About us:

     We met each other in high school through a pair of our closest friends. From that time on our futures would forever be entwined. After dating for 5 years, we were married in San Diego, Ca. We embraced the southern California life-style, going skiing in the winter and hitting the beaches during the long, hot summer days. We then moved to Riverside County and both secured jobs as teachers. We bought a home there and had our first daughter, Cambria. Our dreams of having a home and a family were beginning to come to pass. The vision we had for our family was to have two children to love, nurture and raise, but on our attempt to have a second, something happened, something terrible. At 19 weeks gestation, Kristen began to feel very ill and passed out. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors found that she was bleeding internally. Doctors brought her into surgery and performed a number of surgical procedures to save her life. By the sheer grace of God, Kristen’s life was saved, but our second daughter lost the fight and died in order to save Kristen’s life. The surgery cost Kristen her fertility and any hope of having any more children. The condition that caused this was very rare and left us wondering if that was all that our family was to be. After long and heartfelt conversations, we both decided that our family was not complete and out there, somewhere, was a baby we might adopt that would make our family whole.

     His whole name is Torrence Greenwood Temple, a big name for a big guy. Tory stands six feet five inches. He is fiercely loyal to his family and friends and is very highly motivated in his pursuit for excellence. His innovative and dedicated work ethic is welded to his very joyful and loving personality. He loves people, especially kids. That’s probably what makes him an especially effective teacher. He is very sensitive to people’s needs and seeks to find creative and positive solutions when anyone comes to him with a concern. His unwavering dependability is only matched by the support and love that he provides to his family. After God, his family is the greatest and most influential factor in his life.

     Tory has an affinity for anything electronic. He is especially drawn to video and special effects editing. He has produced three science fiction movies with his students as his stars and production cast and has made videos of his family and friends. Tory also works at church as a drama coordinator and story teller in the children’s church on Sundays. He likes to play Basketball with the other staff members at his school and occasionally likes to catch a few rounds of golf with some of his friends that live around town. However, being a Dad is what Tory enjoys most about his time away from work.

     Kristen is one of the most honest and genuine people around. She has a soft and tender soul that shows affection in abundance. She works very hard at everything she does. Her independence and steadfast loyalty make her one of the best teachers at her school. However, what gives her an edge is her natural gift with kids. From the time she was little Kristen would care for, teach, and play with her nephews. She helped take care of them and as a result has a second nature sensing for what kids need and how to provide them with the right balance of love and guidance. As much as she does for her kids at school, she does more for her family at home. She has spent years perfecting her craft at school so that she can now spend the most time possible at home with her family. She spends a great deal of time keeping track of our family’s history through creatively scrapping family events into time sequenced and visually engaging pages. She used to work on the yearbook staff in high school, and currently works on the yearbook at her school now. Her love for layout and design has carried over into our family chronology. Everything from family birthdays to trips to Europe are all carefully and ingeniously preserved in scrapbook pages for everyone in the family to leisurely look back on and enjoy.

     Kristen also enjoys being active with skiing, yoga and riding bikes as a family. The area around our house is perfect for long afternoon rides through wide sprawling streets with friendly neighbors. She also love to watch movies. She seems to especially love dramas, thrillers, and independent films.

     Kristen is a school teacher, and as such, gets a tremendous amount of time off each year to spend with the family. After we adopt she plans on taking at least three months off. The advantage of being a teacher comes when the children enter into school. She knows who all the truly gifted teachers are and will be able to place our children in the very best learning environments possible for their personality and individual learning styles.

     We both grew up in the east county of San Diego, and Tory grew up in the more country rural setting. Currently, our entire family lives within one and a half hours from our home. No one is out of reach. There are 6 cousins that live within that radius that are always willing to come up and play. Both of the families are in frequent contact and get together to enjoy each other’s company on a regular basis. Kristen’s sister just recently adopted a beautiful baby boy and our whole family is rejoicing in the miracle that this new little baby has brought. Both Kristen and I are looking forward to being a part of his life and watching him grow up to achieve amazing things. We hope that we can be a key part of his success.

     We have one amazing little girl. Cambria, also known as “Camper”, has a wonderfully happy disposition and because of it she has earned herself the nickname “Happy Camper.” She is very social and talks up a storm. She has a fascination with horses and really enjoys taking her Barbies shopping. She also loves being around other little kids. She strikes up an instant connection with any little person she meets. Indeed, she would be a wonderful big sister.

     Tory’s family moved out of the rural countryside and are now full fledged city dwellers. His Mom, Dad and two of his three brothers all live in San Diego. The other brother lives in Caracas, Venezuela. He teaches social studies to middle school kids in a private preparatory school. When he gets the chance to come home he is a joy to be around and has many varied and intriguing stories about his life in another country.
We live in one of the best kept secrets in southern California. Our town is one of those cities you can only read about becuase you think it’s too good to be true. The houses are affordable, the weather is outstanding, and we are an hour from just about every amusement park in southern California. Everything from Sea World, the world famous San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm, Universal Studios are all just a short drive away. Not to mention some of the best beaches in the world are just an hour or so away. Then of course there are the numerous ski resorts that are a little over an hour away to the north. The schools in our city are the top-rated schools in Riverside County. Tory works at one of the most successful middle schools and Kristen at one of the best elementary schools in the county. Schools here have won countless awards for excellence and their commitment to the development of outstanding children. Our position in the school district is an enviable one. Being teachers, we can hand pick teachers and schools that best match the needs of our kids. This enables us to provide every possible opportunity and advantage for our kids to succeed and become people with amazing skills, a love for others, and an unparalleled enthusiasm for life.

     We want our children to have as many life-enriching experiences as possible. Kids learn a tremendous amount about life and how it works by being able to draw upon their experiences. We want our kids to be well-rounded. We want to build on our children’s natural gifts by helping them to expand on those gifts with an exposure to the arts, sports, academics, and leisure. We love to travel and few life events provide as much life changing power as traveling to different parts of the world and watching the world live right before your eyes. We have been to Europe and would love to return to Scandinavia and Central Europe with our children to visit family and give our children a chance to learn about faraway cultures.

     We feel very blessed that some of the best schools are right here in town. We will use these resources to make sure that our kids have a strong sense of identity and belonging to their communities as well as their families. We will develop their individual gifts and help them discover the thrill of success and achievement.

     We are active members of a local church, and with this community of people we will raise our children to have a strong relationship with God. We will use His guidance and wisdom to instruct our children.

     We both understand that the decision you are making must be one of the most difficult you have ever faced. We will commit to telling our child about the gift of love their birth mother gave to them and to our family. We would like to offer you the opportunity to share pictures and letters throughout the years if this is what you would like.

     If you have any other questions about our family please call Cindy Simonson at A Act of Caring 800-556-5635.