A Challenge!!!

Our FSP on Reece's Rainbow has gradually been climbing up, up, UP and we are SOOOOOO grateful!  Every dollar is like us being one step closer to our children waiting for us over in Eastern Europe!!!

Well, we are at $3801 right now, and personally I love even numbers.  SO, I would LOVE to see this number rounded to an even $4000.  That's not so much more right?  Only $199 and we will be there!

So tonight I am offering an incentive.  Anyone who donates to our FSP today, as long as we hit or break the $4000 mark by midnight, will be entered into a drawing for a beautiful Mom's necklace!!  It is a lovely silver disc engraved with your children's names, and a small heart on there too with the initial of your choice.  Beautiful!!  It is from Baltic Hope Gifts and you can see more of their work here...  https://www.facebook.com/BalticHopeGifts

Here is a picture of the necklace you might win just for helping us reach our goal today!!.......

Lovely isn't it????

So all you need to do to have a chance at winning a lovely personalized necklace like this one is to make a donation to our FSP.  That link is on the top right of our blog.  I hope to see the round number of $4000 by midnight tonight!!!!  Thank you and good luck!!!!!

Still Fundraising For Our Adoption!

Still trying to fundraise like fiends!!  And we have ANOTHER MATCHING GRANT out there!  This time for $500!!  Every little dollar, five dollars, etc adds up BIG TIME!

People, you just make my heart melt.  Thank you for all the generosity, the support and the prayers!  We WILL make this work!  We WILL get these kids home.

If you are able to help, even the tiniest bit, please click on our FSP button on the top right of my blog. Or you can just click HERE. It will take you to the same donate button on Reece's Rainbow.  You can donate with Paypal or you can mail in a check with ROWE in the memo line.  Either way you will be helping us get our two beautiful teens home where they long to be.

Just look at these words from our precious girl who visited with us here in the US this summer and is anxiously waiting for us to fly over and bring her HOME.......

"Hello my family!

I miss you, I want to see Atticus and the others.

When I came to Ukraine I couldn`t sleep for two days. I performed on the first September.

I love you!

Love you as angel loves God

Love you as light loves dawn

Love you and I`m gonna love you forever

And you me…"

And this one..........

"Hello papa!

How are you? I miss you! I want to see you and the others very much! I love all of you! O love you VERY much! You are all very beautiful!

I love you!"

Just makes me want to cry.  We miss them both so very much.

So thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who have helped us continue along on this journey.  Time is short and as with most things, money is in high demand for everyone, so we appreciate you giving yours for the benefit of others.  We appreciate your generosity and your help so much!

We pray that our travel date is getting closer.  Pray with us that our financial need is met, that our kids are kept safe until our arrival and that it is SOON!!  

Blessings Abound!

Well it happened so quickly that I didn't even get to post about it here on my blog!  Yesterday we were offered a matching grant of $900 from an amazing family with a desire to help us bring those two sweet kids home to our family!!  AND yesterday, in less than 5 short hours, that matching grant was met!!  Yes!  In FIVE HOURS!!!  My husband and I were floored.  Amazed.  Blessed.  So quickly that outpouring of love came, and that need was met.  We are so grateful!!!

Yet it makes me feel ungrateful that we have to ask for more.  I wish I didn't have to.  I wish, like most adoptive families, that we just had the money lying around somewhere just waiting to pay for this adoption.

But we, like those other families, don't.  Most people who are out there flying across oceans to adopt these orphans don't have $20,000 or more socked away somewhere.  But they do have a love in their hearts for these lost children.  They, like us, do have room in their hearts and their homes for more, but don't have the finances to do it alone.

So please, even though our grant has been matched, please continue to PRAY for our family's fundraising efforts, and donate if you can to our FSP on Reece's Rainbow.  The link to that is in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

 Please also go to our Facebook auction HERE to bid on a variety of wonderful items!

