Waiting families

Josh + Shelby

We are the Baker family, and we are beyond blessed to be able to grow our family through adoption. We have always known that we want to be parents and to bring joy and love to a beautiful child that needs it. Shelby grew up knowing that she may never be able to have children of her own and that became a reality in December 2024, after 6 unsuccessful pregnancies with the last one leading to a hysterectomy.

We met through a mutual friend. She had been trying for years to set us up, it was just not the right timing. Until one day she invited Shelby over to hang out at a “friends” house, Josh’s House. Shelby showed up and hadn’t been there for five minutes when our friend got up and left. We had just met for the first time and weren’t sure if we should stay and get to know each other or leave because we didn’t know each other at all. We decided to stay and see what would happen. We got to talking, and the next thing we knew, it was 5am. It made for a long day at work but definitely a smile on our faces! The rest is history. We officially started dating in October 2013. We moved in together and dated for 5 years before Josh proposed and got married in our backyard in June 2020 surrounded by family and friends.

We live in rural Carpenter WY in a 4-bedroom 3-bath ranch style home on 10 acres of land where the possibilities are endless. Our family is pretty big Shelby is the oldest of 6 children and the oldest of 26 Grandchildren, Josh is an only child but the oldest of 17 grandchildren.

Shelby has been with Walmart since September 2013; she started out as a cashier and had moved up the ladder all the way to supervisor and eventually stepped down to team associate to balance her work/life balance. Josh works at a small automotive shop where he is the lead automotive technician with an apprentice and helps run day-to-day operations. Josh’s work family is truly like family to us.

We have one dog, Roxy, that we rescued in 2017. She is a Healer mix and is the size of a Healer with a spotted tongue. Roxy is the sweetest and very protective of her humans. Any time one of our friends’ kids or our nieces are over she guards them like they are her puppies. She is so gentle with little babies and bigger kids. Any time one of the babies are crying, she will make sure that we (the humans in the house) know it and make sure we take care of whatever may be causing them to cry or be upset.

We enjoy anything that gets us outside in the fresh air with friends and family. We love our adventures! In our free time in the summer, we are always outdoors camping, hiking, fishing, riding our side by side, and hunting. We have a giant green house where we grow all our own vegetables. In the winter we can usually be found at the bowling alley or having game night with friends. We are both members of a local Baptist Church in Cheyenne WY. We get together with Josh’s parents and a few friends once a week. We spend a lot of time with our family and friends.