Monday, October 24, 2011

Another fundraiser

We have another fundraiser today..... This will be our 12th Day fundraising this month. Plus we still have 2 more days scheduled!!! We want our boy home badly!!!!

If you are in the Utah area please come and visit us at the Day Farms..
2516 W Gentile Layton, UT
We will be there doing a bake sale from 4-7 p.m.
They do hay rides for $5 a person.... It includes a huge pumpkin.....

Even if you don't do the hay ride you can still come and see us :)

We are trying so hard to bring our boy home.... If you are not in the area and would like to help, we have bracelets for sale plus hair bows, tutus or you can just donate and or share!

Thank You for everyone that has helped us so far.....

I have an awesome idea that I cannot wait to share next month!!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Still no news!!!

I have had many people ask.... WE still have not received any information on the list of Special Needs for our son's country. We are beyond frustrated!!!! 
We pray each and everyday to receive some information.... even if that information is similar to what we received last Sat.... We do not have any new info.... Stay tuned for Wednesday.... Well Wednesday has come and gone with no information yet.... Although the report we got on Saturday was supposed to be given on Tuesday..... Maybe that means we will hear something next week....

I know... I am just as confused as you are. This is one of the downfalls of working with a foreign Country.... 

Please keep praying!!! 

Also thanks to all who have donated and shared!!!
We have what we need for our first step..... next amount we need it $339.00... Passports here we come!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Hard to watch

This video is hard to watch, but it is the reality for many children all over the world.

I do not know how to post it here directly, but please visit you tube and watch this video


TOGETHER WE CAN!!

The Bracelets are in!!!!

TOGETHER WE CAN.....

Make a difference in the life of a child
Change the world
matter
do anything!!!!

Together we can do it all!!!!

One drop of water may not seem like much, but every puddle, pond, stream and ocean is made up of tiny drops of water..... The seem overwhelming when they are together.... overpowering even!

That is up.... Together we are overwhelming and overpowering!!

We can do anything!!!
 Together we can bracelets.....$3 each including shipping.... only $2 each including shipping if you order at least 3 :) Choose your color..... dark blue, dark purple, white, orange, light purple, light blue, light pink, neon green, yellow, dark pink, teal, red, green, royal blue.....
Please put a not when you pay via the chip in up top which color or colors you are ordering!!!
All money will go towards our adoption :)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Lord Provides!!!

WE have been on this road of Adoption Since September 12, 2011.
Just over a month.... Between fundraisers and Donations we have raised $1114.00 with our fundraisers that we have done (THANK YOU to ALL who have helped) and we have received $418.00 in Donations(Thank You to all of the amazing people who have donated)!!! 
Add that together and we have $1532.00.... See that thermometer on the side there??!!?? 
What does it say?
$2485?? 
We have saved up almost $1000.00 to bring our boy home..... It was all we could do. We are at that point where we are so close yet so far away....
We have to send a $1305.00 to commit to our boy
$1195.00 for our home study fee
and 39.25 times the 4 adults in our house for a child abuse check since we have lived in another state within the past 5 years..... I want to write out these checks and sent this money soooo badly.
I have never wanted to spent $2657.00 so badly.
Did you see that number?? $2567.00.... We only have $2485.00
Don't get my wrong, I know how blessed we have been to have raised almost $2500.00 in just over a month.
We only need $118.00 to be at our first major goal.... I know $118 doesn't seem like much, but I need help!
We do not have the $118.00 we need!! WE thought we had what we needed until we learned about this additional $157 since we lived out of state over 4.5 years ago....

Can you help us out?? We only need 
12 people to donate $10 each 
6 people to donate $20 each
5 people to donate $25 each
3 people to donate $40 each
or 1 person to donate $118

Will you be a part of our miracle?

