Welcome! Meet:

Dave + Neilee

Veterinary Office Manager / Luthier

Arizona

Caucasian

None

All About Dave & Neilee
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Dave & Neilee

We are Dave and Neilee. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us.

We were married in 2016 in a small outdoor wedding surrounded by friends and family. It rained that day, and as the ceremony was supposed to begin, the skies cleared just in time. Only a month after the wedding, we sold Dave’s house in Michigan, packed our car with our cats and dogs, and moved to Arizona.

After looking to buy a house, we settled on a small town in Central Arizona. Nestled between ponderosa pines, our three bedroom home sits on a half acre of fenced land overlooking mountains. We live within a mile of our local schools and parks. We love that hiking trails leading into the national forest are only a five minute drive away.

Neilee holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology, and currently works as the office manager at a local veterinary clinic. She comes home to meet Dave for lunch every day. Neilee doesn’t work weekends or holidays, and enjoys spending her time off with friends and family.

Dave is a certified luthier, which is a fancy way of saying he went to a trade school for building and repairing stringed musical instruments. He works from home, and divides his time between computer work and projects in his workshop. He always has interesting guitars and violins coming and going. He can’t wait to share his love of music and art with a little one.

Both of our mothers and Neilee’s father live within ten minutes of us, and we love having them stop by for visits. We are fortunate to have their support during the adoption process. Our future child will have a large group of people who love and care for them.

Why Adoption?

We had discussed adoption at length during our early fertility struggles. When it was eventually confirmed we would not be able to conceive a child, we transitioned all of our focus to adoption. It is our hope that we will meet an expectant mother who considers us to be the right adoptive parents for her child. We believe that adoption is a journey of love that will lead to growing our family.

Family & Home

The small mountain town in which we live will be a wonderful place to raise a child. We live within walking distance to the schools and parks. We envision hiking on our favorite trails, teaching a child about the various plants and animals we see along the way.

We joke that we live on a little half acre homestead. We’re constantly building and improving our home to create the farm life we both grew up with. At home, we will plant vegetables and collect eggs from our chickens. A child will help Dave in his workshop, learning about woodworking and how to mend broken things. Neilee will read to them, rocking in her chair until they fall asleep in her arms.

Family is important to us. Our home serves as the meeting place for family gatherings during holidays and special occasions. Though we have extended family throughout the country, both of Neilee’s parents and Dave’s mother live close by, eager to be grandparents. Summer weekends are spent camping with groups of friends and their kids. Surrounded by pine trees, we will camp beneath the stars and name the constellations.

How others describe me

About Neilee, By Dave:

Neilee is generous, intelligent, and funny. I’ve never met anyone who cares about others as she does. Her love of animals is just one example of the way she views the world through kind, compassionate eyes. Neilee works five minutes from home at a veterinary clinic, and I always look forward to our lunchtime “meet and eat” when she can fill me in on her day so far. The time I spend with her is the most cherished moments of my day.

About Dave, By Neilee:

Dave is smart, adventurous, and compassionate. He is a hard worker that puts his family first. Dave works from home repairing musical instruments. He is excited to have a little helper he can share his skills with, particularly woodworking in his shop. Dave’s love of puns fills our home with laughter. Though his goal is always to make me laugh, he’s frequently met with a smirk and an eye roll which he says are indications of a good pun.

How We Met

We met through friends at what became our favorite restaurant. We shared a connection immediately and stayed talking after everyone else had left. After we started dating we frequently returned. We especially loved their french onion soup. It is hard to believe it has been ten years since that day!

Advice to Future Child

Learn to make mistakes. Know that failure is part of the path to success. The most important thing is to try, and don’t be discouraged when things are hard. You can do hard things.

Be curious, and never be afraid to ask questions.

Be kind and accept people for who they are.

Believe in yourself.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We are hoping for an open adoption plan so that our child’s first family can be a part of important milestones and accomplishments. We anticipate our child growing up knowing their first mother, and we hope that our relationship with her will grow organically over time, too.

We see open adoption as the best option for everyone involved. We want to preserve our child’s connection to their first family. From our perspective, there is nothing better for a child than growing up surrounded by lots of people who love them. We will always speak of our child’s first family with love and admiration.

Favorites

Dave

Favorite Movie: Back to the Future
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: I enjoy the family togetherness and gift giving on Christmas. Some of my favorite memories are of getting up early on Christmas morning and waking my parents. I love drinking cocoa and singing songs as a family before opening gifts, and eating a large dinner together.
Hobbies/Interests: music, reading, writing, hiking
Dream Vacation: The Swiss Alps
If I Could Choose a Superpower: super speed

Neilee

Favorite Movie: Pride and Prejudice
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: My favorite tradition is summer vacations with my family. Every year we go camping, or go to an amusement park, sometimes both! The trip together in the van is one of the best parts.
Hobbies/Interests: hiking, knitting, puzzles, dog training
Dream Vacation: African Safari
If I Could Choose a Superpower: flying