Meet Matt & Kirrily
A video message from Matt & Kirrily
A Letter from Matt & Kirrily
Hi there! We are Matt and Kirrily and we are so happy to share our fun-loving family with you. We love to spend time together as a family with our daughter, Amelia, both at home and out in the wide world. Our life is full of adventure and discovery. Maybe that’s because we have two educators in our family. We can’t wait to open our hearts again with another child. He or she will be surrounded by love from us, family, and friends. We are, of course, open to letters, pictures, and visits if you are comfortable.
Our Story
Matt is from Michigan; Kirrily is from New Zealand. We met in Maine, as you would probably assume. (We were camp counselors.) After that summer romance and a long-distance relationship in the fall, Matt moved to New Zealand for us to be together!
We were soon married and, not long after, chose to move to California. Kirrily began her career as a teacher, while Matt got to work in the film and television industry. The same year as Matt made his first feature length movie, we had our daughter, Amelia. She is a loving girl who amazes us every day with her energy, curiosity, and kind heart. She truly is the best of both of us and will be a fantastic big sister. She can’t wait!
We love going for walks, bike rides, playing games, and reading together as a family. We enjoy going to the movies together, especially introducing Amelia to the classics. We also love to travel as a family and explore the world!
About Matt, by Kirrily
Matt is caring, devoted, protective, and would do anything for those he loves. He is a very social and funny person. He loves to talk to others, enjoys learning about them, and likes to ask questions to understand their point of view. I admire how easily he can get into a conversation with just about anyone. He works from home as a writer and a teacher, and is a wonderful stay-at-home father to Amelia. He has taught our daughter to be a smart, loving, and kind child. He is also a big kid at heart – he loves to spend time with Amelia, building with Legos, reading books, and he and Amelia make the best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies together. He absolutely loves to rollerblade around our neighborhood. He can’t wait to teach our children how to skate so they can join him.
About Kirrily, by Matt
Kirrily is the kindest, most patient, and selfless person I have ever known. I knew from the moment I met her that she would be an amazing mother- and she truly is! Kirrily works as a physical education teacher at a private Catholic School and loves what she does. Kirrily loves to share her passion for sports and physical activities with her students and our daughter, Amelia! Outside of school, Kirrily enjoys coaching sports teams, being active, and spending time with the family, whether it’s traveling overseas during summer or her weekly video calls. She loves to travel, explore new places and share experiences with others. Kirrily is also a source of calm and quiet in our home, something both Amelia and I need. She is an amazing mother and I know she is excited to share her passion for sports with our next child.
Our daughter, Amelia, and Family
Amelia is our precocious, friendly, and inquisitive five-year-old. Matt loves to answer all of her questions while Kirrily enjoys encouraging Amelia to learn and explore physically as well as mentally. We bring out the best in each other, and the evidence is in our well-rounded, curious, and active daughter. Amelia enjoys reading us stories, building with Legos, playing dress up, and riding her bike. Her favorite thing to do is create. She’ll paint a whole canvas on her easel, and then tell us a story about all of the characters in it. We know she will be an amazing big sister and she is so excited to be one!
Our extended families all live far away, but thanks to modern technology, Amelia is able to see all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins regularly. And when travel becomes more feasible once again, we’re all looking forward to visiting! Our families are all so excited about our adoption and look forward to welcoming our next child into the family.
Our California Home
We live in a fantastic two-story, three-bedroom house in a gated suburban community. It is set back away from the front gate and street, making it very quiet and peaceful and the perfect place to play outside. We have a cat named Felix, who loves to explore outside, chase lizards, and watch the birds. But his favorite thing is a warm lap to sit on in the evenings. Our neighbors and their children are friendly and playful. On a sunny afternoon, it is typical for the kids to be outside, riding their bikes, or drawing together with chalk. The community is peaceful and safe, near many playgrounds and parks.
Our Promise
We are excited to provide your child with a lifetime of love, education, and adventure. We look forward to taking them to New Zealand to meet Kirrily’s family, playing with them in the snow with Matt’s family in Michigan, and going to the movies with them! We’ll share with them the joy of playing sports, reading, and dressing up as silly characters. We believe strongly in education, living a loving life, laughing together, and just having plain, old fun. We look forward to sharing our lives with your child.
If you would like to learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
Learn More About Matt & Kirrily
| Matt | Kirrily | |
|---|---|---|
| Our Education | Master of Fine Arts in Screen Writing, Bachelor of Art in Cinema and Television | Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Teaching New Zealand |
| Our Professions | Writer | Physical Education Teacher at a Private Catholic School |
| Stay-At-Home | Part time. I work from home and create my own hours. | No, but I have great summer vacation time! |
| Our Racial Background | Caucasian | Caucasian - born in New Zealand with dual citizenship |
| Some of Matt & Kirrily's Favorites | ||
| Family Activity | Watching old movies together. | Exploring our neighborhood during our daily walks. |
| Favorite Part of Parenting | Great big smiles! | Seeing them learn how to master new challenges. |
| Movies | The Incredibles | The Princess Bride |
| Holidays | Halloween (dressing up time!) | Most definitely, Christmas! |
| Food | Any kind of food where you eat the container (tacos, ice cream cones) | All different sorts of berries and ice cream. |
| Favorite thing about our family | Warm hugs | How much we love to laugh together at silly things. |
| I hope to teach our child | How to be a good person | How to be kind, loving, and smart ... oh, and being a PE teacher, how to throw and catch correctly 🙂 |
| More About Our Family | ||
| Our Special Interests | The most important interest we have is spending time together as a family. We love to visit the park and go bike riding, spending time on the playground, and kicking a soccer ball around. We take family walks together almost every day. Dinner is when we can talk about our day. We read stories and say prayers together every night at bedtime. It is truly the most important part about us. Kirrily loves sports (or "sport," as they say in New Zealand), both watching and playing. She loves watching American games like football and baseball, even while keeping up with rugby and cricket back home. In addition to teaching and playing a variety of sports in her PE classes, Kirrily also coaches sports after school. She loves being active and participating in the growth of her students. Matt is a cinephile. He loves movies of all genres from all different eras. His favorites include The Incredibles, It's a Wonderful Life, and Seven. He enjoys seeing movies in theaters, even taking Amelia with him to "Mommy and Me" screenings weekday mornings. | |
| Our Faith | We are a Catholic family, which is part of why we felt called to adopt. We attend mass weekly, and volunteer to participate where we can, in addition to tithing. It's important to us that our children learn the faith, as well. So as well as modeling spiritual behavior, we've enrolled Amelia in a Catholic school and will do so with our next child. We pray together nightly and discuss any religious questions she has. | |
| Our Musical Interest | Our family loves to listen to all different types of music together - the range is endless! We each have our own influences on Amelia. She listens to classical music in Daddy's car and usually The Beatles in Mummy's car. Kirrily plays guitar and piano, the latter of which she's currently teaching to our daughter. | |
| Education | We're both educators, and care a lot about teaching our students to be whole people. There's more to education than rote memorization. We search for ways to make learning fun and engaging, so kids will actually want to continue learning outside of the home and classroom. We are excited for Amelia to join Kirrily's private Catholic School next year, where she will have so many opportunities to develop spiritually, intellectually, and creatively. | |
| We Prefer a Child Who Is... | ||
| Age of Child | Newborn to 3 months | |
| Gender | Either! | |
| In Closing | ||
Thank you for taking the time to read through our website and getting to know our family. We are excited to grow our family and promise to surround your child with love, faith, support, and family. If you would like to learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784. We look forward to an open relationship, through letters, photos, and visits. We hope to connect with you soon. |
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