About Michael
Occupation: Firefighter/Paramedic & Elementary School P.E. Teacher
Education: Associate of Fire-Emergency Medical Services
TV Show: Seinfeld, The Office (in that order)
Holiday: Christmas
Childhood Memory: Friday night high school football games, Christmas day with the family at Grandma’s house
Background: German and Irish
Hobbies: Weight lifting, working out, Ohio State football, playing board games, collecting retro video games, yard work, garage saling
Vacation: Any vacation is a good vacation
About Lilya
Occupation: Office Manager
Education: Associates of Science and Bachelors of Bible and Theology
TV Show: The Office, Great British Baking Show
Holiday: Christmas
Childhood Memory: Going to the local market on Saturday morning with my cousins and our dads for crepes and coffee
Background: Ukrainian
Hobbies: Weight lifting, getting coffee with friends, baking
Vacation: Hiking in Colorado
| We Prefer a Child Who Is… | |
| Gender: | We have no preferences for gender. |
| Race: | We have no preferences for ethnicity |
| Openness: | Open or Closed, Letters, Updates and Visits |
Why Adoption?
Children have always been a part of the vision for our family, but adoption holds a special place in our lives for two reasons. The first: Lilya has always had a passion for adoption since attending missions trips to orphanages in her early adulthood which she brought into our marriage. This passion combined with God’s own love of adoption and our desire to give a home to a child that needs one is our first reason to adopt. The second: like so many others, infertility played a role in the timing of our adoption. We have always hoped to adopt a child, but after several years had gone by, we became more and more excited about adoption. Then, in the midst of our adoption process, we found out that we were pregnant! This was a huge surprise and blessing and has only increased our desire to adopt. We are excited to raise all of our children together in the same loving home and will be happy to receive a child of any ethnic background into our family. Through adoption, we hope to encourage others around us to engage in this pursuit and to instill a love of children and of adoption into our own children.