Catching up…

Thanks again to everyone that participated and helped spread the word about the facebook blitz last month.  We raised $150 above the cost of the iPod itself and every dollar counts towards getting there :)

It’s been a busy last few weeks with lots of things going on in the Butler house.  We found out we needed to buy insurance prior to our home study to show that we are able to meet any medical needs our little girl may have, then we received word that my position at work was being done away with so we were racking our brains for another plan when my job then came back and offered me the opportunity to work full time from home.  What a blessing that turned out to be!  Our insurance needs have been met!

So I’m working on filling out our home study application and off it will go on Monday!  God is soooooo good!

We are working on a few more fundraisers at the moment.  The first one coming up this week is another raffle but this time with a BIG PRIZE.  We will be raffling off a 16gb iPad along with some other secondary prizes.  We will be needing some helpers to get the word out and sell some tickets for us.  Each person that takes a book of 10 tickets to sell will receive an entry into the drawing.  If you sell two books, you get two entries.  Our goal is to sell 300 tickets.  If you are willing to help us in this area leave me a comment or send me an email at butlersadopt@gmail.com.

In the next few weeks we will be having another BIG, BIG yard sale here at the house.  If you’d like to do some fall deep cleaning and de-cluttering and donate your no longer used treasures we would appreciate it so much.  We will take everything from books, toys, furniture, dishes, you name it.  I do have to ask that if you are donating clothing please do so lightly.  We still have a ton of clothes to sell from previous donations.  The sale is tentatively scheduled for Friday October 1st and Saturday October 2nd.

And last but certainly not least, Buffalo Wild Wings has offered to let us have a fundraising night at their restaurant.  We are going to select a night for families to dine there and just by turning in your receipts we will receive a % of your meal ticket towards our fundraising.

The little ones also started preschool this week.  They were so adorable all dressed up for the first day

  

and a little tired come the end of the day :)

Sean also tried out for the SSTMS soccer team this weekend.  We will find out Monday if he is in or if he is out.  Crossing our fingers!

 

Have a blessed weekend

Winner is announced

We have drawn the winner of the iPod touch my friends.  Check out the video to see if you were the lucky one!  Thank you so much to every one that donated, posted and prayed for us this week!  We are getting closer $1 at a time my friends :)

 

 

The winner of the iPod shuffle will be drawn tomorrow.  I did not have a chance to get it all together this evening.

An awesome little blog

Our adoption was shared on a very cool blog! Check it out and bookmark it for later. There is always a new family with a new story that needs help making their dream come true!

 

http://postyouradoptionfundraiserhere.blogspot.com/2010/08/win-ipod-help-sweet-girl-come-home-to.html

It’s Blitz Time Baby!

Now that we have been “officially” accepted by MLJ adoptions it’s time for us to get serious about some fundraising.  We are completely confident that God is going to open the doors needed, close the ones not needed and provide the finances to bring our sweet little girl home to us but we must voice our need in order for others to know how help.

The next step in our process is to submit $7500 to our agency.  This payment covers things like our dossier, translations, some education expenses and postage/mailing fees.  I’ve been told that it is VERY expensive to mail things to and from Nicaragua.

So here are the details:

Wanna win an IPOD TOUCH or IPOD SHUFFLE?? It’s BLITZ time!!! You can win by simply donating $10 or spreading the word on your blog or facebook!! OUR GOAL IS TO RAISE $3750, HALF OF THE INITIAL $7500!!

For the next 7 days we are challenging you to HELP us bring our daughter home by raising awareness & spreading the word about our BLITZ event. Oh, did I mention we are GIVING away an IPOD TOUCH & an IPOD SHUFFLE?!?!

To win the IPOD TOUCH: For EVERY $10 you donate to our adoption, you will receive one entry in the Giveway. You will be emailed a giveaway number for each $10 you donate through the Chip-in on our blog. If you want to mail a donation, please email us & we’ll give you our address.

To win the IPOD SHUFFLE:
1. Post a blog entry on your blog about our giveaway & you'll receive one entry
OR
2. Change your wall status on facebook with a link to our event
OR
3. If you do both, then you will receive TWO entries in the shuffle giveaway. IMPORTANT: You must post a comment on our Princess’s facebook group with a link to your facebook or blog entry.

***We will hold the drawing on Sunday August 28th at 6:00pm (CST). It will be done the old fashion way…we will put all the entries name/number in a jar and pull from the jar. We will video the drawing and post it on our blog.***

Oh yeah…we will give away one 8gb IPOD Touch for EVERY $2000 we receive in donations so SPREAD THE WORD and skies the limit!

 

A day of beginnings

Today was a day full of new beginnings.  My first born started middle school today.  I can’t believe how these years have flown by.  It’s gone fast for me but he is counting down the days until he can drive, lol.  He’s taking band as an elective this year and plans on playing soccer and baseball for the school too.  We are looking forward to a great year full of new experiences and lots of learning.

<-------- Doesn’t he just look thrilled. Ha!

We also OFFICIALLY began the adoption process today.  The application was mailed to our agency so now we have actually taken the first step.  We have to find someone to do our home study on our own though because of our agency being out of state so that is the next step for us.  I have a few places to check into but if anyone has a recommendation we’d love to have it.

 

And here is the sacred envelope.  Yay!! 

VBS 2010

Here are some pics from our fun filled week of VBS.  I had such a blast this year with the sweet little preschoolers.  It was so much fun to see them singing and dancing and learning about Jesus.

   

 

  

 

 

  <-----------------------------THIS GUY HAD WAY TOO MUCH FUN DRESSED IN A CHIPMUNK COSTUME! 

Hope is fading

A friend of mine shared this video and it was so powerful and said so much without any words that I felt compelled to share it with you.

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

As for an update on our adoption, we are still trying to save up for the first of three payments.  At this point we have about $1500 of the $7000 that is needed for the initial payment. 

We are having another yard sale very soon.  As soon as ball is over with and we can pick a weekend out (it will be within the next month).  Our last one was a great success and we hope this one will be as well.

God is definitely providing the funding so far, it’s just hard to remember that it’s on His time and not ours.  I’ve been able to work some extra hours the last few weeks and jobs for our plumbing business have been coming in pretty consistently too.

Oh, and the blog raffle has officially ended and the winner of the makeover was Mandy Ducharme.  Congratulations Mandy and thanks for supporting our adoption!  I will be contacting you soon with the details of you makeover!