Emily and Peter

Hello!

We are Emily, Peter, Svea (3), and Alice (doggo). We live a cozy life in a city south of Seattle, WA. With happy help from Svea, we enjoy doing projects around our 1925 Craftsman home, working in the garden, baking yummy treats together, fixing up a little old pickup truck, and making handy repairs as things break. Whether doing errands in town, or on a beautiful vacation, we LOVE bicycling together as a family! Our home is the hub for our extended family’s holiday celebrations and a venue for many cousin play dates. We value giving and receiving help in our community of friends and family. We often have music playing and laughter is no stranger in our home.

Emily is most at peace on a forested trail with lush undergrowth and bird song around her. She brings that peace to our home with a huge variety of plant life that adds natural beauty to our urban property. Since welcoming Svea into our family, Emily has blossomed into an adoring mother.  She is constantly humbled by the honor it is to witness Svea’s world unfold. Emily is a fierce defender of what she thinks is just and is not afraid to stand up for what she thinks is right. Weightlifting and high intensity interval training keep her challenged and fit. Emily’s dedication to others and love of athleticism makes firefighting a well-suited career that provides her with fulfillment while keeping our family medically insured and financially secure.

Peter is the kind of guy who, if you need a lawnmower, knows someone trying to sell one for a reasonable price, and will tune it up and get it to you. Said another way, Peter loves to understand and contribute to the needs of the community around him. He finds joy in doing projects with friends and appreciating simple wooden boats, but his greatest joy is being a dad – something Peter has wanted for as long as he has been able to want anything. The very same day Svea was born, Peter was researching cargo bikes to make sure we could gracefully and safely get around on bicycles with a kid. At work, he operates and maintains a sawmill for a local furniture company.  He usually comes home dusty and satisfied.

Adoption has been a long-time vision of ours and one that dovetails nicely with our open home and open hearts. While Emily feels empowered and forever positively changed by her pregnancy and birth of Svea, she does not feel that another pregnancy would serve her well in her physical ability to be a firefighter. Thankfully, both of us deeply feel that biological origin will not change our ability to love and connect with a child. Our Thanksgiving dinner table is already a wonderful medley of biological family and chosen family and we would joyfully welcome a birth family into this space. In this light, openness in an adoption feels inherently natural. We look forward to being in community with any family we are so lucky to be chosen by.

Warmly,
Emily, Peter, and Svea