Hi,

Thank you for reading our letter. I am Gail, and my husband is Mike. We live in a charming and historic southern California town, one block away from the beach, in a cottage-style home. Living so close to the ocean influences our lifestyle and the activities we enjoy doing. I surf and Mike body surfs and surf fishes. We both swim, boogey board and walk the beach together looking for bits of beach glass - it becomes a contest between us to see who can get he biggest piece, or a prized blue one. I also regularly run on the local beach path.

As an active couple, we also like to take long bike rides, kayak, bike and walk our dogs together. Sometimes during his free time, Mikes likes watching college basketball and football to relax. He is an excellent cook and master barbequer. My relaxation and enjoyment comes from spending time in our yard tending to plants and landscaping. We both like to work on house projects - Mike is very handy with installing and fixing things, and I have a bit of flair for interior design.

We are both from different cultural backgrounds, but have many things in common, including growing up loving the outdoors and nature. We really like camping, with our favorite destination being the Sierras. Recently we purchased a Volkswagen Westfalia camper, and we are looking forward to many road trips camping along the coast and other areas with our dogs. Our other passion is travel, and when we have time off, we try to visit new places. We have traveled to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii together, as well as several states. Next year we hope to go to Cozumel to snorkel and see the Mayan ruins. We gravitate between spending time at the ocean and in the mountains, where we also enjoy water activities in beautiful lakes an streams. When we are lucky enough to adopt we will put travel on hold, but when our child gets a bit older, he or she has many fun family travel adventures waiting.

By nature we are both sensitive and compassionate people, which drew us to each other. I met Mike when we were both working at a wholesale plant nursery in Rainbow, California. I always say "I met my best friend at the end of a rainbow." I now work in conservation because I believe in preserving nature. Mike started a new job in the civilian engineering division of the Navy. We greatly love and appreciate our families, animals, friends and neighbors who add enormous value to our lives. Mike and I strive to be good, kind and respectful people.

Animals have been a big part of our lives. We have two dogs and two cats, all rescued, which keep us active and give us daily doses of love and laughter. All our "kids" are friendly and love everyone. Since our animals are truly family members, we have to share them with you. Our dogs: Ellie is our sweet and loyal German Shepherd. Wilson is the new guy - a one year old dachshund mix puppy, and a real character. They are crazy about each other and are constantly playing. And the cats: Dodger is our sweet boy, and Paws, our feisty girl, pretty much thinks she rules the house.

They are what makes our house a home, but our "family" is far from complete. Our biggest goal in life - our greatest dream - is to be parents, and adoption is the only way that can happen for us. We can offer your child a stable and loving home, with both of us contributing to his or her development as a strong, yet kind and compassionate person, who is equipped to live a wonderful, enriched life in this world. But most of all, unconditional love with all our hearts.

We are very sorry you are faced with making a difficult decision, but we admire you for your inner strength and conviction to make the best choice for your child. We hope you will consider us to be the parents of your child, but whatever your decision - we truly wish you peace and joy in your life. We have an attorney who limits his practice to adoption, Randy Hicks, to help us do everything right. You can call him to learn more about adoption, and arrange to meet us, at 951-787-8300 or toll free 1-800-756-6757.

All the best,

Gail and Mike