Interests
Ray is an active outdoorsman who loves bird watching, and looks forward to having a pair of little hands to help him build bird houses for the Bluebirds and Martins on the farm. He can imagine the face of an eager young child as they help pick and sample peaches, grapes and apples from our orchard. He enjoys spending time with our niece and nephew next door, playing ball in the yard with them, and going to their little league games.

Valerie enjoys cooking, canning, and jelly making, and plans to continue the family tradition of making and decorating gingerbread cookies with her child. Valerie also enjoys gardening. She has reserved a special place in the shed just for a set of child-sized gardening tools. She can picture a child with a smiling face and dirty knees helping her plant bulbs in the flower bed. She loves to read and has images of she and her child curled up on the couch reading books together.

Our Beliefs
We believe that it is very important that our child feels loved and protected in a stable and safe home, and that our child knows that we will always be there to listen to them, love them, and support them. We were both raised in loving homes with traditional values, and we will instill those values in our child by our example. Education is important to us. We feel that education is one of the keys to a successful future and we would like to provide many positive learning experiences for our child, through formal schooling and through healthy life experiences. We hope to raise a happy, healthy child who is a caring person and will be prepared to face life’s challenges.