Olivia & Clayton
Hello, We are Olivia and Clayton and we thank you for taking the time to learn more about our family. We have three children and our youngest is adopted. We are so excited to be adopting again and completing our family! We live in Switzerland but are both originally from Texas. We go back often (at least once a year) to visit all our family. We are committed to open adoption (video-chatting, visits, etc) and have been immeasurably blessed by it. Thank you for considering us and we hope you are blessed on your journey!
Things We Can’t Wait to Do as a Family
Play a family game of Uno | Read Pigeon Don’t Drive the Bus (Mo Willems) | Eat tacos | Travel to South Africa | Visit the mountains!! The Bernese Alps are only an hour away. | Celebrate Christmas | Teach him or her ride a bike or whatever they’re into… its so fun to see where your child’s interests take them. | Cheer on the San Antonio Spurs, Tottenham Hotspurs | Sing too many songs to name. We love music! | Bake apple pie | Make great food
Our Children
We have two daughters, Judah (2010) and Sojourner (2012) and one son named Asher-Omari (2018). Our daughters are biological and our son is adopted. We enjoy an open adoption with his birth family. We know everyone thinks that their kids are amazing but I am convinced of it. They are brave, funny, creative, and self-assured. They have tackled the transition to Europe incredibly well. They learned German for school and are working on French as well. There are always hard days but they continually stay positive. It is a joy and privilege to raise them.
Our Pet
We have a small dog named Panda. He is three years old and loves kids! He super spoiled and sleeps in our daughter’s bed every night. His full name is Peter the Panda Bob Gustin, named by our daughter who was 7 at the time.
Our Home
We live in a big 4 bedroom apartment in Bern, Switzerland. We live near the city center but have close access to forests, the zoo, river, playgrounds, and our schools. The Swiss school system is excellent and very supportive of our ex-pat kids. We enjoy a wonderful quality of life here in Switzerland.
Hobbies
As a family we love to adventure together. Travel is very important for us and we make it one of our top priorities. Keeping it close to home, we love board games, crafts, swimming, picnicking, biking, watching movies and so much more.
Parenting Philosophy
Our parenting philosophy is that we are learners and guides. We learn from our children and trust them. We believe that if we give them unconditional love and support they will blossom into well adjusted, confident adults. We obviously have to guide and correct sometimes but the goal is always so they can grow into great adults.
What Adoption Means to Us
Adoption is about choosing love. When a person is adopted what’s added is more heritage, more family, more love, not a loss of those things, that’s what we always come back to with our son. When he was adopted, it was love + love; and close family ties have made that clear and tangible for him. We are proud and grateful that our family is knit together by love. Adoption, to us, is a beautiful picture of humanity taking care of each other.
Our Faith
We are Christ-followers and that is really the long and short of our faith journeys and goals. Trying to follow Jesus Christ’s example of how to live is a hard task but we try our best and savor the grace and forgiveness He offers. We are active in a faith community. Love, Justice, and Mercy are our core faith ideals
5 Things About
Olivia
I love to walk everywhere…hiking is one of my favorite activities.
I am in a writing club with my brothers. I enjoy reading and writing very unserious, silly stuff.
My favorite genre of book is Sci-Fi and I could read for days!
I am dyslexic and I think it made me very creative.
I love to paint… mostly watercolor. I’m not very good.
5 Things About
Clayton
I have watched the show ‘The Office’ all the way through over twenty times.
I originally wanted to be a doctor.
I’ve been to four continents and I love Shanghai.
My great-grandfather was the General Manager at Boeing, designing airplanes and working on the space program.
I’m a member of the Choctaw Nation.
5 Things About
Judah
I sing and am in a choir.
I like to do art, mostly drawing.
I like to play video games.
I speak two languages, German and English and am learning French.
I like to read. My favorite book is a graphic novel named White Bird.
5 Things About
Sojourner
I swim on a team.
I love animals and my favorites are pigs and elephants.
I speak English, German, Swiss German and also a bit of French and Spanish.
I like doing art in all forms.
I have been to over 5 countries and I love to travel. My name means “traveler.”
5 Things About
Asher-Omari
I love myself.
I love trains.
I like to play airplanes.
I like to play with my dog Panda.
That’s it. :)
Get In Touch with Olivia & Clayton
If you think we might be the right match for you and your child, we’d love to hear from you! You can send us a message online or call our agency, Adoption Advocates, at (512) 477-1122 / (800) 966-HOPE to get connected.