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Angels in disguise

As you all know we have 2 more bake sales this weekend as well as a craft show/ boutique (check out the boutique booth and items ....http://hairbowsbyjax.blogspot.com/)
Anyways... I am not on this journey alone... There are Angels walking this path with me!
These are angels in disguise as ordinary people, but let me assure you that they are Angels...
They are my angels and they are my son's angels!
Angel #1 This is Poppy.... My dad. He has been mixing, baking, doing dishes, babysitting, and everything else he can think of to help us get ready for our bake sale!
See that sparking sink? How many sinks look like that after 10 solid hours of baking?
Thanks Dad!
 I think he has washed those about 20 times today, and somehow he is still smiling!
 This is Grandma! She is the mastermind behind it all!
I like to take credit, but she is the one who got us lined up with this pumpkin patch/ hay ride to do a bake sale... Every Monday, Friday and Saturday in October.... Amazing right?!?
She has been making, baking, wrapping, doing dishes, babysitting and everything else imaginable to help make these bake sales a success!
Thank You Mom!
(She was mad I was taking her picture while she was dirty LOL)
 This is her avoiding looking at me
This Angel and I met in person for the first time today. We met through the wonderful world of blogs and internet friendships. She had offered to help with a bake sale as soon as she heard we would be raising money to bring our boy home.... With zero hesitation and only a few days notice, she pulled through for us in a major way!! With the help of her mother (because she has a super busy schedule) She packaged up the cutest little goody bags for us to sale. She made peanut butter bars, white chocolate dipped ginger snaps, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.... Can you believe it?!?! All of this effort for someone she has never met!!
Did I mention she has 4 young children? Definitely an angel in my book... Her name will definitely be in my boy's story of how he made it home.... Here she is holding a couple of her goody bags... Isn't she gorgeous?

 These are just a few of the people who have made a huge difference in our lives and in our journey!!
I would also like to thank some other (you know who you are), but I will wait for a future blog.

Some (yes just some) of our mini loaves of banana bread.
 Zucchini bread
 rice krispy treats (we made 5 pans)
 Chocolate chip cookies (about 12 dozen)
 Oatmeal cookies (about 9 dozen) and no bake cookies (about 2 dozen)
 Cupcakes (about 5.5 dozen)
 This is just one of the huge boxes of goodies Tracie made for us!
 This is the other box!
 Aren't these too cute and they look yummy too!
On a side note.... If I ever see plastic wrap again it will be too soon!!! I think we spent about 2 hours wrapping all of the goodies!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Another busy day

So here I sit at nearly 1 am after only 3-4 hours of sleep last night...
Wanna guess what I am doing?? Completing my homestudy paperwork!!
I know 1 a.m. might not be the ideal time to be filling out life altering paperwork, but this is the only time there is enough peace and quiet to do so... too funny I typed that and my 2 year old is now crying...

Ok, I am back did you miss me? ;)

Let me just give you a quick run down on my week this week.
Sunday: 3 hours of church with 3 kids.... enough said :)
Monday: School, babysitting, school again, volunteer in my kindergartener's classroom with my 2 year old in tow, last minute bake sale (you can read about it on my previous post), home at 7:40p.m. dinner and bed for kids..... I was up until almost 2 a.m.
Tuesday: School, babysitting, school again, volunteer again (yes I am insane and volunteer every single day in one of my 2 kids' classrooms), trip to the pharmacy and 3 different banks (to gather all of our money to commit), make 50+ hair bows, bake zuchini bread for the bake sale, finish labeling all of my bows, tutus and headbands for the boutique tomorrow, fill out massive amounts of paperwork
Wednesday: School, babysitting, school, volunteer, drive 1.5 hours to set up my booth, home, dinner, bed (praying to have to run to the bank, post office etc to mail our paperwork out)
Thursday, School, babysitting, school. volunteer, bake, drive to boutique to check on things, home dinner, more baking
Friday: School, babysitting, school, volunteer, drive 1.5 hours to work my shift at the boutique, drive back to the bake sale to help clean up (my parents, friends and family will be manning it so I can be at the boutique.... yes I know how blessed I am) home to bake more for Saturday's bale sale
Saturday: Bake sale, leave after 2 hours to drive to boutique for tear down, back to bake sale to clean up... home and hopefully some sleep.... oh ya and we have a primary program on Sunday so we will have a practice some time in the morning before the bake sale :)

Did I mention that I have 3 amazingly active little girls to chase around, clean up after and love during all of this??
So, I am tired and exhausted, but I will tell you that my boy is worth every second of this work!!
I can't wait to show you who he is!!!

This is a picture of the booth my husband and I put together for the boutique...
My mom and dad have helped make almost all the tutus and have cut several hundred pieces of ribbon for hairbows. I am so blessed to have amazing people that will stay up until all hours of the night working to bring our boy home!!!
On a side note we still need a few hundred dollars to commit to our boy, so please share and/ or donate :)
A BIG THANK YOU to all of those who have donated, shared and prayed.
We truly do appreciate it!!!

