Welcome! Meet:

Matthew + Rachel

QA Automation Engineer / Adjunct Instructor; Photographer

California

Caucasian / Other

Christian

All About Matthew & Rachel

Matt and I both have jobs that we really enjoy. Matt works as a QA Automation Engineer for a school software company and I have two part-time jobs. One of my jobs is teaching at the local community college. I teach classes designed for students who have disabilities. I’m also a photographer and have the opportunity to photograph events, families, and sometimes food for local restaurants. We have a two year old daughter that we adopted from birth. She is the brightest light in our family. She is very intelligent and is ahead of the curve with almost every milestone. She loves to be around people and animals. Her favorite things to do are play with other kids, go on trampolines, have dance parties and hang out with her family. She loves seeing babies and is eager to help and care for them whenever they are around. She will be such a sweet big sister. In our free time, we’re normally spending time with family or friends. We try to do family days at least once a month. Sometimes a family day is just hanging around the house and going for a walk, sometimes it’s going to the Zoo, other times it might be spending the day at the beach. We try to be intentional about scheduling time for the three of us to have quality time. Matt and I have been working hard to make sure that we each get time to ourselves too. Matt is a great woodworker and has built quite a few items for our home. He’s made a baby gate to keep our daughter (and any other kids that might be around) from going down the stairs without supervision, he’s made our daughter a play arch to climb on and more recently he’s made a new bedroom set for our room and a new coffee table for our living room. Matt also grew up surfing and going to the beach with his dad. Surfing and spending time at the beach is still one of his favorite pastimes and he can’t wait to share that experience with his kids. One of my favorite hobbies is cooking. My mom is a wonderful cook and when I was young I loved sitting at the counter watching her cook. It’s something I’ve come to enjoy myself and I’ve been able to share it with our daughter more recently. She has a learning tower that allows her to work at the kitchen counter with me. She likes to help me chop (with a kid friendly “knife”), pour and mix things while preparing a meal. Most nights consist of us sharing dinner together as a family and putting our daughter to bed around 7. Matt and I take turns putting her to bed, we read her a book or two and pray with her before she goes to sleep. After she goes to sleep, we normally spend time together. Sometimes we watch TV together, other times we’ll just hang out and talk. We have “working nights” too where we might have our own things to work and we’ll work together on the couch. We have a wonderful marriage. One of the things we’re extra thankful for is that we have friendship as the foundation of our relationship. We truly enjoy each other, not just as husband and wife, but as friends.

Why Adoption?

The desire to adopt a child was planted in Rachel's heart when she was a teenager. Early in our relationship, we talked about adopting, regardless of whether or not we were able to have children on our own, and agreed that we would try to adopt, no matter what. We believe that adoption is a beautiful demonstration of God's love, and look forward to sharing that love with our children. After our daughter's adoption was finalized, we wanted to continue the growth of our family with another child.

Family & Home

We recently bought a home in a beautiful community in Southern California. We love it here. There are lots of parks and community pools right outside our door. The elementary school is also within walking distance of our home. There are lots of kids who live in our neighborhood. This community is filled with families and kids of all ages. We both have family members who live close by. We have a wonderful support system and they cannot wait to have a new little life come into our family. We are fortunate to have parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and friends who have supported and encouraged us during our adoption journey. Any child would be blessed to have the love of all these wonderful people in their life.

We are very blessed to have help with childcare right now. My (Rachel) mom watches our daughter when I’m at work. I work two days a week consistently, and occasionally have other photography gigs that come up during the week that would require us to get childcare. Matt’s mom is available to help out on weekends when Matt and I want to go out on our own which is wonderful. We have been very blessed to have family members coming to care for our daughter when we need help with childcare and I know this will continue to the best of everyone’s ability moving forward.

How others describe me

Rachel about Matt: In addition to being smart, hard-working, and funny, Matt is truly one of the kindest, most compassionate people I’ve ever met. His first consideration when conflict arises is how each person might be feeling. If someone does something rude or inconsiderate, Matt's first thought is usually, “I wonder why they did that? Maybe they're having a really bad day." Instead of reacting in anger, Matt instead wonders if maybe the person's parent or spouse is in the hospital, or their dog just died and that they may need some extra kindness from the people around them. Matt is an incredible dad. He makes an effort to share his hobbies with our daughter. I love coming home and seeing them in the garage working on things together, or building forts in the living room. We try to get to the beach frequently when the weather allows and Matt is always in the sand with her, building sand castles and digging holes to fill with water. She loves spending time with her dad and he is intentional about having fun and making memories with her.

Matt about Rachel: Rachel is an incredible mother. She always looks out for the needs of our daughter and strives to do what is best for her.  Rachel is an incredibly loving and giving person. She is always the person to step up when someone is in need. Whether it be cooking a meal for someone experiencing a major life event or helping a friend move, Rachel is there to help with whatever needs to be done. Rachel is also fun and likes to laugh. She loves exploring new places and does an amazing job of taking photos of each of our adventures.

how we met

How We Met

We met through an organization called Young Life. I was on staff and Matt was a volunteer. Time went on and Matt began volunteering with another group within the same organization, so we didn’t see each other often. A few years later, we ended up in a bible study together and began hanging out as friends. About a year after we started hanging out, Matt asked me on a date. We went on the best first date ever and a year later, we were married.

Advice to Future Child

Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can’t accomplish what you set your mind to do.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We believe that an open adoption should be something that is decided on a case-by-case basis. In almost every case, I think sharing general life updates and photos is something we’d be comfortable with if that’s something that the birth mother/parent wants. We’re a bit more hesitant when it comes to the child having contact with their birth mother/parents when the child is young. If the child and birth mother/parents are in a healthy place mentally when the child is older, we would be open to discussing our child having a relationship with their birth mother if all parties are open to it and it’s in the best interest of the child.

Favorites

Matthew

  • Favorite Movie(s): The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
  • Favorite Holiday: Christmas because I take time off to slow down and spend time with friends and family.
  • Hobbies/Interests: woodworking, surfing, swimming
  • Dream Vacation: Italy
  • If I Could Choose a Superpower: flying

Rachel

  • Favorite Movie(s): Away We Go
  • Favorite Holiday: Christmas, I love all the family time, Christmas lights and giving gifts.
  • Hobbies/Interests: photography, cooking, beach days, health and nutrition
  • Dream Vacation: Italy
  • If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation

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