure things out. Gunner is our builder- Magnatiles, puzzles, trains-he’ll build and play for hours. We’ve loved watching their relationship grow and are excited to see them love a new sibling.

One of our family dreams is to buy a large parcel of land in a nearby city and build our forever dream home. The idea of allowing our children to run and play in nature, learn how to care for animals, and have space to adventure and explore as they get older has always been important to us. Access to beautiful outdoor areas has always lifted our spirits; we hope to share that with our children.

Our home is on a quiet street in a small subdivision with incredible neighbors. We have four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Dallas works from home in our home office. The boys share a room upstairs next to our fun Disney-themed playroom. We love our home and especially enjoy our yard. The backyard is an acre full of kids’ fun and room to play. Lauren’s dad built us a beautiful play fort with a sandpit and slide, and we have swings hanging from our giant pecan tree. We keep a garden during the spring/summer, and our pool is used regularly in warm weather.

We live near a large city and regularly enjoy its parks, museums, arboretum, zoo, and events. We’ve found playgroups and field trip groups and are so grateful for the wonderful diversity in our community.

Dallas is the middle of seven children. His family is large and fun-loving. With 25 grandkids and counting, your child will have many cousins to play with and lots of aunts and uncles to spoil them. Dallas’ dad, Grandpa, is known to all the grandkids as the one who supplies the chocolate milk, and his mom, Grandma, loves to craft and read with the grandkids. We have a family reunion every other year and travel to visit one another’s families in between. We currently live near one of his younger sisters and her family, and his parents come to visit often.

Lauren comes from a smaller family of two children so there are only three grandbabies so far for PawPaw and Gran to spoil. They live 30 minutes away from us, so we are frequent guests at their home and vice versa. We also love to visit Lauren’s niece, who we love and adore. She is half Hispanic and half white. Her family has been so gracious in allowing us to be part of their life. It has been so much fun getting to know her and her Hispanic side of the family. We love them and the cool things we learn from their culture!

We truly believe we are ALL children of God and strive continually to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is incredibly important to us to raise any child that is racially or culturally different from ourselves in a community where they can see their own people and culture. Whether that is through ethnic dance or music classes, seeking out and creating relationships with families that look similar to them, and especially making sure they have a strong role model who is of their same heritage and someone they can turn to when/if they have questions about racial prejudice or race in general. We acknowledge we have a lot to learn if a child of a different race/culture were to be added to our family, however we promise diligent effort, love and concern for that child’s growth and wellbeing in helping them become a strong, proud member of their race and culture.

Our lifestyle is simple, fun, and family-filled. Dallas runs his own commercial real estate company and loves his work and job. And the best part is he works from home! Lauren is a stay-at-home mom, a.k.a. adventure coordinator. She loves finding new parks, libraries, and trails to explore with Gunner and Keaton. At the end of the day, we have family time; we eat supper together as a family and then play outside, go for a walk, or just chill in the playroom, building or pretending. On the weekends we enjoy spending time outside and just being together as a family. We travel regularly, either to visit Disney or extended family. Being together is something we’ve all come to cherish and the time we spend together is fun and full of love and laughter.

Some of our favorite traditions are Christmas jammies, fall pumpkin patch trips, and cheering on our BYU Cougars. Lauren’s love for a coordinated family Halloween costume is always a hit and fun to plan together. Everyone’s heard of Easter eggs, but our family throws them. After the usual Easter egg hunt, we hold a few boiled egg toss competitions and end our festivities with a long-distance egg throw. We love celebrating major holidays with family and friends and enjoy the peace we feel when spending time with those we love.

We feel God has called us to adopt. His lead in this aspect of our lives is undeniable. We have experienced many tender moments which we recognize to be His leading and guiding us in our adoption journey. Adoption has already played a significant role in our extended families, so we’ve witnessed firsthand the love and joy it can bring.

Should you choose us, we promise an eternity of love and support for your child. You’re an important part of their life story, and we promise your child will know of you and your love for them. We can’t express enough how much we look up to you for considering adoption, and we promise your child a life of love, care, and happiness. We promise to teach, encourage, and foster a love for learning and personal development within your child. It seems fair to say that you, as their birth mother, and we, as their adoptive parents want your child to soar, succeed, and thrive in every possible way and promise to do our very best to achieve this outcome. The choices you’re considering may be full of emotional and physical struggle, and we want you to know that we see you—a brilliant, amazing woman striving to do the very best for her unborn child. We promise to love not just your child, but you as well.