We Need Your Help

I received and email this morning about helping another family adopt 3 of the orphans from the Ukraine. They are looking to raise a lot more money than we are and I felt for them in their fundraising efforts. I however feel unable to help them because we are trying so hard to raise our own money.

We have received many "congratulations" and "wow, that's a such a wonderful thing you are doing for her"  responses from people that have found out our story, but as yet we have only received one donation. A wonderful friend of mine in Australia, yes all the way in Australia, donated to our cause. It was so wonderful to get that first donation, it made me cry and think that this thing we are trying to do, might actually be possible. But, since then we have had nothing.
 We are still in the process of compiling documents for our home study, so we are not as far a long as I would like. After that is completed we have to file the paperwork with the INS, and then the big fees start coming. Let me share with you an example of what is to come -

we still need to pay our facilitation fee of $4900, we can postpone this for a little while and only send them a few hundred to get started, but eventually we will need to pay it.
Next comes the fees for the home study $750
Then the INS fee of $890
Then we need to find the 1st portion of our foreign fees, this is paid to the agency in the Ukraine $4800
we then need to get all of our documents apostatized $480
Then we need to have them translated and registered in the Ukraine $4500 and pay to fedex them over there $200.
All these things have to be done before we can even travel over there, which will bring many more fees and expenses. I think you can see why I am overwhelmed, discouraged, stressed and wondering how this is going to be possible.

If you are looking at those numbers and thinking, wow that is so much I can't possibly help, think again! There is no donation too small that it will not bless the life of this beautiful girl! You can not possibly imagine the gift even a few dollars would be to her and to us!


So with that said, I ask again, PLEASE share our story with everyone you know. Email our blog link to all of you friends, you never know who will be inspired to help. Share it on facebook or twitter. I don't care how the word gets out, I just need it too!! You don't have to know us to help us save an orphans life, you just have to have the desire to help :)

You can be a part of a great thing, no matter what part of the world you are from. Look in your couch cushions or under you bed.
PLEASE help us save a life, you will be blessed for it!

Thank you to everyone that has so willing donated items to our yard sale. Our garage is filled! But, please don't think that we can't use more. Whatever you have we will willing take. So let me know if you have something that we can come and pick up. :)

New Week

This week is going to be a busy one. We have meet the teacher today, I have to figure out how to get our mail back, (if you haven't heard our mailman decided that I had left the mail sitting in our box for too long and wont deliver to us anymore!) T and L start school tomorrow, M has her second of 3 orthodontic appointments to get her braces, and has an intake meeting for her new home school program. C gets tested for kindergarten, and Uncle Adam, Aunty Erin and Summer come to visit. Oh and The Mr and I run a relay on the weekend. . I also need to organize our fundraising yard sale, which we are still taking donations for, and get all the documents together for our home study. Find a way to pay the first installment of expenses and do just the normal everyday house work stuff! Now for most people this would be a regular day, but not for me. I am usually pretty boring and never leave the house, so I will feel a bit overwhelmed this week!

I am really looking forward to spending a few days visiting with my brother and sister in law and getting to meet my beautiful niece. I am also really looking forward to running on the weekend with a van full of great friends. It is going to be a blast!!!

So, it is a new week and I am going to try and feel blessed because of the things I GET to do this week, and try and do them with a smile. I am not going to let the disappointments and trials of last week over shadow the accomplishments I might have this week. I will look to the future and hope for the best.



Here's to a new week, a week of fun and a week of smiles.

Rough Day

Today has been very disheartening. I know there will be many days like this during this process. I was fully aware of that going into it. But it still is a sucky feeling.  I have been trying to apply for different things to help us afford this adoption, but unfortunately none of them are going the way I hoped they would. 

I am stuck in this viscous cycle of I have to pay to start the process, but I have to have the process started in order to get money! I am trying really hard to believe that the Lord will provide a way for us to accomplish this very huge thing we have started, and I know that its only the beginning of a very long heart wrenching journey. But, it is really hard to see that there will ever be a way for us to afford it.  I know that my faith will be tested all the way along, and today is just the beginning! But boy, has it been hard.

My only hope is that it is going to be especially hard because it is the right thing for us. Satan always works the hardest when we are trying to follow the spirit, right?! So I will keep trying to remember that, because I have to hang on to some hope that the Lord wants us to be able to bring O home!

The Journey Begins

Yesterday morning we said a sad goodbye to our Ukrainian daughter! It was a really hard day for our family. On the way to the airport The Mr turned to see O with her sunglasses on looking away from everyone because she was crying. That started the sadness off. It was a very somber ride all the rest of the way despite the Mr and I trying hard to cheer everyone up.
When we finally reached the airport (we were the first family to arrive) things had settled down a little and we prepared for her departure.

O, M and C sadly sitting around waiting for everyone to join us.

O, L, M, C and T.

After a few minutes the large group of kids and host families started pouring in and the crying and hugging began again.
I felt overwhelmed by peoples generosity, especially people I know that donated, when I saw the many, many bags of clothing that was to be sent back to the Ukraine. 

Thank you to all that donated clothing and suitcases. The orphanages that will receive these things will be very grateful!

We stood around for a what seemed like a long time, while the people in charge of this large group got everything ready and everyone checked in. There were many opportunities for more hugs and more pictures and especially laughing and crying.

me and our beautiful girl

Checking in

waiting

Some of the group arriving.

M clearly unhappy to see her friend/sister leave

sadness all around!

After standing around we were lead upstairs so they could all go through security. This was were we had to all say our final good bye. The kids were all really upset, they didn't yet know that we had decided to adopt O, but we told them about it when we got home. They were all very excited to think of ways to help us get money.

