Dylan, Emily and Brinkley, we hope you enjoy our video!

Emily & Dylan are Hoping to Adopt from Scarlet Oak Studio on Vimeo.

Hi There!

Hey thanks for stopping by our blog to learn more about us (me, the cute one in the middle there and of course my humans too. Dad is on the left in the blue shirt and Mom is the one in the glasses). We hope that soon we will have the chance to also get to know more about you.
As for us... My humans adopted me just over a year ago. I'm a Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever/Poodle) that loves to spend his days chewing on bones and lounging on a ginormous pillow my dad brought home from a magical place he calls, "Costco." As a family, we love to go on drives so my ears can flap in the wind and play outside with tennis balls.
Lately, my humans have started talking about adopting a baby. They say that hopefully one day soon, I'll get to have a little baby brother or baby sister. I think that's pretty cool; I mean I love to play with my cousins (I have 9) when they come over to my house. I've helped my parents put this blog together so that you can get to know more about us. If you want to contact us just send us an email at dylanandemilyhope2adopt@gmail.com. Thanks for stopping by!

About us!

Dylan was born and raised in Orem, Utah. He is the oldest of two children (younger sister Kelsey). Dylan grew up reading, playing with Legos and having Nerf  “wars” with his friends. As he grew up, he learned to ski. In fact, it’s still his favorite sport. He hopes to pass on his love of skiing to his children one day. As a teenager, Dylan played football, wrestled, and developed a great a appreciation (obsession) for classic rock. To this day he and his mom play “name that tune” and rarely miss any.

Emily was also born and raised in Orem, Utah but moved around a little when she was really young. She lived in California and Idaho. She is the second of four children (one older sister Tiffany, younger sister Jennie, and younger brother Scotty).  Emily grew up playing dolls, clogging and spending her summers at the BYU pool. As she grew up she played the trumpet in Jr. high and developed her love for art and photography.  She still loves art of all kinds and enjoys doing art projects with her nieces and nephews!

Dylan and Emily met in 9^th grade through mutual friends. They quickly became friends and even had a little crush on each other. After months of beating around the bush, they became each other’s first kiss (it was horrible). Because the kiss was so horrible Emily broke things off. However, they somehow remained great friends throughout high school. Emily loved going to school football games so she could cheer on Dylan. They were often in the same dance groups and hung out with the same group of people. Their friendship grew through high school and the years after. 

 Dylan and Emily in 9th grade (bottom right corner)

Dylan and Emily Senior year of high school (with friends)

Dylan decided to serve a mission for the LDS church and went to California. While he was there he learned to speak Spanish. He made great friends and had a great experience. While he was out Emily also decided to serve a mission for the LDS church and went to South Korea. She loved learning about the Korean culture and its people. Their missions were some of the hardest experiences of their lives, but they were able to support each other by writing letters each week. These letters brought them closer and their friendship continued to grow. Dylan and Emily came home from their missions just two days apart from each other. They spend a lot of time with each other. Dylan quickly knew that he felt more than just friendship for Emily. Emily wasn’t so sure because she didn’t want to lose her best friend by kissing again. Dylan worked his charm, and just 6 short months later they were engaged. Their second kiss was much better and it sealed the deal. 

Dylan and Emily's Engagement pictures

Dylan and Emily got married on May 5, 2005 in American Fork Utah. They shared their special day with all their friends and family. 

Dylan and Emily's Wedding day!

 After getting married they lived in AF Utah and both worked and Dylan starting back to school at UVU. During their time off they loved to take road trips, watch “Friends” and just spend time together. After a few years Dylan graduated from UVU with a Bachelor's Degree in History Education. He got a job in Saratoga Springs teaching 7^th and 8^th grade History. He loves what he does and the kids keep him on his toes. After Dylan graduated Emily went back to school. She graduated from UVU with a Bachelor's degree in Art and Visual Communication and a minor in Art History. She now works for a non-profit organization doing graphic design and photography. She absolutely loves what she does and where she works.

Sea World, where Dylan got to live his dream of petting a dolphin

Sea Kayaking at Catalina Island

Emily's favorite place to be!

On top the Empire State Building

Swimming laps

Our 5th anniversary

Dylan's Graduation 2005

Emily's Graduation Day 2013

Right from the beginning they both knew they wanted a family of their own. As months turned into years, they realized getting their family here would be more difficult than they ever realized. 

A couple years ago they bought their first home in Orem, Utah. Both of their families live close by, and they see them often. They currently have nine nieces and nephews and love to have them over. In May 2012 their lives changed for the better when they adopted me “Brinkley”. I am a Goldendoodle (Golden Retriever / Standard Poodle). Some refer to me as a small horse but I don’t really know what that means. I love snuggles, belly rubs and a good chew bone and oh, lets not forget tennis balls. I like hoard them under the couch.  In the morning mom and I like to play catch or go for a walk around the neighborhood. When dad gets home from work I make sure to play with him too. We love to go on family drives  and snuggle up before bed. 

Our First House

ME, (Brinkley) the day I came home!

We often have my cousins over to play. I love playing tug, chasing them and getting fed lots of treats. My grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles also spoil me. I’m pretty much the luckiest, happiest pup around! I am so excited to be a big brother! 

Life is pretty good!

About Dylan (written by Emily)

Dylan is my best friend in the whole world. He’s the one person I want to share all my secrets, sorrows, and ambitions with. When we came home from our missions, I was very sick. Dylan became my sidekick. He helped my mom get me to and from the doctor, and sat with me through many hard, hard days. Some days I thought I couldn’t go on but he never let me give up and was my anchor through it all.