Visit my other blog...http://hairbowsbyjax.blogspot.com/ to get a closer look at the hair bows and tutus we make..... There is a chip in there where you can pay for your order... I would love to make a custom tutu or hair bow for you!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Last Minute Bake Sale

Well, last week we (my mom, my dad and I) called every place we could think of to see if we could set up a bake sale at their business to raise money for our adoption.
We kept getting the same 2 answers.... no or not without a tax id number for a non profit organization. 
We got a little discouraged, but quickly moved onto our plan B. We didn't really have a plan B so my mom quickly made one. We went and bought about 30 boxes of (movie theater type) candy and some suckers. We decided we would go door to door and sell the candy to raise money for our boy.
We were getting really nervous because we were about $500.00 short from what we had to have right away and about $1000.00 short for what we would need in the first month. We made about $95 selling candy for about 2 hours. I mean after all who could refuse 3 sweet little girls (2,5 and 6) our walking in the rain to raise money for their brother. They have been begging to help bring their brother home.

So, on to today. My mom gets a call back from one of the people we had called the week before.
It was 2:30 p.m. They told us that we could set up a bake sale for today from 4-7 Friday from 4-7 or Saturday from 1-7.
My mom called me to see what I wanted to do.... Being a person that tries not to let and opportunity pass by, we started baking. In just over an hour we baked 9 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 2 dozen no bake cookies, 3 pans of Rice Krispy treats, and about 20 cupcakes.
We got to the pumpkin patch at around 4:30 and stayed until 7 (when they close).
We made about $125.00!!!
I would say that was definitely worth it!!
The good news is that we get to go back on Fri and Sat too!!!!
This is what we came up with in an hour and a half.... I even made the sign after we got there...(I'm sure you can tell that lol)
 Some of our goodies!

 The amazing owner showing the girls her decorations.... actually trying out their talking witch on them.
A lady was standing off in the distance with a microphone hidden in her jacket. 
The girls thought it was super cool!!
 All the girls had to have a turn on the tractor....

 Can you see the change in weather.... about 1.5 hours in it started raining, got really windy and was all gloomy :(  I'm pretty sure I would stand in the rain every day if it means bringing my boy home!
 We still need about $275.00 to commit to our boy and get the home study paid for... Please pray!! 
I wouldn't even mind if you shared or donated hehe!

P.S. The list did NOT come out today (which I am bitter about). They are supposed to have it signed by tomorrow, but they may not make it public until Friday :(
Please pray it will come out tomorrow and that my boy's "special need" will be on there!


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Anxious and Waiting

Monday is the BIG day.... The day we find out if we can officially commit to our son or if we have to fly blind and wait an entire year to try to bring him home.....

Both ways will be hard, but option A would make this mom's heart much more at ease..... 

We do have one major problem with option A.... Money... It is not a problem that cannot be overcame, but it is one that I am attempting to handle with prayer.

Could you imagine? Being told that your son is available and not being able to afford to rescue him?
For me it would be like going to the hospital and having a baby. Then being told that you cannot take your baby home or even see them until you can raise enough money.

The first $3,000.00 is our biggest hurdle... We have tons of fundraisers, boutiques, yard sales, and other events lined up to make the rest of the money.... We need the help NOW!!!

I stole this idea from a friend and pray it works....

We have less than 48 hours.... Can you imagine?? I may be able to share his sweet face with you very soon!!!

P.S. If we raise $500.00 I will give you all a sneak peek... A picture of his perfectly beautiful eyes.... 
Please share even if you cannot donate... There are 20 people here if each shares with 20 more we will be soooo close. 



Thursday, October 6, 2011

A Conference talk I will not soon forget...

