About Us

Keaton and I met in 8th grade at a summer camp. We were in the same friend group and stayed in touch throughout the years until returning the following summer. Fast forward a few years, we were at different colleges, but coincidentally, in our junior year, we transferred to the same college the same semester. We also ended up being in the same orientation group. As surprised as we were to see each other there, it was so lovely to have a familiar face. After not seeing each other for a couple of years, we caught up sometime that day and went on our way.

After our first day of class, we met for a coffee date, and we talked for 3 hours.

Sarah: I immediately saw Keaton’s heart for The Lord and his generous, selfless heart for others. I remember thinking, “I could see myself marrying him.”

Keaton: After speaking with Sarah the entire evening at the coffee shop, I remember thinking, “Could she be the one I marry?” Then I figured it was too good to be accurate, but little did I know we would start dating one month later.

We spent almost every day together and shortly began our dating relationship. We quickly became best friends and knew this was it for us. We both knew we wanted to marry one another. After dating for a little over a year, we got engaged. Fifteen months later, we got married.

When we first graduated, I was a children’s ministry director at a church. Keaton began teaching and coaching soccer in August, and shortly after, a position opened up for me to teach as well. I taught English as a second language. We were fortunate to teach at the same school for three years. I now teach kindergarten, and Keaton coaches college soccer and club soccer.

We have been so fortunate to be a part of some significant milestones together in our adult life. We graduated college together, started our first careers together, and bought our first home together. Being married for four years in June, we can see The Lord’s faithful hand throughout our story. He has graciously allowed us to marry one another, start our life together, and now start our family together. We can see Him weaving all the details in our lives and teaching us to trust Him more and grow our faith daily.

Our Home / Community

We live in a precious three-bedroom, two-bath house with large open windows at the front. I like to call it our cottage. It has all the original charm from when it was built in the 50s; we love that. It is completed with two living rooms, each with a fireplace, on opposite ends of the house. Our family room is very open, and we spend much time there. I always picture this as the room where all the toys will be spread out and played, and many movie nights with the kids will occur. The living room is small and cozy, perfect for snuggling up, reading a book by the fire, and watching people and cars come by all day. We have a large front yard and a large fenced-in backyard. We spend much time in the back, grilling and hanging out with our dogs, friends, and family. We also have a great walking trail directly in front of our house.

We live within 10 minutes of everything we do, and we can even walk to some things! We have fun restaurants, and play areas right down the road we walk to with the pups. We love to go to the lake near our house each week. We live just a few minutes from work and school and just a few minutes from church. I also work where they will go to school from their first few weeks to 6th grade, which I love. Keaton also works at the college a few blocks from our school, so we are always close when needed! 

We are a part of a racket and swim club half a mile from our house so that we can walk. This is where we will spend much of our time, especially during the summer. The best part is that our neighborhood is filled with diverse families with young children who attend school where our children will attend. They will grow up with best friends right down the street, and we cannot wait to watch those friendships grow. We know they will make many memories here, riding bikes, walking to each other’s houses, playing in the yard, and so on! We love our community and cannot wait to raise our family here!

Family Activities / Traditions

Our family and our faith always come first. Even though life gets busy, those two things take priority. We always make sure to slow down and spend time together. A typical weekend for us is a slow Saturday morning at home, spending time outside with the dogs, with each other, friends, family, church, and our life group on Sunday. 

During the fall, soccer is in full swing, Keaton is on the sidelines, and I am in the stands cheering them on. We also love the fall because it allows for big family gatherings with the holidays. We are big Christmas people and always decorate our home early together to enjoy it longer. One of my favorite things to do around the holidays together is make Christmas cookies and hot cocoa, watch a Christmas movie by the fire, and enjoy our beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Keaton enjoys riding around and looking at all the Christmas lights. 

The Spring and Summer allow us to slow down and travel. We both have summers off, giving us much free time. We like to travel and see our nieces as much as we can. We love going to the pool, being on the beach, playing tennis, and spending long afternoons outside until the sun goes down. We love our annual family beach trip.

We look forward to this all year long! We spend an entire week with my family, which is always the best time! Each year gives us something to look forward to as the babies get older and we add new ones to the family! 

Our parents live close, allowing us to spend a lot of time with them. We both have great relationships with our siblings and have close-knit families. With our siblings living in different cities, we take vacations each year and gather for holidays. I have a large family, so it is always a great time to get together. The cousins have so much fun; we love watching them grow up together!

Our Adoption Journey

There has never been a time when I thought about adoption and didn’t think that it was something I’d like to do one day.  It became heavy on my heart after my second time spent at Casa de Fe, an orphanage in Ecuador. I spent an extended amount of time there back in 2017, and my heart broke, not only for the children but also for the families who felt they could not care for them. I formed a powerful bond with this little girl, Sol, who was four then and had special needs. I began to see how much I could love a child I did not give birth to. I believe it was at this time that the Lord showed me that adoption was a desire I had and a calling He had on my life.

I shared with Keaton (on our first date) that I felt called to adopt one day, and he was very open to that. Ever since it has been something we have constantly talked about doing in our family and something we both felt The Lord leading us to.

After trying to conceive for several months, in the fall of 2022, we found out male factor infertility was our present challenge. We began discussing adoption and how The Lord had put that on our hearts. We had peace about adoption then. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to move forward with one last medical step. Keaton had surgery for a varicocele in July of 2023. We hoped this would significantly improve our chances, but it did not. After this, we felt like that was as far as we wanted to go medically. We both felt like, after a series of doors being closed through infertility and many prayers, that was The Lord answering our prayers of discernment, telling us that is not what he had for us.

It is through this we felt peace about pursuing adoption at this time. We believe that without a shadow of a doubt, the Lord has called us to parent a child through adoption.

A Little More About Us…