He has a kind, sensitive heart and is always helping others. He does cute little things for me everyday that make me smile. My very favorite one… reading me to sleep each night. He even uses different voices for all the characters.  I know this will be something that he wants to do with our children too. He is a great listener and supports me with everything I do. He comes with me on photo shoots to carry all my equipment, make babies smile and any other random things that I need help with. He’s the only way I made it through school. He believed in me and that belief makes me believe in myself. 

He has a fun-loving personality and knows how to make everyone laugh. He loves playing with our nieces and nephews and loves seeing them giggle at his silly face. He has a great talent for voice imitation for all sorts of voices, and can do new ones on the spot. My personal favorite Sean Connery. He is definitely the person you want on your team during a game of charades, he is not afraid to look silly or let loose. He loves to wrestle with our dog and and play tug of war. Brinkley loves when dad gets home and waits by the door for him to come home, then he runs to his pillow and waits for him to come greet him! I love watching the two of them together!

Dylan has always had a love for learning. He is a bookworm, reading whenever he has a spare moment. He will read anything from the news to science fiction to mystery even a textbook if that’s all that’s around. He is so smart and knows all sorts of random trivia. He loves to share his love for learning with others too. In both his work and church callings he has been a teacher. His passion for teaching is clearly evident through his energy and excitement when he teaches.

Dylan also likes to play around and have fun! He loves to play Rock Band, watch movies, go to BYU football games, watch the Jazz, go to dinner with friends, play board games with family, ski and face time with his sisters kids.

I’m so blessed to have him as my husband. I love Dylan so much and know he will be a wonderful father when given the opportunity.

About Emily (written by Dylan)

I must admit that it is difficult for me to adequately express my feelings about Emily. She is my greatest fan and support in all that I do. She is an amazing person. She only knows how to care about people one way… completely. In the time that I have known her, I have learned that she is passionate, loyal, cheerful, optimistic, loving, trustworthy, and the list goes on and on. I never have to wonder if she loves me, she always lets me know. Emily is always quick to serve others and never tires of doing so. She is a great friend, and people love to spend time with her. She loves to spend time with her family, especially our nieces and nephews. I can see how each member of her family has influenced and taught her. Emily loves to swim and during the summer she spends as much time as she can at the pool. She has even gotten me to enjoy swimming, which is no easy feat. Emily loves photography and has loved it for as long as I have known her. If I close my eyes and picture Em in my mind’s eye, she is holding a camera. Whenever we go on vacation, she has the camera ready to take pictures and make memories. What I love about Emily is her driven nature. She doesn’t let things stand in her way. Em is always working to improve herself. One of my favorite things about Emily is that many nights before we go to bed, she asks me to put on socks for her because her feet get cold. She usually ends up taking those socks off during the night, but she has trouble falling asleep without them.

Emily is a person of faith. It is something that she holds dear, and something that she wants to share. Emily has always been quick with an encouraging word to anybody who she senses that needs it. I love that she doesn’t try to be perfect; she understands that all we can do is our best. Emily never lets me give up on myself, no matter how badly I may want to. Throughout our marriage, she has always found little ways to serve me, and I love that about her. It may be something as simple as waking up before me and turning on my shower so that it is warm for me, or starting my car so that when I leave the house it is warm. She is not hesitant to put my needs in front of her own.
I know that when the time comes for us to start our family, that Emily will be an amazing mother.

Parenting

Although we don’t yet have children of our own, we often talk about how we will raise them and we would like to take a moment to share that with you.

We have been blessed to be able to spend time with many children that are in our family, ward and neighborhood. We love spending time with them and getting to experience a bit of what it will be like to be parents.

Through all the discussions we’ve had about being parents, we know that we want our home to be a place of:

Love

Where they will know they are loved by not only us, but by you too. We want to teach our children that they are loved and accepted no matter what they do or have done.

Communication

Where our children see us communicate well with each other, and know they can talk to us about anything. We want to have family dinners each night where we can talk about our day, and where our children feel safe expressing opinions or concerns that they have.

Learning

We know education is important. We want our children to love learning from a young age through dance, sports, music, art and other wholesome activities. We want to spend time with them reading and making learning fun. We want to teach our children to set goals, and to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes with achieving those goals through hard work and determination.

Safety and Peace

We hope that our home will be a place of safety. A place where no matter what the world is like on the outside, our home will be a safe haven; one where they will want to be and want to bring their friends. A place they will want to come to after a hard day at school or after winning the game.

Fun

We plan on having family time together. We want build unity within our family. We want to take family vacations, and have other memory-making activities. Some of our favorite memories have been made with our families, and we want to continue that with our children.

We are both so excited for the blessing of becoming parents. We want to be involved with our children’s educations, and will support them in all their worthwhile pursuits.

Our Hope for Openness / Conclusion

Even though we have never done this before we have had the privilege of watching close friends adopt and seen how open adoptions can bless the lives of everyone involved. We really want our children to know where they come from and be proud of that. We not only want to tell them stories about their birth parents but we would love them to know their birth parents personally. We know this relationship is unique and requires communication, flexibility and understanding from all parties and feel that openness’s is in the child’s best interest. This relationship should be comfortable for everyone and we want it to work with the birth parents to make it successful. 

We thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit more about us. If you have any other questions or want to know more about us, please feel free to email us. Again, thank you for taking a few minutes of your time to get to know us.

Dylan, Emily, and Brinkley

PS You can contact us at dylanandemilyhope2adopt@gmail.com