Derek & Celynda
To a very n: a m o w l ia c e p s
W
ords can not express our heartfelt gratitude to you for taking the time to learn about us as you make such an important decision in your life. Although we may not yet know one another, our hearts go out to you and we admire your love, strength, and courage for choosing the path of adoption. As we write this, we feel as though we have already imagined your smile, your likes and dislikes, and your heart. We hope that by reading this, we give you a sense of our hearts and the dreams and love we already have for a child. Adoption has always been a dream of ours and if we are blessed enough to be chosen by you, we can assure you that your child will have endless amounts of love, nurturing, fun, and encouragement. We will do everything we can as parents to live up to the hopes and dreams that you have for your child. Our hearts, home, families, and friends are all waiting with open arms for a little one to arrive into this world and into our lives. We pray that whatever decision you make that you will be blessed with love, peace, strength and courage each and everyday. Thank you so much for opening your heart to hear our story!
We can not wait to show a child all the love that we have TO OFFER and the amazing experiences that life can bring!
Fun Facts about us!
v Derek’s favorite cartoon
character is The Hulk, Celynda’s is The Cookie Monster
v Derek works as an
Associate Designer for a utility firm and Celynda is an Administrative Assistant for an Insurance Company
v Both of their favorite
v Celynda’s dream job would
be a tevelsion host for a vacation show, Derek’s would be an automotive designer
v They love to make
homemade pizzas together
v Derek’s an early bird and
holiday’s is Christmas
v They are big LA Lakers
fans
v Celynda’s favorite smell is
the ocean, Derek’s is his mother’s chocolate chip cookies
v Their favorite trip was to
Maui
Celynda loves the nightlife
OursoStory far.. W
e are Derek and Celynda, and we are so excited to share our story with you. We have been friends for over 14 years, since meeting as teenagers, and have been happily married for almost seven years. As teens, Derek and I would love to go to youth group, the beach, family barbecues, and our friendship just continued to grow stronger. By the time we started dating in 2001, we truly were each other’s best friend. We knew that we shared the same interests, values, beliefs, sense of humor, and love for our families. We talked about our future and all the
dreams and adventures that it may hold. But the most important thing to us was that special day when we would go on the adventure of becoming parents and holding our little one in our arms. We have always known that adoption was the amazing journey that we were meant to take. Today, as we start the journey of adoption we are so excited to make new dreams and memories with a family of our own. We can not wait to show a child all the love that we have to offer and all of the amazing experiences that life can bring. It is a dream come true to be beginning this journey!
Meet Celynda “CC� by Derek
M
y wife has been my best friend and the love of my life. She has been such a supportive, loving, fun, and caring person in my life and is truly a blessing to me and those that know her. She fills our home with love, fun, and lots of laughs. She is always there to give you a hug or a kiss and to tell you how much she loves and CC as a appreciates you and little has the most patience girl of anyone I know. Our children will definitely come home to a mom who is at the door and ready to give them huge hugs and kisses!
She somehow has a way of being there for everyone whether it be friends, family, or co-workers. She is also a very outgoing and friendly person who wears her heart on her sleeve. I tend to be a little more quiet than she is, so I love walking into a room and watching how she can talk and make friends with anyone. She is someone, like myself, who is close with her family and truly believes that family is what life is all about. She always has a smile on her face and can be found dancing and singing around the house to her favorite songs. I just know that there will be many days of me coming home to her and our children singing and dancing around the house together (I cant wait!). We really enjoy spending as much time together as we can and it doesn’t matter what we are doing as long as were together.
Roxy, our Christmas loving pup
Already in love with my nephew
SHE ALWAYS HAS A SMILE ON HER FACE AND CAN BE FOUND DANCING AND SINGING AROUND THE HOUSE.
“She loves to travel and explore the world and I know she will teach our children all that the world has to offer.”