 As sad as the Mr and I were to see our daughter leave us, I felt a very strong feeling of peace knowing that we would see her again. It may take us a while and it will definitely take all the money we have, but I know she will come home and be part of our family once more. She is in our prayers every night and I hope that things will go smoothly for us along this journey so we can have our whole family together again.

Yes there were better pictures but I thought this accurately showed you C!

Our Next BIG Adventure!

So after fasting and praying about our visitor O, The Mr and I have decided that she is meant to be a part of our family!! We are planning on adopting her. This is a REALLY huge process and VERY expensive. We had a meeting last night with a few other prospective adoptive families, to discuss the process and the expense. I am a little overwhelmed by how much it is going to cost, and not really sure how we are going to pay for it. We don't have a lot of money and this will be pretty hard. But we feel like she is meant to be here, so we are going to try and find ways to get this done.
So here is where I ask for everyones help!!!!
We will be doing fund raisers (not sure just yet what they will be) to help cover the cost. We would love anyone that is willing or able to help us with that, to help by donating to our cause. I hate to ask people for money, but the fact is we don't have this kind of money, so I am going to have to break out of my comfort zone for the benefit of our new daughter!
If anyone knows of any non profit organizations or people that might be willing to donate as a tax right off, please let me know, or contact them and tell them of our situation, PLEASE!
If you can think of a good fund raiser, please tell me about it. We will need all the help we can get.
Our first expense will be straight away, so we need to work fast! O is available for adoption right away and we would love to have her home for Christmas. What a great family Christmas gift!!!
If all you can do is pray for us, that would also be greatly appreciated as well. I know we will need many small or maybe large miracles all along the way.

We are excited to take this path, (although a little overwhelmed and scared as well) but O is a VERY welcome addition to our little family. We would love you all to meet her before she has to return to the Ukrainian orphanage (sad day for us) on Sunday. So if you get a chance come on by, you will love her!

Oh if anyone wants to help me with my Russian, I would love that as well. I am pretty bad at it!! :) hehe

Our Visitor

We are excited that today we get to welcome into our home a 13 year old girl from the Ukraine. Olena will be staying with us for about 12 days. She is here as part of a program to help her and about 14 other orphans find families to adopt them. They get to take English lessons and visit places of interest as well as fun places like 7 peaks. They get to experience new things and see what it's like to live with an American family. Most of the kids that have come have been alone for a long time. Some, like Elana have living family members that wont take them for all sorts of reasons, and so have given up hope of ever being loved. We hope to be able to help with that in some small way. I hope to be able to show her that there are people that can love her and that she can enjoy life. Most of the children that have made this trip wont be able to find families to adopt them because they are too old. In most cases, people want to adopt a baby or a young child. They want to be able to mold them and teach them. But really, imagine instead what we could learn from these kids!
In the Ukraine, a child in the system will "age out" when they turn 16. That means they are on their own. They are no longer allowed to live in the orphanage, with people they know and feel safe with. They are forced out onto the streets to care for themselves. This doesn't usually end well for them.

As is normal when I feel like I am doing something important, today I have been faced with the worst behaved kids I have had all summer long. All four of them have given me nothing but grief all day long. They have hit, kicked, bit, yelled, spilled garbage all over the ground, pouted, complained at every turn, and the day isn't even over. I am hoping that this behavior only means that what we are doing is the right thing and that Satan is trying to stop it. So, I will fight on. Our home may not be perfectly clean or organized when she arrives. There may even be some fighting amongst the kids and probably some growling from me. But, even though we don't have a lot to offer this young girl, what we do have, we most certainly share with her. I hope it makes even the smallest difference in her life. Then I will know that it was worth it.

If you can open your heart and home to a child for a week, or forever, please let me know. They are still looking for host families and adoptive families for these children.

Click!!

Life takes crazy turns. I have struggled lately feeling homesick and all around not good enough. So it has been hard to want to write on here. But today is the start of a new day. Starting today I plan to try to focus on the positive things I do and not the many negative things I feel i do or don't do. I am truly inspired by Hilary Weeks. She has a new blog, a movement really. Her blog is billionclicks.org, if you have not heard of it you should look it up. She wants to help encourage everyone to count their happy thoughts every day and focus on them, instead of all the negative thoughts we each have. By doing this, we will change our view on life and our attitudes and spirits will change! I am so excited to do this. It is something I struggle with all the time. The Mr is always telling me to think like this, but I just find it really hard. I am hoping that having a clicker in hand, something to look at as proof of my accomplishments, will help motivate me. I am so excited, I just purchased a clicker for each member of my family. This could be a fun family activity or it could be just a fun toy for C. Either way I know it will help me!
 


The Mr and I have 2 weeks till we run our very first marathon, and while I don't feel nearly prepared enough to accomplish my goal of a 4 hour marathon, I know we will finish and we will both feel very proud of the accomplishment. I will be glad to be able to get back to running for the fun of it and not to train. It has been a lot of hard work! This accomplishment will be well worth a click..

It is hard to believe that summer is here already. Life is moving far to quickly. M finished her first year of Jr high, it wasn't the easiest year but we are proud of her for completing anyway! (click) It is hard for me to believe that C will be starting school in just a few short months! (click)  I know I will find the alone time relaxing, I will really miss my little buddy. He really keeps me on my toes and infuriates me and pushes my buttons, but I sure do love him! (Click) For now though, we have to get through the summer without me killing any of them! Any ideas to keep them busy for free or cheap would be greatly appreciated. :)

I wonder how many more clicks I can get today?? How many can you get??