Occupation 

Real Estate Agent

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Hobby

Going to the gym, jiu-jitsu & leather-work

Favorite Movie

Forrest Gump

Favorite Food

Pizza

Favorite Family Activity

Walks as a family & Friday pizza nights

Favorite Place to Travel

Hawaii & Skiing in Colorado 

Occupation 

Stay-at-home mom, former NICU Nurse

Education

Bachelor's  Degree

Hobby

Baking delicious treats, working on our backyard garden beds, & staying active

Favorite Movie

Cheesy Hallmark movies, especially Christmas

Favorite Food

Breakfast - a cup of coffee and Eggo waffles covered in butter + maple syrup

Favorite Family Activity

Hanging outside & baking together  

Favorite Place to Travel

The beach - sun, white sand, clear water, sunrise & sunset

Our Story

It was Ronnie’s first week studying abroad from England when he spotted me at a church event on campus. I was working one of the check-in tables, and Ronnie decided to get in my line so he could talk to me. He pursued me with such intention that it was easy to see what a good man he was. Just three days after we met, I led him on a campus tour, beginning our history of long walks together.

Those walks became some of our favorite times together. We talked about everything from bad exams and Bible studies to our dreams, families, and where we grew up. We prayed and trusted that the Lord had brought us together for a reason. Our dating days were filled with plenty of fun, too. I knew I was falling in love when Ronnie made a gingerbread house from scratch, and he knew he was in love when I planned a PB&J picnic for his birthday!

After I graduated from nursing school, Ronnie proposed in the summer of 2020. What he described as a cute summer date turned into a surprise proposal at a secluded horse farm after Chick-fil-A and a handmade scrapbook filled with our adventures. I couldn’t say “YES” fast enough!

The pandemic slowed our immigration process, but we finally married in the fall of 2021 at our “home” church and celebrated with our closest family and friends at a horse farm in Kentucky. Some of our favorite memories from the day were our beautiful ceremony, breakfast for dinner with donuts for dessert, and ending the night dancing with our favorite people.

Our son, Alfie, is the sweetest boy we have ever met! He loves giving kisses and hugging tight around the neck. Alfie is curious; he definitely gets caught people watching constantly, and he loves to explore. As he has gotten older, he has unlocked playgrounds and his favorite thing to do, inside and outside, is roam around and climb anything in sight! His newest go-to activity before nap time is scouring his bookshelf and bringing mama book after book to read. And MUSIC?! Oh, do not even mention it or he will already be dancing away - his boogie moves started with just a head bop at 4 months old, and now he cannot stop the groove in his bones when the music starts.

We have talked to Alfie about his birth parents from the moment he came home with us. Every night, we kiss the photo of his birth parents holding him hung in his room, tell him how much they love him, and pray for them with him. We read adoption-themed books and also gift those books to Alfie’s friends so they can grow up listening to how families are all created differently but loved together just as well.



Alfie has been the biggest blessing in our lives, the lives of our family, and the lives of all our friends and their children. Alfie’s sweet persona and scrunchy-face smile truly light up the lives of all those he is around. We are so excited to see the love he constantly pours into us be poured into a new little life in our family.

Our Home

Our home is open-concept with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We have a spacious, fenced-in backyard with a small covered patio for grilling out or relaxing in the shade.

Ronnie is quite the handyman and has taken a liking to various DIY projects in and outside our home, including a fire pit, raised garden beds, and bathroom renovations.



I love the “charming” part of creating a home; I have a huge passion for interior design. I create the vision and, with the help of Ronnie, execute it to create a home full of memories. Our most recent home adventure has been gardening! Ronnie made these garden beds from scratch, and I planted all the wildflowers and vegetables from seeds - we can’t wait to reap our harvest! 

We love living in our small town and being part of a close-knit community. Our neighborhood has a large playground for kiddos of all ages, including toddlers, and was recently expanded to include inclusive, accessible play areas. We also live less than a mile from one of the best school systems in the greater area, with access to their playscapes as well.



Our town hosts monthly events downtown with local vendors, food, and fun activities like bounce houses and slides. We also enjoy being close enough to larger city amenities, including a zoo, children’s science museum, and nature center. We love that our community gives us the best of both worlds: a small-town feel while still having plenty of things to do nearby.

Ronnie' Family

I was born and raised in Essex, England, and my family still resides there. Every year, we make the trip to visit my extended family and spend a week in the English countryside catching up, as well as exploring new cities together like London, Bath, and Brighton. Alfie made his first trip to England at 14 months old and can’t wait to go back after trying his first Mr. Whippy ice cream!

