So Excited!

Meet Rachel: Rachel and I met our freshman year at BYU and through a mutual friend ended up living together at "White Gables" our sophomore year. Perhaps it was because that year was particularly challenging for each of us, or because it was just meant to be - but Rachel, our other roommates and I have remained close ever since (7 years later). What I learned about Rachel that year was that she is an AMAZING (award winning) writer, has a big heart, loves to work with people with disabilities, has a personal relationship with our savior, 2 sisters that make me still wish that just one of my brothers had been a sister, loves to snuggle, is a dedicated student and runner, loves brownies more than anyone else I have met (and I am a McKean and a Sherwood so that is saying something) and upon occasion was known to say dramatically "Stress is overtaking my body". Ha ha!

Meet Ryan: Ryan is an Idaho boy who had returned from his mission to Russia when his buddy set him up on a blind date with none other than my Rachel. Since I was already married and no longer living at 'White Gables' I heard bits and pieces of their relationship. My earliest memory of Ryan was hearing about the guy that brought Rachel a peach the week after a date. It was adorable. He seemed to compliment Rachel in every way. The summer that she went to El Salvador to volunteer at the Hogar he worked her usual summer job in Colorado at a camp with kids with disabilities.

Fast-forward 5 years: Rachel and Ryan are married and living in Buffalo, NY. Rachel is teaching high school English for her 5th year and Ryan is in his final year in dental school. Together they started their neighborhood 'cookie club' inviting kids to come over and make/eat cookies. There are knocks on the door for Mr. Ryan to come out and play. They are still in love, still happy, still hard working and still good friends of mine.

Why am I so excited: Rachel and Ryan were recently approved through LDS adoption services to be adoptive parents! The way this service works, prospective parents put their profile online for birth mothers to browse through. The birth mother (aka an angel in my book) then chooses the couple that she would like her child to be given to. It is an incredible process of self-lessness, love and compassion. Often times birth mothers also hear about couples by word of mouth. That is my intention with this post. If you know anyone that is considering adoption, please mention Rachel and Ryan. They have so much love and will be amazing parents. I am really truly excited for them to be parents. I think I'll feel like a brand new aunt again :)

Click here to view Rachel and Ryan's blog. (It is worth your time, she is a fantastic writer)

Click here to view Rachel and Ryan's adoption profile.

I have added a button to my sidebar - you are welcome to post it on your own blog to help get this exciting new out! To do so visit Rachel and Ryan's blog, copy the jibberish from underneath the button on their page and paste it into a html/java script gadget in the sidebar of your own blog. Thanks for helping spread the good news!