Loving couple in Marshfield, VT looking to adopt a baby from anywhere in the United States.

We believe that strong traditions bring meaning to everyday family life, and we’ve enjoyed combining favorite traditions from our childhoods with new ones that we’ve created together. Because we live in rural Vermont, many of our traditions are rooted in our connection to nature and the changing seasons. We can imagine a child delighting in all of our special traditions and celebrations throughout the year…

In the spring, we plant the garden and explore the woods to find the first small wildflowers and welcome the returning birds. We celebrate the transition from winter to spring with a tradition from Elizabeth’s childhood. We cut budding lilac branches from our yard and decorate this “spring tree” with ornaments that belonged to Elizabeth’s grandmother, and small wooden and felted-wool eggs. Over the next week, we watch as the buds open and tiny leaves emerge, creating a cheerful reminder of spring on our kitchen table. We also make a special dinner of Scandinavian aebleskivers, egg-shaped pancake balls cooked in a special griddle, filled with blueberries, and topped with maple syrup—yum! 

In the summer, we weed and water the garden, and create meals with whatever vegetables are ripe. We pick blueberries from our bushes to put on our cereal and bake into muffins. With the warmer weather, our friends and neighbors spend more time outdoors, and we regularly get together for walks, sharing meals, or just sitting in the sunshine and talking. On hot afternoons, we go swimming or kayaking at our favorite nearby ponds and rivers. And we love to go canoe camping — exploring little islands, cooking simple meals, singing around a campfire, and listening to loons calling as we snuggle into our sleeping bags. Or sometimes we just pitch a tent in our backyard, roast hotdogs over a fire, and sleep under the stars.

In the fall, we harvest veggies and herbs from the garden to store for the winter. We make applesauce, currant sauce, and elderberry syrup from our neighbor’s orchards. We stack firewood, and look forward to lighting the wood stove for the first time on a chilly autumn night. There are beautiful hikes near our house where we can get a panoramic view of the stunning fall color, and we often come home with a collection of brightly-colored leaves. With a child, we’re excited to celebrate the longer autumn nights with a tradition from Elizabeth’s time as a Waldorf teacher — making colorful lanterns and carrying them on a walk through the forest at dusk, singing songs as the lanterns glow brightly in the darkness.

In the winter, we cross-country ski almost every day. We love following animal tracks in the snow and seeing that while we’ve been asleep foxes and deer and snowshoe hares have been criss-crossing the fields and woods in the moonlight. In the evenings, it feels so cozy to sit by the wood stove reading, doing craft projects, or just snuggling with our puppy. The winter holidays bring some of our very favorite traditions. We cut down a tree from the forest and decorate it with our collection of special ornaments, many of them made by or handed down from our parents and grandparents. We invite family and friends to gather around the tree, light candles, sing songs, and read our favorite holiday stories. It’s also important to us that the holidays are about making or doing something special for others. For example, last year we cut down tiny fir trees and decorated them with handmade ornaments for friends and neighbors. Lastly, we can picture a child’s excitement each day when they get to open a new window on one of Elizabeth’s hand-drawn Advent calendars!

We’re so looking forward to weaving a strong and loving family culture through sharing these traditions with a child—and making up new ones together!