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Meet Dan & Karla

A video message from Dan & Karla

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A Letter from Dan & Karla

Hi! We’re Dan and Karla from the lake and wooded region of New Jersey. We have three daughters, Kora, Deklynn, and Kadan, who are 4, almost 3, and 3 months! We are an active family that loves boating, doing lake activities, golfing, skiing, going to the playground, and taking our 2 dogs on trail walks. We also travel close to 6 months of the year!

We are excited to introduce our next child to lake life and share our active and adventurous lifestyle with her/him. Most of all, we want the child to know and love Jesus, and know how much he or she is loved! We want you to know what a blessing you are, and that you and your baby have been prayed for. We would love to have an open relationship with you at a level you feel comfortable.

About Us

We met in college and quickly bonded over our love of lake life. Senior year, Dan told Karla, ‘You live on a lake, I live on a lake, we’re perfect for each other.’ In 2015, we got engaged and were married on the lake!

As a family, we love spending time on the boat and doing lake activities, golfing, snow skiing, and taking our two dogs (O’Malley and Buster) for trail walks. We love sharing our passion for being active with our children!

Since Dan owns his own business, he’s able to work from anywhere, so we travel about 6 months of the year. We typically spend a few weeks in Charlotte, NC, Charleston, SC, near Orlando, FL, and a few random destinations throughout the year. We truly love to travel and see the world with our girls and are excited to share our travels with our next child as well.

Dan

According to Karla: Dan is a man of God and does everything for Him. Dan is an entrepreneur, and a true leader that incorporates his faith in the workplace.

Dan is an avid golfer and competes in a national tournament each year. In 2022 and 2023, Dan made it to the championship, and our family cheered him on in Arizona for the week. Dan has also competed in wakeboarding competitions and has placed 1st multiple years in a row. In the winter, Dan enjoys hitting big jumps, doing flips and tricks, and can bob and weave between the trees when he’s skiing.

Dan is a sensitive, loving, and caring man. He is a great dad and loves spending time with family. He is very excited to stand beside our next child as he/she grows, watch Disney movies with them, and teach them to wakeboard/surf, golf, and snow ski.

Karla

According to Dan: Karla is passionate, loving, selfless, thoughtful, and protective of those she loves. Despite having a successful career in law enforcement, Karla chose to be a stay-at-home mom, and help Dan grow the business. Karla is thankful that she has the flexibility to stay home, homeschool and raise our children while being involved in the business.

Karla is also athletic and enjoys being outdoors. She also enjoys golfing, wakeboarding/surfing, and snow skiing. Before college, Karla played soccer, showed horses, and did gymnastics until she was recruited to play softball in college.  Over the years, Karla has coached, become a mentor to young girls, and occasionally volunteers as a guest coach with local teams.

Karla is eager to share her love with our next child. She is excited to enroll him/her in activities like gymnastics, baby yoga, soccer, tee ball, and swim classes and show them the world as we travel!

Our girls, Kora, Deklynn, and Kadan

Kora is our gentle, loving, intelligent, observant, and reserved 4 year-old. Kora loves playing with her baby dolls, and cares for them as if they were real babies. Kora enjoys gymnastics, soccer, and tee ball, but especially loves swimming!

Deklynn is almost 3 years old and is our wild, motivated, and chatty little girl. She is also very sweet, and loves cuddling, sharing, and giving hugs and kisses. Deklynn has a big personality, and smiles with her eyes. She can usually be found near a group of kids or animals, and especially loves cuddling with our dog, Buster.

Kadan is 3 months old, and seems to be very laid back and goes with the flow. She loves being cuddled and is beginning to give her favorite people big smiles!

Kora and Deklynn love being big sisters to baby Kadan. They love holding her and helping with her – it’s the sweetest thing to watch them interact with her. They’re also very excited for our family to grow through adoption and are ready to love on another baby!

Our Home in New Jersey

Our home has 4 bedrooms, a playroom, an entertainers’ kitchen with a large island, and a 14-person dining table which provides ample room to host family and friends for dinner parties and holidays. Our massive deck overlooks the lake and gets amazing sunsets year-round. We also enjoy playing on the trampoline and big swing set in our huge grassy, fenced-in backyard.

We live on a quiet dead-end street and are 1 of 3 houses on the block. We love that our house is surrounded by woods that have walking trails that we utilize daily. The girls also enjoy seeing the deer, chipmunks, and bears!

Our Promise

We promise to raise your child to know and love Jesus as his or her savior, and to love your baby unconditionally. We will make sure that your child grows up knowing that they are wanted, chosen, and belong. We promise to share our passions while providing ample opportunity for your child to find their passions. We will always provide the necessary resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle and excel in school. We will teach him/her that with hard work, anything is possible! We will speak openly and favorably about you and maintain an open relationship with you – so long as you feel comfortable.