My parents, who have been married for 31 years, visit us in Texas and take our whole family on trips to the beach multiple times a year. After telling my parents we were adopting again, they were overjoyed to spoil another little one. They have and continue to excitedly plan all the future trips with their grandchildren, like taking them to Europe and Disney World, as they did with me when I was young. Their favorite trip so far has been taking Alfie to Disney Vero Beach in Florida for his 1st birthday, and they can’t wait to take him back again next year!



My grandparents are also still a big part of my life and love sharing my favorite childhood activities with their new great-grandchild, like going to the seaside to eat fresh fish and chips! I also have a brother who is a year younger than me and loves to be the 'fun uncle' - playing silly tricks with Alfie and truly showing our family a new, carefree side of him that is a joy to be around.

I am from all over the Midwest and am happy to have settled in Texas. My parents have been joyfully married for over 35 years and reside in Illinois. With two older sisters and three younger brothers, my childhood home was brimming with activity, connectivity, and noise. We were best friends growing up, and I am so lucky our friendships have continued.

Our extended family expands by the year, with 11 nieces and nephews under the age of 8, with 3 baby boys born in 2026 alone! Our children will have so many cousins to build those special friendships with. Not only is our family growing with babies, but my brother got married to the sweetest gal this summer, and we were so lucky to be a part of their day.

My grandparents are very active in the lives of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even though my family lives further away, we still see them several times a year and speak as often as possible. My family has walked through our journey of infertility, covering us in prayers and offering support, and with the news of adopting again, they are so delighted to continue to love any children the Lord puts in our lives!

Ronnie & Gracie - A Look Into Our Life

Adventures Together 

Our relationship has always been filled with travel! Because our friends and family are spread out, we often find ourselves road-tripping across the country or flying abroad. We also enjoy spending time in nature - whether hiking or swimming, locally or on trips with family. On every family trip, our first stop is always Chick-fil-A for breakfast.



There has been no shortage of travel since Alfie came into our family, including 8 plane rides and countless road trips. His passport photo is the cutest on the planet and he’s been able to travel to England and visit 7 different states. Our favorite vacation so far has been our honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii. We absolutely loved exploring the Road to Hana and literally chasing waterfalls.

Family Traditions 

We have many traditions within our immediate and extended families. We are close with Gracie’s grandparents and make it a priority to visit them in Indiana every summer for our yearly swim holiday at “Gigi and Great Gramp’s” pool—a week of wonder! They are avid gardeners and have passed along their love of vegetables and flowers to us all.

Ronnie became a U.S. citizen this June! We love celebrating America, especially the Fourth of July, with a brewery trip, splash pad, and fireworks to end the night.

We recently became the godparents of our nephew, Damien Joseph, at his baptism and are honored to guide him and cover his life in prayer. Our newest tradition is Friday pizza night, when Gracie makes the dough and we each create our own pizzas with our favorite toppings.

We also love celebrating feast days within the church, especially St. Nicholas Day, when we leave out stockings the night before to wake up to treats. Christmas is spent at home in matching PJs, enjoying presents under the tree and a cozy day together. We’ve saved all of Alfie’s Christmas pajamas from his first Christmas to make into a quilted stocking we’ll treasure.'



Above all, our favorite tradition is gathering around the table for a home-cooked meal every night. We cherish this simple time to catch up, share our day, and enjoy one another with joy and gratitude.

Family Fun

We love spending time together outdoors and finding fun things to do as a family. We enjoy going to the zoo, taking walks and hikes with Alfie, and exploring new places together. We are excited to bring another little one along to join in all of these adventures!

This summer, we discovered all the splash pads around the area, and Alfie has been one happy boy! Living in East Texas also means we have plenty of lakes and several state parks nearby that we enjoy visiting year-round. We look forward to making more family memories, exploring new places, and sharing all of these traditions with another little one.

We have been blessed with a large support system of friends since moving to Texas. The community we’ve built through church includes SO many families with young children. Within 2 months of Raphael coming home with us, 3 other boys were born, and they are seriously already partners in crime. We are excited and feel so blessed we get to raise our children surrounded by strong parents and built-in best friends!



Our favorite activities to do together include backyard cookouts, walks/hiking with all the kiddos in tow, and Gracie hosts a biweekly “Mama’s Morning” where she opens up our home with fresh baked goods and hot coffee to all our mama friends and their babies to have a safe landing spot for the morning and grow in fellowship.