Living so far away from our families means that our friends have become second families. Our child will have many enthusiastic "aunts," "uncles," and "cousins" that they will get to meet through outings, dinners, and holiday get-togethers.

We spend a lot of time with our friends checking out new restaurants, going to shows, or taking fun day trips to places like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We have also been fortunate to travel with friends too: camping under the stars in Yosemite, hiking in the Grand Canyon, having a blast in Las Vegas, and visiting Mexico for some sun and culture. These friends are excited for us, and excited to act as uncles and aunts to our child.

Because our families are so far away, we share many holidays with our local friends and their kids. We host an annual Easter brunch, when we provide the ham and deviled eggs and our guests bring their favorite family dishes, which has ranged from a Laotian papaya salad to a sweet dish our friend Mike calls “Minnesota Pudding.” When we host Thanksgiving, Nick roasts a turkey, Ian makes his family-recipe lasagna, and we try to make gravy (though it never comes out quite right). All our holiday get-togethers involve a ton of laughing and way too much food. These celebrations have helped us form a strong community that we cherish.

A number of our friends now have children as well, so our child will have "cousins" living close by. Our Easter brunch now has several infant attendees, and our regular potluck dinner club that has nearly as many toddlers as adults.

More Fun Facts About Ian and Nick:

Our First Date: Grasshopper, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Allston, Massachusetts.

Our Car: A blue Scion XA, that we love and affectionately call "Car"

Our First Real Vacation Together: A week in Rome at the end of 2003. We celebrated New Year's Eve across the street from the Coliseum, eating panini sandwiches that we bought from a truck.

The First Dance at Our Wedding: "Fade Together" by Franz Ferdinand

The Last Dance at Our Wedding: "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louie Armstrong

Our Honeymoon: We rented an apartment in the southern coast of Croatia, took a two day drive through Montenegro, and a spent couple nights in Dublin, Ireland on the way back.

Contact Us

You can call us directly at 1-888-444-9498 or email us at: larocque.hart@gmail.com. Alternately you can contact us through our adoption agency, Adoption Connection, at 1-800-972-9225.