We still have a long way to go, and a short time to get there.  The days are clicking by, which is great because that means we are one day closer to hugging and kissing these precious kiddos again.  But it also means we are one day closer to needing ALL the money to travel.

A HUGE thank you to all who have helped us so far.  It really does mean more than you know.  In all of our adoptions our faith has been renewed and strengthened by the outpouring of love we have experienced from others.  God has truly shown us in so many ways, the love of His people and their concern for His children- wherever they might be.

There is a great need in this world to find loving families for hundreds of thousands of orphans.... in almost every country.  We are trying to step up to do what we can, what we feel God would want us to do, to aid that need.  We thank you for your support and help in enabling us to complete this adoption and do His will in our lives.  Again, it truly means a lot to us.  And more than that, it means the world to these children.

They will have a Mama and a Papa again.  They will know love.  I promise you that.

Thank you!

We Were Submitted Today!!

What a happy morning for our family!!!  We found out that our dossier was SUBMITTED to the powers that be in our children's country!!  Now to wait for that important phone call giving us our appointment date!!  According to our facilitator and our stateside coordinator, we should be ready to travel in about 5-6 weeks! WOW!! That is really SOON!

While we are very happy about this news it also brings with it some worry.  Of the monetary kind.  You see, for our last two adoptions we had a bit more security-- a cushion.  Both our son from China and our two children from Eastern Europe had grants already in place for their adoption.  Substantial ones.  These two children don't have any funding for them already in place.  And being that we just returned from EE in May, neither do we.

This adoption is truly another step out in faith for us, and we are prepared to watch again as God provides as he has done so mightily and generously before, for HIS children.  These orphans are HIS children.  All of our children are.  We are here to take care of them and raise them in a way that would be pleasing unto HIM while we live this short life here on this earth.  And that is what we aim to do.

We have already seen the blessings pouring forth!!!  Here are some examples....

The amazing families that give to the Sacred Selections grant ministry have blessed us with a $4000 grant!!  We are SO thankful for that and them!!!!!

The people at Reece's Rainbow have allowed us to set up an FSP account as we had done with our last adoption.  So far $370 has been donated to that account for us by others wanting to help!!!  Thank you!!

Donating to our FSP is tax deductible and very easy to do, either via Paypal or by mailing a check with our name in the memo line.  There is now a direct link to our FSP on the top of the sidebar of this blog page.  Please click on it and DONATE if you feel lead to do so.  We would be so grateful!

I have set up an online Facebook auction which is already up and running and receiving bids!!!   It is open to everyone, so if you have a Facebook account, please click on the following link and bid, bid, BID on some goodies!  There is everything from children's toys to jewelry to photography packages and more!!!
Go here to check it out!!

There is hopefully more fundraising to come....... like a Thirty-One Gifts online show, and more.  So stay tuned, and thank you for your prayers and your support as we journey to Eastern Europe one more time to bring home two precious blessings to our family!

Baby Shower Pictures!

Our sweet, sweet friend Amanda and her hubby Brian are expecting a little girl this October!  I was so happy to be one of the hosts for her shower and to have it here at my house!  Below are a few pictures of the party to honor Amanda and shower her with gifts for little baby Grayson Faith!!

Some onesies as mantle decor spelling out BABY and a sweet bow holder for her room.

A cute fabric banner in gray and yellow, the colors of her nursery.

Adorable paper poufs handmade by Amanda .... not the guest of honor ;)

Yummy cake made by Cheryl- banana cake and a creamy vanilla frosting.  Yum!

Beautiful wreath hand crafted by Melissa.

Some of the ladies that stopped by gathering to watch her open some presents!

She got such adorable things for baby Grayson!!

Congratulations Amanda and Brian!

We can't wait to meet her!

Beach Pictures!