This is a portion of a talk titled "Children" by Neil L Anderson
I had never before heard a talk on adoption before.... An answer to a prayer if you ask me!
President J. Scott Dorius of the Peru Lima West Mission told me their story. He said:
“Becky and I were married for 25 years without being able to have [or adopt] children. We moved several times. Introducing ourselves in each new setting was awkward and sometimes painful. Ward members wondered why we [didn’t have] children. They weren’t the only ones wondering.
“When I was called as a bishop, ward members [expressed] concern that I did not have any experience with children and teenagers. I thanked them for their sustaining vote and asked them to allow me to practice my child-raising skills on their children. They lovingly obliged.
“We waited, gained perspective, and learned patience. After 25 years of marriage, a miracle baby came into our lives. We adopted two-year-old Nicole and then newborn Nikolai. Strangers now compliment us on our beautiful grandchildren. We laugh and say, ‘They are our children. We have lived our lives backwards.’”18
Brothers and sisters, we should not be judgmental with one another in this sacred and private responsibility.
“And [Jesus] took a child … in his arms [and] said …
“Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth … him that sent me.”19
What a wonderful blessing we have to receive sons and daughters of God into our home.
Let us humbly and prayerfully seek to understand and accept God’s commandments, reverently listening for the voice of His Holy Spirit.
Families are central to God’s eternal plan. I testify of the great blessing of children and of the happiness they will bring us in this life and in the eternities, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Silicone Bracelet

I am thinking of ordering some silicone bracelets to sale as a fundraiser....

What should I have written on them??

I was thinking something like TOGETHER WE CAN

I know, I know

I am just not that creative......

Help me out here...

Do you think you would buy a bracelet for $1 or $2??

Thanks for the input :)

For those who don't know what a silicone bracelet is ;)
Don't worry my husband didn't have a clue.


If you were my mom

Written by a friend serving a mission in several orphanages... Follow her here http://blogging4theleastofthese.blogspot.com/2011/10/if-you-were-my-mom.html

If You Were My Mom

If you were my mom you would help me to thrive,
Instead I lie in this crib, barely able to survive.

If you were my mom you would teach me to walk
Instead I’ll spend all day in this crib.

If you were my mom, you would teach me to talk
Instead I’ll withdraw into my own world, where no talking is required.

If you were my mom, I’d have lots of friends and visitors
Instead, I lie in a room so awful visitors aren’t allowed.

If you were my mom, you’d take me everywhere,
Instead I go nowhere, I am lucky to even get some fresh air.

If you were my mom, you would cuddle me and take me to the doctor when I’m sick,
Instead I lie alone in this crib, or a hospital bed.

If you were my mom, you’d get me medicine to stop my self-injurious behaviors
Instead, I am either given nothing, or I’m sedated.

If you were my mom, you’d give me my own wardrobe,
Instead everything is shared among my groupa, and I don’t even have a real diaper.

If you were my mom everything would fit just right,
Instead I wear whatever is most convenient, regardless of whether it fits.

If you were my mom, I’d hug you and kiss you
Instead, I suck my hands, bang my head, and rock back and forth.

If you were my mom, you’d teach me to feed myself slowly,
Instead I will keep believing every meal must be ate in a hurry.

If you were my mom I would go to bed in adorable warm pajamas,
Instead I just sleep in my clothes.

If you were my mom, I would have preferences in what I eat,
Instead, I am grateful for every bite I get.

If you were my mom, you’d fight to get me the right schooling
Instead, they’ll label me unable to learn.

If you were my mom, you would rock me to sleep,
Instead I rock myself so hard I cause myself injuries and hair loss.

If you were my mom, you would cherish me,
Instead, they can’t see why anyone would want me.

If you were my mom, I’d thrive surrounded with friends and family
Instead, I’ll die alone in this crib.

This is the reality of these poor kids... especially if they start to get "too old" 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Mixed emotions

This week has been a roller coaster week already and it is only Tuesday.

I knew this ride would be a roller coaster (did I mention that I am not a big fan of roller coasters), but I wasn't expecting to have this many emotions so early on.

If there is an emotion out there, I have probably felt it in the last weeks. I have a whole new respect for all of the amazing people who go through this process multiple times.

I thought I was emotional when I was pregnant... That doesn't even compare. (I have a friend who is pregnant and adopting at the same time.... I don't even want to imagine what she is going through)

Here are just a few of the emotions I feel very often during this process:
Hope
Joy
LOVE
Fear
Despair
Happy
Sad
Anxious
Kindness
Surprise
Overwhelmed
Exhaustion (the mental kind)

This list could go on and on...

My biggest emotion lately seems to be fear....
I am so afraid that my sweet boy will not be on that list on Monday.... My next biggest fear is that he will be and I won't have enough money...

Please help me by Praying!!!
If you can donate, please do....
If you can't donate please share....
Praying I need $3000.00 by Monday!!!