We (Taylor & Samantha) went to college together and share many common interests. We love to do things outside and explore the state we live in. We were married in Louisiana, moved to Illinois in 2018, and moved to beautiful East Tennessee at the end of February 2022. The area that we live in now is nestled in the Appalachian mountains with lots of outdoor activities available in the area.
We have four children:
Everett and Sawyer - 6
Graham - 4
Estelle - 2
Everett and Sawyer started Kindergarten this last year and absolutely love it. They are doing great in school! They love to play pretend, build legos, play video games, and they are into Star Wars and Harry Potter (they are being brain washed by mom!)
Graham is the loudest of the bunch and he is an energetic 4 year old! Graham is very smart and loves to play board games and play super heroes. He also loves to help cook!
Estelle is two and is a bubbly, talkative little girl with boundless energy. She loves strangers and likes to play with anything her brothers are trying to do. Estelle loves to play dress up, sing, and dance.
In the past, we've liked to travel as we can and visit new cities, even if it's just for a weekend, and we encourage our au pair to do the same. We're within easy driving distance from Asheville, NC and Knoxville, TN. Brewing beer is one of our favorite hobbies, Taylor even helped to open a brewery in New Orleans, and still brews many weekends! Since having children, Samantha has started sewing and enjoys making (mostly Disney themed) outfits for them. On that note, we are a Disney home! We love Disney movies & going to Disney World. All of the kids have been for their first and third birthdays and we look forward to doing the same with the princess. The boys play sports during the evenings and weekends and our daughter is in dance.
When we started our journey as host parents we were hoping to develop a lasting relationship that would last long after the time was over, and we feel extremely lucky that we had au pairs who wanted the same. Our au pair is family! We have always invited her on vacation with us and any family get togethers and holidays. As far as a working relationship, we have succeeded with very open communication.

We are a fifth year host family searching for our next au pair. Our first two au pairs were both with us for two years and we can't wait to grow our extended family again!
Our APs schedule is Monday through Friday, 7-4. I can count on one hand the number of times we have deviated from that schedule in 4 years. Next April when our next AP joins us the children will be 6, 6, 4, and 2. The twins are in school and typically everyone is awake just before 7am. We will get them breakfast around that time. Our AP is responsible for getting the kids dressed and ready for school and will sometimes drop the twins off. During the day she has the younger two kids and takes them to various activities (swimming, gymnastics, dance, play gym, library) or stays home with them. She prepares lunch between 11 and 12 followed by a nap. The kids are pretty flexible with timing but we do keep a consistent routine, it has worked well for them for six years! The twins get out of school at 3:30pm, and at least one parent is home before 4. During the summer when the twins are out of school you will have all four of them, though we plan on doing some traveling as well as having the older kids in summer camps during some weeks.
We live in a fairly rural area and you will be required to be a strong driver. We have a car available for use with the kids as well as one for off-duty hours. We don't log miles or track the car use, we just ask that you use your judgement on when you should be putting gas in the car. We expect our AP to keep her room clean and be respectful of all shared spaces. We don't have specific chores that we ask you do other than clean up after the children during the day and at the end of the shift.
In the past we have had a weekly game night and/or a movie night with our AP and would be happy to do this again if desired!