S
he has a sense of determination and passion for work and school. She worked so hard to obtain her Bachelors in Business Marketing. She loves my family and is so close with our niece and nephews and it is so much fun to watch her play with them. She enjoys spending time with the kids playing board games, coloring, staying up late, and camping in the backyard. She truly is one of the best aunts that a kid good wish for and I know that she will be the best mom too. I am so grateful that she will get to stay home with our children because I know she will be there to give them the love and support they need everyday. She has been a blessing to my life and to all her family and friends and I can’t wait to see her be a blessing to our child’s life as well.
Meet DEREK
by Celynda
Birthday boy! A kid at heart
M
y husband Derek is the most amazing man who is full of kindness and integrity, and I thank God everyday that he was brought into my life. Derek has brought so much love, fun, and adventure to my life over these last 14 years and I can not wait to see what happens next. He is an extremely dedicated and loyal friend, brother, son and husband. He is that person you call when you need help moving or just need someone to listen. Derek as a young He will be the boy dad that wants to hear about our children’s day at school and help
them cross any hurdle that they may come across in life. He can always make you laugh and is full of surprises whether it be spontaneous road trips or decorating the house with flowers. He will be the parent that has an amazing balance of knowing when to discipline and guide our children and knowing when to have fun. He has a sense of calm about him and is very patient. His hard work ethic amazes me (and it paid off when he graduated as Valedictorian from a local collegiate institute). He is also so creative! I am always amazed at the way he can look at his favorite hobby (cars) and picture all the work he would do to add his special touch to the car. I know he can not wait to teach our children about this hobby and many more as they have Saturday workdays in the garage together.
H
e has this amazing way of making everything feel like it will be okay and that you can make it through any situation with him by your side. When I was told that I could not have children of my own it was so important to me that the man I would marry was compassionate, accepting, and understanding. From the moment I told Derek about my infertility, he was nothing but loving and supportive. God truly had a special plan for the two of us
and we both knew that adoption was the right path for us. Derek will show our children so much love, dedication and support. He will be the dad that is there to fix their bikes, listen with open ears and an open heart. He will be the goalie if they are practicing soccer, the teammate if they are playing basketball, and will always be there as a loving father and friend. He will be an amazing Daddy!
Snuggle Buddies!
HE CAN ALWAYS MAKE YOU LAUGH AND IS FULL OF SURPRISES LIKE SPONTANEOUS ROAD TRIPS. Heading out, up I should say!
“He is full of compassion and has been blessed with a huge heart.�
Play time!
I think I see our house! (not really)
W
e love to have fun. We live in an incredible area that offers a variety of things to do for fun. We love grabbing the boogie boards and heading to our local beaches and then grabbing a slice of pizza from our local parlor. We also enjoy staying at the beach and watching the sunset and then having a bonfire with friends and family. We can not wait to teach our little one the magic and fun of the beach and the art of making smore’s.
or a few short hours of some amazing camping sites where Derek likes to put his camping grill to use. We love taking the road trips that get us to these fun places and love turning the music up singing to our favorite songs and doing some dance moves as we drive down the highway.
We are also big kids at heart and love cheering on our favorite basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers. We love putting on our Laker shirts and waving their foam finger in hopes for a fun win! We also live by local trails that we love to hike and Our children will definitely be taught the fun of explore. We live within just a few short minutes cheering on our favorite team.
Four-wheeling on the beach!
i
u We love Ma
We love traveling in Europe
Whos says you can’t hike & snuggle?
One of our biggest passions is traveling. Whether it be loading up the family boat and heading to the lakes or traveling through Europe, we love experiencing new things. One of our favorite destinations is Maui. We love the island and it holds a very special place in our hearts as that’s where we spent our honeymoon. We also love to take a quick drive to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. We have spent birthdays, Valentines Day, and most recently, our niece’s birthday at this magical place. Having the
Our house all decorated for Christmas
chance to see our little niece’s face light up when she saw her favorite Disney characters was so much fun and we can not wait to see our children’s faces the first time they walk down main street and see all of their favorite characters.