Our family just returned from our annual week long vacation at the NJ shore with my husband's side of the family.  It was a lovely week with great weather, and it was Charlotte and Atticus's first time experiencing the  sand and waves at the ocean!  They both seemed to like it pretty well, scooping the sand up with the shovel or their fingers (and Atticus even eating a little), and splashing in the shallow areas of the water.

We got to take some fun pictures while we were there, so take a peek below!  Hope everyone is enjoying the last remaining days of their summer.  The time is fleeting, school starts back next Monday for my non-homeschooled ones here, and it all goes by just way too fast.

The wagon was great for transporting the little ones, and all our gear, to the beach!

My three eldest children!

Posing in front of the Avalon lifeguard boat

This picture cracks me up!  And it was so unintentional.

Just digging away!!

Sweet puggie little hand digging in the sand

There were MANY sandcastles to be made this week!

And then, the long-awaited nighttime shark fishing with Grander RH!  The boys were thrilled!

Time for some evening photos on the beach......

All my babies!

And posing with Nana Sherry and Grander RH...

Another fun week comes to an end.  Avalon, we were sorry to say goodbye, but we had a great time!

Thanks to the grandparents for a wonderful week at the shore!!

A Big Announcement!!!!

Just wanted to do a quick announcement on here for everyone who has not heard through our church or Facebook......................

We Are ADOPTING Again!!!

We have planned this for awhile, since we were still in Ukraine actually adopting our last two.  We got preparations like USCIS approval and home study updates done while we were still in country actually, but we wanted to get Charlotte and Atticus home and settled and adjusted a bit to family life before we made another big announcement.

This time we are returning for two older children, teenagers in fact.  They are not special needs children in the truest sense of the word but they are considered such by some simply because of their age.  In Ukraine children age out of the orphanage system at age 16.  They are then sent out onto the streets, alone, with little more than a few utensils, maybe a sleeping bag, and a little money.  It is impossible for me to think of our Evan, who is 16, completely fending for himself right now.  Especially if he had not ever been raised with the love of a family, or any kind of true direction and guidance in life.  It would be like throwing him to the wolves.

This is the exact reason why many of these "aged out" children find themselves homeless, hungry and alone.  They lack basic skills to survive in life because no one ever taught them any.  They become prostitutes, druggies, vagabonds.  They often find themselves HIV positive.  They are without hope, living on the streets and in sewers, with no future, let alone hope for the next day.

We ask you all to please PRAY for this next journey we are embarking upon.  Pray for our family and our ability to yet again have all paperwork processed correctly and efficiently.  Pray for the hearts and minds of our children as they wait for us in the orphanage.  Pray for everything to fall into place as it should and no setbacks.

We have already been hard at work since arriving back home and our dossier is already in country waiting to be submitted.  We are simply waiting for a few pieces of paper to send over, and then that will happen.  After submission it is an average of 2 mos till travel, which really isn't a lot at all.  I am praying we travel sometime around the end of October.

That being said, we are also in need of funding.  Being that we just arrived home in May with our two youngest children, and will be returning so soon, resources are low.  We were really hoping to put our tax return toward this adoption, but considering we have not gotten it back yet because of disputes with the IRS over adoption tax credits (like many have experienced) we cannot count on that money being in our account by the time we need to travel.

An FSP fund has been set up again through Reece's Rainbow as we had before.  Andrea Roberts who runs RR has been gracious enough to allow us to have that account knowing that although these children are not sn children like many on her site, their time is limited as I mentioned above, and the possibility of aging out in the future without a family is NEED enough.  We thank her for allowing us to have this FSP again to make it easy for people to donate to our adoption.

Here is the link to our FSP account with Reece's Rainbow- http://static.reecesrainbow.org/donation-box/fsp-RoweBoys.html 

ANY amount is appreciated!!!!  Every dollar gets us one step closer to our children, and helps alleviate our fears and worries about not being able to travel when it is time.

Please search your hearts and see if there is any way you can help us, we are truly grateful to each person who has helped us bring our children home in the past, and this time is no different!

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