Family and friends gathered for Derek's baptism

We love Derek unconditionally with the hope that he will grow up secure, confident, and loving. We will give your child the same unconditional love.

We believe each child has his or her own gifts and character, and we will nurture that child's individuality without trying to make him or her a carbon copy of ourselves.

We will also teach our children to be loving, responsible, honest, open-minded and open-hearted, according to our Christian values.

We believe people and relationships matter more than material things, and will teach our children to value lives and feelings before things. We will be there through the struggles and hard times in our children's lives, and will celebrate their successes and joys.

We want to share our love of music and books with our children, and will participate actively in their education, nurturing creativity, play, and physical activity as well as “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” 

We want our children to be able to explore the world without fear, and we will provide our children with travel and outdoor experiences from the big city to the wilderness, so they can discover both the richness of human culture and the beauty of the natural world. Above all, we will encourage each of our children to fulfill their own potential and to be fully their own selves.