Hope Quilt Fundraiser

I was searching the internet today for some different fundraising ideas for adoption and I came across a lot of really neat ones but one in particular stuck out. People were selling puzzle pieces for $5 each and would write the contributors name on the back. When all the pieces were sold the puzzle would be placed in a double sided frame and hung in the baby’s room. I thought this was a neat idea but 1) we aren’t adopting a baby and 2) I have no idea how to get my hands on a Latvian puzzle without spending a fortune. Then the grandest idea hit me! I would LOVE to make the girls an adoption quilt that showed them how many people helped to bring them home. And since I love being crafty this is right up my alley.

Each square will cost $5, you can purchase as many as you’d like to go in their quilt. Each HOPE square will have the contributor’s name written on the back with a fabric marker. We’d also love for you to send us a scripture or some kind words for us to include with your name. Once it’s time for the quilt to be assembled we will transfer those names and scriptures to a book so that they will always be able to look back and see who contributed to them having HOPE and a FUTURE.

One twin size quilt takes about 391 5” squares. We’d love to sell 782 squares so that each girl can have their own HOPE quilt. Think we can do it?

I don’t know 782 people so we are going to need your help! Please share this on your facebooks and even better share it on your blogs and help us get the word out.

You can buy your HOPE square(s) through this PayPal button. Please leave us your name and note or scripture in the message area so that we can add it to your square.

This graph will be updated regulary to reflect how many squares have been sold


8/13 - 82 Squares sold so far!

We are $2400 short of being able to submit our dossier to Latvia for translation. Once this is done we will receive our official referral. We will then need to have around $10,000. This will cover travel fees, visas, attorney fees, lodging and some other stuff so our current goal is to raise $12400.

Thank you all for sharing our cause and supporting us as we travel this long and bumpy journey to bring our daughters home and complete our family.

Some updates

I just wanted to update everyone and let them know that we are now down to needing just a mere $2400 more in order to send our dossier to Latvia. We will be having a yard sale this Friday and Saturday if anyone has anything they would like to donate to it.

We are also planning a car wash for later this month. Possibly in two locations if we can get enough volunteers to help. If you would like to help with this event please let us know. Older kids can wash cars too. I’m hoping Sean will be able to get some of his friends from his Sunday School class to come out. If anyone has any connections with a location in Spring Hill and/or Franklin that would be great otherwise I’m going to start calling around.

Every little bit really does add up. Every $5 makes a difference when you think of the $65 we paid each for drug testing yesterday, or the $10 for background checks, or the $190 to have my passport expedited. And that doesn’t touch on what we are paying for the actual adoption. It’s crazy that it’s such a high price to bring these kids to families.

I’ll be looking into and applying for some grants this coming week too. We had to have our home study finalized before that could be done and then while the girls were visiting this summer I didn’t have time to work on any of it.

We tried to call the girls at their orphanage but they are gone to the city for camp until next week. They still do not know that we are adopting them but the director at NHFC is checking to see if we can tell them when we call them on Monday since we are a good ways into the process already.

On another note, school starts back this week for my boys. Sean is going into the seventh grade, can you believe it? My first born is growing up too fast. He got his schedule, locker assignment and met his teachers on Monday night. Then Matthew will be starting kindergarten in a little less than two weeks. They stagger their start days so it’s not so overwhelming for the little ones.

This is a photo taken of all of our kids before the girls left. The photography was done by Ricky Gongwer so give him a shout if you are looking to have your families pictures done. You can find him on facebook. The kids thought he was really funny.

*oops, can't share the photos anymore since we are officially in process*

That’s it for now. Happy hump day friends!

What’s next…

Well those five weeks of summer came and went in almost a blur. The days flew by and our house was very busy with lots of noise but without even knowing it that chaos became a comfort.

D and A flew home on Thursday morning. Leaving them at that airport and watching them walk through security while they kept looking back to see if we were still there was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I was a blubbering mess that day. Not much could be said that wouldn’t make me tear up.

It’s been two days now without them and our house is quieter but it’s a sad quiet. Not the quiet that I begged for some times during those summer weeks. The stillness is a reminder that my little girls are gone. We’ve closed the door to their room because walking by and seeing it empty is hard. Watching my four year old sit sadly and tell me that he misses the girls and wants them back is hard. Sean fought with them like they’d been siblings their whole lives while they were here and he’s missing them so much too, he says it’s boring here without them. That’s hard on my heart. Watching my husband cry is hard. We are praying for God to sustain us during these hard times.

We are now focusing on finishing up our dossier and hope to have it completed by the time we get our approval from USCIS. Burying myself in the paperwork is the easiest way to cope as I know it’s going to bring them back sooner. The good news is that we had a good head start because we’d finished our homestudy and filed our i800A before they even got here. Once our dossier is submitted things tend to move pretty quickly so I hear. We’d get our referral and then a travel date usually within one to two months. The girls will be able to return with us after the first court date as “hosting” again but will have to return for final court on the third trip.

That’s both wonderful and scary because while we want it to go fast so we can bring them back sooner that means we need to move fast with our fundraising. Prior to being able to submit the dossier we have to send $1500 to our agency for casework fees (paid), the remaining agency fee of $3000 (paid), a $2300 translation fee for the attorney in Latvia, and a $1000 post placement retainer ($500 remaining).