Home Life
We live in a warm, sunny, and comfy two-story, three bedroom coastal home in Southern California. Our home has plenty of space for a growing family and is ready for the toys, laughs, and smiles that a child brings. We live in a very clean and peaceful neighborhood surrounded by hills and walking trails. We are lucky enough to have an award winning school literally around the corner. We live within minutes of the beach and can not wait to take our kids to our favorite bagel shop for Saturday morning breakfast on the beach. We love the town that we live in and the fact that we are near museums, our church, our family and friends who we love.
D
Our families
erek has one older brother and sister who both live just a few hours away. He grew up being like a big brother to his sister’s sons and loves that we live close enough that we can still attend their sporting events and have family BBQ’s on a regular basis (and maybe get away with pulling a few pranks on our older nephews). Derek’s parents live just an hour away and we enjoy seeing them as often as we can whether it be for weekly lunches or visiting their Alpacas on a local ranch. Celynda has one younger brother who is currently in High School. Her mom and stepfather are the rock and heart of the family and truly are one of the reasons why we are so close as a family today. We really enjoy listening to Nana’s stories when we visit her (she can make you laugh no matter what the situation is). We live just about 20 minutes away from all of them, which allows us to spend a lot of time together, playing board games, swimming and attending our weekly Sunday dinners. Celynda’s dad lives less then an hour away and we love going over there to spend time with him and his wife while having some awesome home cooked food.
Celynda’s dad, mom & brother
Our family can not wait to give lots of hugs and kisses to the newest little member in our family! They are sooo excited! Rafting with CC’s family
Derek & his groomsme
n
CC’s mom & nana
Our niece
Derek’s parents
At Disneyland with our niece
Derek’s entire family!
OUR FRIENDS
Our “Furry” Child
Our friends are a close group of people who we consider family. We have friends that we have known since elementary school to friends that we have recently made through work. Whether it is going to a sporting event, concert, camping trip, or just relaxing and playing board games at someone’s house we always have a great time. Our friends have always been a constant support system to us and they can not wait for play dates and family camping trips with our children.
Roxy, is a sweet spirited 12 pound Highland Westie who just melts our hearts. We got her about two years ago and she quickly became part of the family. She has such a sweet demeanor and is always right by our side and ready to cuddle up for a family movie night. She loves to go for walks at our local beaches and is not only friendly with adults but loves children as well. We know that she will be a great companion for our children and provide as many smiles and laughs for them as she has for us.
Our nephews
Our lifelong promises to your child: v We
you v
promise to always show
unconditional love
We promise to always give an endless supply of
v
kisses
hugs and
e promise to start each day W thinking of you and end each day showing you how much
your loved
v We
promise to be there
to
listen and encourage you as you learn life’s lessons
We Thank You
W
e hope that we have shown you who we are and the journeys that we have taken that have brought us to you. But most of all we hope that we have shown you how much love we already have in our hearts for a child and the dedication that we have to being parents. Should we be blessed enough to be chosen by you, we can assure you that your child will know their special “birth story” and the incredible amount of unconditional love that you have for your child. They will know all the hopes and dreams that you have for them now and in the future. There is a saying in life, “never say goodbye, instead say see you later.” So, we say to you now that we hope and pray to speak to you soon! May you be blessed with strength, love, peace and courage each and everyday! Blessings,
Derek & CC
If you would like to speak with us about adopting your child or have any questions for us, please contact one of our Adoption Advisors at AdoptHelp by calling 1-800-637-7999 toll-free.
promise to be there to cheer you on at any game, play or school function
v We
v We
promise to allow you the freedom to dream and dream really big! promise to have patience and ask that you do the same as we learn how to be the best parents we can possibly be to you
v We
you will know about the amazing
v We
promise that
woman and family who had
so much love for you and wanted to give you the best life possible