My husband and I got married in Guanajuato City on September 26, 2003. We invited 30 close friends and family and tied the knot on a hillside in the mountains. From the first time we landed in Guanajuato a year and a half earlier, we fell in the love with the beauty of that city and then the people, the culture and the language. I have been studying Spanish ever since and will one day be completely fluent.

Almost a year after our wedding our beautiful baby girl was born and a plan was set in motion to adopt our second child from Mexico. It just made sense to us, we knew for years our family plan was to have a biological child and then adopt our second child from a country that meant something to us. It was quickly clear that we were on the right path after we found Mexico and then had our daughter, Ava.

Unfortunately, after a 6 year adoption journey with a few “almosts”, it once again became clear that adopting a child from Mexico was just about impossible. But along the way, we met some incredible people that to this day still believe in our dream and support us in anything we do. Hope for Mexico was born because of our adoption journey, we met Cesar, who has become one of the most important and influential people in my life. Through him, we were introduced to so many people that wanted to make our adoption dream a reality, he also showed us other parts of Mexico that most tourists never get to see. The real Mexico, the real beauty and out of the broken dream of adoption came a new purpose.

Maybe we were meant to help more than just one child, maybe we will “adopt” classrooms filled with children. Giving the kids of Mexico the opportunity of an education can help give Mexico a chance to rise up out of the ashes and become the country it deserves to be. Beautiful. Peaceful. Mexico!