Where are we at with our financial support?

We get this question often and we wanted to continue to keep you all posted with our finances for the adoption...

We are a little over 1/3 there towards the final cost of the adoption!!! That's super exciting for us, and we continue to be amazed at the creative ways many of you have come up with to help bring our daughter home!!

I want you to know that each and every gift that has been given, whether small or large, has been written down and accounted for :-)... our daughter will be able to know the names of all those who helped bring her home!!

For those of you who have chosen to collect change in the "Chinese Food boxes," the boys love taking them to the coin collector at the bank!! We write down each of your names and record how much change was in your box... It is so much fun! Thank you so much for your generousity!!

We also get the question about when we need the money by... the great thing is, it is not due all at once. Pretty much every step of the process requires some sort of money attached to it... for instance, the whole fingerprinting process and immigration check with the homeland security cost $890. Once we get approved by them, we will have to get all our paperwork certified and authenticated. Each document costs $ to be checked, so that will be another expense. Once we send the paperwork to China, we will have our biggest one time expense thus far... a little over $6000 for agency fees, China's fees and interpretation fees...

So I guess the bottom line is, we are so blessed to have made it thus far!!! We have a long way to go, but God has continued to provide every step of the way!! We are so thankful!

Almost Finished with Stage 1!!!

I can't believe it's already October!!! Time has flown by!! We are excited to share some of the latest news with our adoption!

Right now, we are awaiting our official appt. for our fingerprints to be taken for the Dept. of Homeland Security. I must say, it is quite fun to get mail from the Dept. of Homeland Security... I feel so official! :-) Of course, it always blows my mind that we have to yet again get our fingerprints done cuz apparently every dept. has their own criteria... Oh well :-)!

Once the fingerprints are done and we get the green light, we will be ready to get everything certified, authenticated and sent off to China... woo hoo!!!

We are also officially in the referral program... EEEK!! My heart wants to know who our daughter is TODAY, but I also want to stay patient and wait for God's perfect timing!!

In the meantime, we are keeping busy getting everything ready for our fundraiser dinner November 17!!! We are so excited to have this dinner, share our story, and get the word out there of the great need for "fathers to the fatherless." Please mark your calendars!!

I am also super excited about working on 2 CD's right now!!! This has totally been a "God thing," and it's been neat to see it all come together! Please be praying for all the logistics... If all goes well, both CD's will be available starting at our Fundraiser dinner November 17. Of course, they will be available for "Donation only" with all the money going towards our adoption!!

Phew!! This whole process continues to be surreal, and we are so excited to continue to see everything unfold, and eagerly await being able to be united with our daughter, wherever she may be at this very moment!!

We continue to be overwhelmed with your love and support!! Thank you sooo much!!

An Exhausting, But Profitable and Fun Weekend!

Friday began with decorating for our Ladies Bunko Night Out!! It was so much fun to be hanging out in the gym with my friends and seeing all their creativities come to life!! We then had an AWESOME night with such great ladies who came out to support our adoption! Thank you to all my friends who helped and thank you to all who came out for a great night!!! Here's some fun pictures of the evening:

 Here's my friends working hard setting everything up! Thank you to: Kari, Alicia, Rebecca, Renee, Malee, and Lynette who came to help set up!

Here's the Final Set-up... Looking forward to a great night!!!

A fun night with friends!

All the great Bunko gifts graciously donated by my Bunko group!! Thanks ladies!!

The BEAUTIFUL dessert table decorated by Renee and Malee!!

Fun "Take-Home" gifts...

And then...

We then decided to have a garage sale bright and early Saturday morning :-)... Although it was crazy, busy, hot, and "Phatty" (thanks to your donations of stuff), it was extremely profitable!!! It was a mind-boggling experience though to be talked down from $0.50 to $0.25 for items...even though we reminded them that 100% of the sales were going towards our adoption! I guess people just want a "steal" no matter what!! :-)

Tim also had the brilliant idea of setting up cones in front of our house so people could drive by and see what we had...It also cut down on the traffic in front of our house!!

And then there is Peyton...

This is Peyton :-)

Peyton decided to "Join the Journey" at the very beginning of our adoption process!! He is the son of one of my dear friends, Melissa. Ever since he found out we were adopting, he has always been thinking of fun, creative ways to "Join the Journey." He and his family have given of their time, talents, and treasures to help in great ways these past many months.

