Nichol and Gregory Zimmerman's adoption journey is a story of love.
Nichol says she couldn't love her girls any more, something that's been true since they day the couple took them home.
"You meet them, you love them," she said.
"I wouldn't do it any other way; I wouldn't do anything different — it was such a positive experience," she added.
Adoption was a quick decision when the Zimmermans were looking for ways to expand their family. And adoption has roots in her family, as her brother also has two adopted children from China.
"It was just such a positive thing in my family," Nichol said.
When the Zimmermans were ready to adopt, they decided to also adopt from China so the family would have four grandchildren from China.
Why EVOLVE
The Zimmermans adopted through EVOLVE Adoption & Family Services and Holt International in Oregon.
The experience with EVOLVE proved positive, as Nichol said the staff was friendly and helpful while the couple worked through the sometimes-stressful task of completing paperwork for the adoptions.
"Just having that support was really important at the time," she said.
Despite a long process of completing the adoptions, Lia came home in 2003, followed by Kaylee in 2005.
Joy in Differences
Over the course of raising two girls adopted from a foreign country, the Zimmermans have come to appreciate the differences in raising girls from a different culture.
The couple is passionate about keeping the girls' culture present and available, and they'd like to one day travel back to China with the girls.
"They probably get tired of us talking about it all the time," Nichol said, joking the girls often want to just be teenagers.
They girls sometimes have to face questions about their parentage and heritage, but the family aims to equip their daughters to only answer questions as they feel comfortable.
But through it all, Zimmermans have worked to teach their daughters to embrace their differences.
"We can't just put people in a box; there are so many different dynamics of families," Nichol said.
Giving Back
As the girls got older, the family looked for ways for them to give back and meet their service time for school, and they opted to give back to something they're passionate about: adoption.
They've volunteered at EVOLVE Adoption & Family Services and Kaylee even payed violin at EVOLVE's 40th anniversary Ruby Gala.
"They really, really enjoy it," Nichol said.
