National Adoption Month

As some of you may know November is National Adoption Month. November 17th was actually National Adoption Day, I thought that was pretty cool since it was the day we had our first fund raiser. Anyway, I realize adoption is not for everyone however there are ways to be part of the solution without bringing a child into your home physically. Something we can all do is sponsor a child to give them a chance at a better life right where they are. About a year ago while Brian and I were waiting to begin our adoption my grandfather sent me a photo and information regarding a little boy in China. Zijian is his name and he was abandoned when his parents discovered he had cerebral palsy. As we looked into it more we realized this was an amazing way to be part of the solution. To make a difference in his life as we waited for Grace. If this is something you might be interested in doing you can click here. Of course there are lots of different places to do something like this but my hope is just to create more awareness and remind people we can make a difference.

Major Success

Since I have almost no time left before we leave town, just wanted to take a moment to tell you what an amazing day it was for us on Saturday. We had HUGE success with our garage sale and made just over 300 dollars for our adoption. We wanted to once again thank all of you who sent our email to others, prayed for us, donated items, the sign makers (we had the greatest sign), the amazing people who not only donated their driveway but also made us breakfast and lastly the special person who stayed up really late helping me get it all priced and sorted through. You guys all know who you are and you are totally amazing and we are honored you are partnering with us. We cannot do this without you. We pray Thanksgiving Blessings for you all and look forward to updating you more after the holidays. Don't forget to check the website when you have time!! Love you!!!

Oh and by the way, since this was just the first of many garage sales to raise money please remember us when you are getting rid of anything, we will be happy to come and get it. Remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure. :-)

Milestone 2

Our garage sale is tomorrow and we are so excited. We had so many people donate stuff, we are overwhelmed by the blessing. As of yesterday we were 50 dollars short to submit our adoption agreement until another 100 dollars unexpectedly came in, so going into the garage sale we have 50 dollars towards the home study fee. This fee will be anywhere from 1,000 to 1,600 dollars. I will be making the call for our first appointment on Monday. Obviously there will be somewhat of a delay for certain things now the holidays are upon us but that will not stop our efforts to get our information out to people who are interested. We hope you all have an amazing weekend and pray for our garage sale to go well. I will post some pics next week.

October/November Fun in Pics

We interrupt this adoption blog to bring you some fun family pics. Halloween was a blast. The boys were both pirates for their Character book parade at school but for the trick or treating Jayden decided to be an '80's skater. Go figure. At this one house there was a pug dressed just like Jack (Captain Jack Sparrow) so I couldn't resist a pic. The dog seemed less than impressed. There's also a less than flattering pic of Jared and I but it is Halloween, a time to scare people. The beginning of November brought Jared's first Homecoming and his last race of the season (video to come). I think I was much more excited about homecoming than he was. He allowed me to be a chaperon which was so much fun. I tried to stay in the Cafeteria and away from him as much as possible so he wouldn't think I was trying to spy. He looked so amazing. His little friend who went with him was just too cute. Funny thing was, besides the initial pic the photographer took they went their separate ways the rest of the evening. Kids.







Our car wash did not pan out as expected due to the fact all the good gas stations get booked months in advance. Who knew? Plus since we are not a school or church we are going to have plead our case and hope they will still allow it. However, all is not lost. Our friends in the next neighborhood over are having a community garage sale next weekend so that is plan B. Pray things go well. Thanks for checking in and please don't forget to sign our guest book. Blessings.

Will the mystery guest please sign in...

As you can see from the side bar it shows we have raised 730 dollars, take away the monies spent of 100 dollars from our application fee and we are just 70 dollars from being able to send in our adoption agreement. The 200 dollar donation we received this morning has brought us even closer. We are blown away by all the money donated but I think this one really moved me b/c we don't even know this person. The fact someone somehow found us and believes in what we are doing and trusts we will do with the money what we say is amazing to me. It also reminds me of God's goodness. Thank you so much Maitland, FL.