Hello from San Francisco! We’re Carlos & Alex, along with our son, Oliver. We would like to thank you for the opportunity to be considered as potential adoptive parents for your child. We want you to know how much we admire your courage and strength as you embark on this journey and look forward to having the opportunity to get to know you as well.

We promise to be the biggest cheerleaders to our children no matter what challenges they may face. These are the values we were raised with. These are the values we promise to raise your child with.

We first met in 2011 at a bus stop and as luck would have it, we ended up at the same New Year’s Eve party a few weeks later! After exchanging looks all night, Alex built up the courage to go up to Carlos and start conversation. A few days later we enjoyed pupusas at Balonpie, which as it turned out, was a favorite restaurant that we both loved! We have been inseparable ever since.

Carlos proposed to Alex at the end of a trip through Europe in Stockholm, Sweden. We were finishing dinner at a restaurant called Tradition, serving traditional Swedish food, when Carlos became uncharacteristically quiet. In a soft voice, he asked Alex: “Would you like to make this a tradition for the rest of your life?” Alex was stunned and speechless for a few moments, completely caught by surprise, then said “Yes, I’ll marry you!” We’ve since been happily married for over five years.

We love to be outside either having a picnic at a park nearby, going to the beach on hot summer days, or hiking and camping in the state and national parks throughout California. Game nights are one of our favorite ways to spend time with friends and family. We are fortunate to live close to our parents and brothers, and we are always excited to host holidays and birthdays with them.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area around lots of family. Every other weekend was a cousin’s birthday party, Thanksgiving required planning committees, and you could always stop at Grandma’s house (and everyone frequently did!). After high school, I wasn’t so sure what I wanted to do, so I joined the Navy in order to do something useful while I figured it out. I eventually went to college close to home and majored in Computer Science. Since then, I’ve been working as a Software Engineer at Google.

As a father, I enjoy sharing some of my favorite pastimes:

• Hiking
• Spending an afternoon cooking new recipes playing board games
• Sharing a good time with my loved ones

However, the part I enjoy the most is being a part of Oliver discovering his interests as he grows and seeing what kind of person he will turn out to be. I dream about being their partner in crime, always available to go off on any crazy adventure they can dream up.

Alex is the most beautiful human being I have ever met. He’s kind, honest, supportive, loving, and affectionate. He cares deeply about me, Oliver, his family, and his friends. He is curious and hard working, and silly enough to not take himself too seriously. It has been a joy to see him blossom into a dad. He brings patience, fun, and unconditional love into Oliver’s life and I know he cannot wait to share all of this with your child as well.

I was born in Argentina, and moved to the United States with my mom, brother, and grandma when I was 16 years old. As an immigrant, sometimes the concept of feeling “at home” outside of your country can be a challenge. However, I always had a strong relationship with my mom, my grandma, and my brother and home with them was always about love, laughter, and supporting each other. Because of their support, I was able to go to college, and I now work as a professional at Google where I manage different commercial partnerships. My work challenges me to find win-win opportunities for my partners while making the whole internet better.

Every Friday of my childhood, my grandma would make us pizza from scratch and we would sit around the table and play cards while eating her delicious pies. I’ve kept this tradition alive and I am now sharing it with Oliver, as we are always looking to bring friends and family together to build our community. We eat, play board games, laugh, and support each other, all while eating my grandma's pizza recipe.

I also enjoy stories, whether they are in books, movies or podcasts. I love being a dad because I get to share stories with our child while acting them out with different voices and being silly.

I also get to share the values my family embedded in me:

• Unconditional love
• Unconditional support
• Fun
• Most importantly, pizza

I fell in love with Carlos the first time he made homemade pizza for all of his friends. Not only was the pizza delicious, but Carlos was (and still is!) always looking for any excuse to bring together friends and family. He is a deeply caring person who is committed to building a community around him. Carlos is a creative father - always coming up with fun ways to entertain and educate. He is affectionate and warm - he really is the biggest cuddler on the planet!

We live in the Ingleside neighborhood of San Francisco, California. This is one of San Francisco’s ideal neighborhoods for raising a family. It is full of parks, families, and hills. There are four parks within walking distance and we spend a lot of time in those playgrounds making new friends. We also ride our bikes down Highway One, which is closed to cars on the weekends, to get to the beach and spend our afternoons in the sun. At home, we spend a lot of time with our cat Eleanore. Eleanore is a sweet and patient cat who is fascinated by children and plays endlessly. She is a big cuddler, and has really grown to love Oliver. We can't wait to grow our family so we can all cuddle together with Eleanore!

Oliver is an adventurous and active toddler who loves being outside - whether it’s in our backyard, at the playground, or at the beach. He is a curious kid always waving at planes passing in the sky or our neighbors on the street, saying hi to the garbage collector from our window, and finding every gas-meter in front of every house in our neighborhood. He loves to help Carlos make pizza and really gets his hands into the dough. He is kind and loves to cuddle and read books with us on the couch. He is looking forward to becoming a caring big brother!

Carlos: I was raised by a single mom, Olga, and we moved from Argentina to the US was I was 16. Her success in building a life from scratch in a new country is a testament to her strength, perseverance, and above all else, love for her children. Recently retired, she loves being a grandmother and passing on that love to her grandchildren. My brother, Augusto, who lives with us and is always ready to cook up a delicious BBQ. "Tio Augusto," as Oliver calls him, loves to play soccer, tickle each other, and cuddle with his nephew.

Alex: My parents, Connie and Alex Sr, built a home full of love and fun. There was both discipline (I had to vacuum the house everyday) and tenderness (homemade pancakes on Saturday, homemade cakes for my birthdays). I have two brothers, Mando and Tony, who are always ready to play around. I have lots of cousins, many of whom live here in the Bay Area. Some cousins even have young children of their own as well which means instant friends for our children!

We have built a strong community of friends. Alex has a close circle of friends from 6th grade, and Carlos, who has always focused on building community, has a close group from when he arrived at the Bay Area at the age of 20. These friendships enrich our lives with love, fun, and support, and they expand our definition of family. Some of our friends have grown their own families with children, and they are excited for us to expand our family again through adoption.

Thank you again for taking the time to consider us!

With love,

Alex, Carlos, and Oliver