This past week Peyton turned "9!" On Saturday afternoon he had a pool party for his birthday! Many friends and family were invited for a great celebration. Something that Peyton's family has done for many years is to ask friends and family to give a donation to a particular cause (of the kids choosing) in leiu of birthday gifts! What a great way to think of others!! This year, Peyton was so excited to share with us that he chose " bringing Jeremy and Drew's baby sister home" to be what he wanted his birthday money to go towards!  

We had a great time at the party that afternoon, and we are so blessed by Peyton thinking of our baby girl!! Thank you Peyton for continuing to be on this great "journey" with us!! Jeremy and Drew's little sister will hear and know of this great story someday!!

And so...

An exhausting, but profitable weekend!!! We are so blessed by your continued prayers and support!! We love each and every one of you!!   

Girls Night Out...This Friday!!!!

Alright ladies!!! It's time to get ready for a fun night out!!! This Friday night (the 24th at 7:00) in the FBC gym, we will have a ton of fun hanging out and playing Bunko together... and let me tell you, the prizes are going to be amazing!!!

Invite as many friends as you know!!! We would love to fill the gym! Don't worry if you don't know how to play, we'll teach you!! :-)

We hope to see you there!!

Kid's Can Change the World!!!

From left to right... Talia, Katie, Abby, and Mia

It all began at the "Join the Journey" adoption night... I found Katie and Abby at a table writing down a bunch of notes. I asked what they were doing, and they shared that they were coming up with ways that they could "Join the Journey!" They were so excited to do whatever they could for the orphans!

Here is the fruit of their labors... They decided to have a garage sale and quickly set out to get items donated from friends and family! They even got a write up about them in the newspaper!! On Friday, they were busy pricing everything out, making posters, and just having fun! When I came by to bring by some "Join the Journey" bracelets, t-shirts, etc., they escorted me to "base camp,"  as they called it :-)!!

We arrived this morning at 7 AM to find an already busy and extremely well organized garage sale... there was even a map where you could find everything! The girls were eager to share with others that they were doing this garage sale to raise money for the families adopting from China!!!

As a result, the girls raised over $600 for the China families!!! Way to go girls! What a blessing you are to all of us! Thank you for serving in such an awesome way!!! You HAVE changed the world!!

July 4th at the Lake



The kids dressed up as "Juice it Up!" Smoothies





Here's the boys...Who could resist buying a smoothie from them?





Kevin Liu and Jeremy in front of our "Juice it Up!" Booth



The Eby's, Lui's, and us headed out to Lodi Lake for a fun day of selling smoothie's for our adoption! It was fun to be together as families serving for a great purpose!! We had a blast, and thanks to 100+ degrees that day, the smoothie's were a hit!! We completed our day with the beautiful fireworks over the lake!! What fun!

The Heart of a Child

"Let the little children come unto me, and do not forbid them. For such is the kingdom of heaven." These are the very words spoken by Jesus to His disciples long ago!! This verse has had a profound impact on my life recently!

It all started when Jeremy found a penny. His immediate response was, "Mommy, look, this will help bring baby sister home!!"
Of course, my adult mind told myself, "Yeah, right... a penny is like '1/1 millioth' of what it will take to bring her home!" But of course as a mother I praised him for thinking of his sister and doing whatever he could to help out!
Later it was some friend's kids that started brainstorming about creative ways they could help "Join the Journey." One (Peyton) had been making friendship bracelets he wanted to sell, and the other (Cooper) decided he was going to sell some jokes... "People will pay me money, and I will tell them a joke" :-)!
At the "Join the Journey" night, I happened to see some girls writing stuff down on a paper. I asked them what they were doing, and they excitedly said, "we're coming up with some ways we can help!" Abby (going into 6th grade) had a whole list of things she was going to do/make in order to raise awareness and raise money!!
It was then through my dear friend's daughter Annika (5 1/2 years old) that I finally got it!!! When she heard we were in the process of bringing an orphan home from China, she immediately told her mom that she wanted to give all her piggy bank money for "Jeremy's sister" to come home.
When we handed out our "Join the Journey Chinese Food Boxes" to collect change, she went home and dumped her piggy bank money into it. It filled the entire box! I took it to the coin collector at our bank and it totalled over $45!!!
It was not the fact that a 5 1/2 year old was able to give $45 that struck me (although how cool is that!!!)... it was the fact that she gave it with no reservation! She realized that there was a need, and she could be a part of filling that need!!
I am utterly amazed at the fact that so many kids have decided to "Join the Journey" with no reservation! They want to do whatever they can!! Kids get "God's heart!!" They see people in need, and they want to help! They want to love, and they want to do something!!!
May I never stand in the way of these children!! Let them come!!