If you would like to learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

Learn More About Dan & Karla

  Dan Karla
Our EducationBachelors in Business AdministrationMasters in Public Administration with a dual specialization in Criminal Justice Policy and Procedure, and Operations and Management, and Bachelors in Sociology minors in Psychology, Criminology, Child Studies, and Business Administration
Our ProfessionsEntrepreneur - owns an insurance agency Stay at home mom and helps with the insurance agency
Stay-At-HomeNo, but works from homeYes (and works from home)
Our Racial BackgroundCaucasianCaucasian
Some of Dan & Karla's Favorites
ActivityWater sportsAnything that includes QUALITY family time
Sportgolfsoftball
VacationFloridaVenice, Italy
Lesson LearnedHard work beats talent when not workingIt's the things you do when no one is watching that matter most
FoodSteakChicken parmesan
BeverageWaterIced Tea
Thing to do on a laid back weekendPlay with the girls and spend time togetherComplete a task around the house and then do a family activity
More About Our Family
Pets

O’Malley is a 7-year-old rescue. He is a beagle hound mix who is very shy, submissive, and sensitive. O'Malley is very selective about who he lets into his inner circle, but once he gains your trust, he shows his fun-loving personality. Buster is also 7 years old and is a golden retriever. He's a retired narcotics K-9 whose favorite days at work were on bringing your kids to work days. Buster loves attention, children, and belly rubs. He's a happy-go-lucky boy who happily accepts food whenever the girls offer.

Our Family and Friends

We are super close to both of our families. Dan is the middle child of three. His younger brother James and sister-in-law Victoria live in Ohio, and his sister lives with Dan's parents at the lake, only 25 minutes from us. Karla has a twin brother who also lives near the lake. Karla’s brother and parents (and grandmother) live about 2 miles from our house.

We love living near our families. When we are not traveling, we spend almost every Saturday at Dan's parents’ lake house, and every Sunday (after church) at Karla's parent's house for Sunday Funday. Karla's parents love to entertain, and have anywhere from 20 to 45 people over for BBQ lunch and dinner, and swimming in the pool every Sunday during the summer.

We also have a tight-knit group of friends that we often see at the lake, host for dinner parties, and have done life groups with. Otherwise, we love visiting Dan's cousins, and childhood friend in South Carolina!

Fun Facts

Daniel
- Began a lawn care business when he was 10 years old so that he could buy his own snow skis
- Daniel was homeschooled from 3rd grade to 7th grade
- Daniel used to play the saxophone
- Dan's paternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, and both parents were also insurance agents

Karla
- Began working at her parents' businesses making ice cream cakes when she was in elementary school
- Karla and her mom played in a summer softball league and were the only mother, daughter duo in the league -- even better, there were 4 generations at each game (Karla's grandmother, Dan, and Kora and Deklynn were the cheerleaders)
- Karla has traveled the United States playing softball
- Karla lived in Australia for 6 months in college

A week in our family

Our weeks feel like they fly by! We begin every morning with a quick homeschool lesson, and when we're not traveling, Kora and Deklynn are usually involved in 3 activities a week, such as gymnastics, tee ball, soccer, swim lessons, and giggle time.

We take the dogs for a walk in the nearby woods as a family at least once a day. The girls either ride their jeep car or walk. We also eat dinner as a family every night, followed by going to the park, playing in the yard, taking another walk, or going swimming at Karla's parents’ house. We end the night by giving the girls a bath and reading the Bible and other books before going to bed.

Our weekends change depending on the season. In the summer, we spend Saturdays at Dan's parent's lake house and Sundays at Karla's parents’ lake house. In the fall, we hike, bike ride in trails, and explore local spots. Although we spend most of our winter enjoying warmer weather in Florida, when we're home we go downhill skiing (while Grandma watches the girls), cross-country skiing, downhill snow tubing, and snowmobiling.

We Prefer a Child Who Is...
Age of Child

Newborn to 3 years

Race/Ethnicity

Any race/ethnicity!

Gender

Either

In Closing

Thank you for taking the time to learn about our family! We are excited to share our sense of adventure and love for being active with your child. We will ensure that your child knows that he or she is loved, has been prayed for, and is wanted, chosen, and belongs. We promise to keep faith and family at the forefront of their upbringing while providing plenty of opportunities to be active and adventurous. We will provide the resources for your child to get a good education and, more importantly, teach him or her that anything is possible if you're willing to work hard for it. We're excited to speak with you and get to know you on a level that you feel comfortable with.

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