Neil & Rui

We met almost five years ago and instantly bonded over our love of travel. Since then, we’ve shared many fun and exciting explorations together—from hikes locally on the weekends to faraway trips like walking on the Greenland ice cap. We enjoy learning about different cultures, and this feeds into our daily life at home, whether through watching documentaries and foreign movies, cooking dishes that we learned about from our travels, or learning and practicing foreign languages (we have both studied Spanish). We have a close circle of friends—many with young children—with whom we share hikes, dinners or game nights. Our child will grow up with this loving extended network of support along with kids his or her own age to play with. 

We’d love to share these treasured experiences as we welcome a child into our lives. And just as we shared new interests with each other when we met, we also look forward to further expanding our own horizons as our child develops his or her own interests and dreams.

Meet Neil, by Rui

Neil is the kindest and most caring person I have ever known. He extends his kindness beyond friends and family, to offer help within his community, through his synagogue and volunteering at a local elementary school helping students read. I also admire Neil’s endless interest and encyclopedic knowledge about almost everything. His love of nature and wildlife has taken us on many travels, from local excursions to distant travels as far away as Georgia (the country, not the state!) Neil enjoys photographing animals when out in nature. I can’t wait to watch him share his enthusiasm for the natural world with our child. Neil has interests at home too. He enjoys studying languages (he can have simple conversations in five languages), as well as researching his family tree and history.  

About Neil’s Work

Neil is a computer hardware engineer, and he has been with the same company for 16 years, since he graduated from college. That is a dedication and loyalty rarely found in the tech field.  

I have no doubt that Neil will be an amazing father, and I can’t wait to have our child grow up under Neil’s enormous love and curiosity for nature, family history, and the world that we live in.

I love Rui’s spirit of adventure and enthusiasm in learning and trying new things. I learn something new from him almost every day, whether it’s how to cook a new dish or something interesting from a documentary he found. Rui grew up in Chengdu, the spice capital of China and home of panda bears. He first came to the U.S. for college 14 years ago. He is now a product manager at a software company. 

Outside of work, he enjoys photography, and I’m impressed by his photos of both our daily life and our travels; he will no doubt do a wonderful job capturing our family’s precious moments. He has a tight-knit circle of friends, some of them from his same high school in China. We are frequently organizing dinners (especially hot pot!) and other activities together. Rui has also connected with my friends. From the time I saw him helping my friend’s young daughters with their skis at our local resort Lake Tahoe, and playing with them in the snow, I knew he’d be a wonderful, caring dad.

Family, Friends

Neil’s parents and brother live in Phoenix, AZ, where he grew up. We visit there a few times a year. They also visit California each year, sometimes doing an extended visit in the summer to escape the Arizona heat, and are excited to welcome a new child to the family. Neil also has a sister nearby whose daughters, our nieces, we have watched grow up.

Rui’s mom passed away a year ago. His dad lives in Chengdu, China, so we don’t get to see him in person as often, but we visit China every one to two years (and he similarly visits us in the U.S.), and we frequently do video chats with him. We look forward to bringing our child to China to visit and explore the rich culture and traditions on Rui’s side of the family.

& Parenting

Being from two separate cultures and speaking several languages between us, we want to give our child opportunities to learn both about his or her own background as well as other cultures. We intend to give our child the chance to enjoy friendships from different cultures, and travel the world. As our own parents have provided us with all types of opportunities to travel and learn, we want to offer the same to our child, and allow them to have fun, learn and grow. As we believe parents should not choose the life for their child, we want our child to grow up to be a respectful, original, independent thinker, with all of our love and support.