I’ve got a couple of ideas in the works but in the meantime if you’d like to make a donation to help us reach this present goal of $2800 you can do so either via the PayPal button on the right side of our blog or if you’d like your donation to be tax deductible you can send it to our agency and put our family name in the memo line of your check. Our agency is not 501c accredited at the moment but their application has been submitted and should be approved this year so all donations made in this year will be deductible (They will be retro approved to January 1). The address is:

Adoption Related Services

8 South Main Street
P.O. Box 201
Shrewsbury, PA 17361

There have been so many clear signs through this time that we know we are following God’s direction and that He is going to provide what is needed to get them here. We are so thankful to be part of His great plan for these children. Please continue praying for Dajana and Adelina and for our family and the finances as we work towards bringing them back to us.

Looking for a few items

These past three weeks have got by in a blur. It’s hard to believe that D and A will be leaving in a little more than a week. It breaks my heart to think about putting them on that plane and putting so much distance between us and the connections we’ve made with them. They have come a long way in the time they’ve been here and I pray that some of the things they’ve learned will stick with them until we see them again.

While it is very hard to think it about them heading to their home in Latvia, it is something that we need to prepare for. There are a few things we need for each girl and I wanted to put those needs out there just in case someone that reads this blog wanted to do something to help. A few of the items have already been taken care of.

• One 26-28 inch rolling suitcase for each girl


• One large backpack for each girl


• Tennis shoes/sneakers (we plan to purchase these for them after we measure their feet and would like for these to be new)


• 4 pairs of socks each


• 4 pairs underwear each


• Hygiene products


• One hand towel and wash cloth set-NO large towels do to lack of dryer space each


• One dressy outfit each


• 2-3 winter outfits (we don't know their sizes, so if you have second hand clothes for girls ages 8-12 we would gladly take it off your hands to have them try on and then either return remaining items or donate them to someone else on your behalf)


• One winter coat, size 10/12 each (one has been donated already)


• One scarf each


• One set of gloves each


• One winter hat each


• A small photo album for each girl


• Board games that they can take back home; this actually may be better if it is the travel sized games and we were told repeatedly that the children in the orphanages love UNO and other card games


• Other toys that don't require batteries


• Small items for children who didn't get to attend the trip; items such as silly bands, beaded jewelry, or small items that can be found as Christian bookstores, like bookmarks and beads are recommended

I love these girls and they have touched my heart and changed me in so many ways in just a few short weeks.

New Horizons has also put up a photo listing of the “unmatched” children. These kids are still here in the United States for a little longer and are available to meet if you are looking to adopt. If adopting isn’t on your radar right now perhaps you will consider hosting a child over Christmas. To view the photo listing visit this link and use the password “praying”

http://nhfc.smugmug.com/Children/Children-Need-Forever-Families/17987772_24cpx8

I will be doing a large post soon to recap our hosting experience and share more photos. Have a great week friends! We love you all!

They ARE HERE!

The day we’ve been waiting on for weeks has finally came. Thursday we made the trek to Atlanta to meet our girls. I wasn’t really that nervous until standing in the airport waiting for them to come up the escalator. That was when I felt the butterflies. When I saw their tiny little selves come off the escalator I had so many feelings that my eyes got teary for a few minutes before we even greeted them.

They were so sweet and gave Danny and I both gifts. I think they had an inside scoop on us because they gave me a coffee cup and Danny candy. They knew how to get us from the start

Photo removed

These girls have energy like I have never seen before. They want to play from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed. They love apples and Toby to pieces. They have no problem calling us Mom and Daddy already. I’ve seen some nurturing moments between them and the boys as well.

Photo removed Photo removedPhoto removedPhoto removed

Tonight we are going to enjoy family movie night and popcorn. Dajana has been asking for popcorn lots.

You are more than just a number…

Sean was looking at a photo of the girls that we have had pinned to our refrigerator since we found out about them in early May and noticed under the photo were their names and the numbers D91 and D92.  He asked me, “mom what do those numbers mean?”.  While I’m not sure if the numbers were assigned by New Horizons for the hosting program or if this is a number in the Latvian “system” to keep up with them it kind of made me very sad to think about it.  These kids are more than just a number.  They are real, they have hearts, and they need a family.  I understand the need to keep things systematically organized and I guess it’s all in the perspective that you look at it from but I don’t want to think of them as a number, or as another statistic.  I want to them of them as mine.  My heart is invested in this so deep already.  We will be making our trek to Atlanta in just five days to pick them up and meet them for the first time.  Please keep the girls in your prayers over the next few weeks as their trip here is going to be a very big transition for them with lots of hurdles to cross, language one of the biggest.

Also, PLEASE friends DO NOT MENTION OUR ADOPTION PLANS TO THEM!  These kids just think they are coming to America for a vacation and to be exposed to what a life would be like in a Christian family.  While they may already have the hope or idea in their minds we don’t want to encourage it at this point.  This is a major no, no per our Hosting Agency because there are LOTS of ups and downs in adoption and something can always go wrong.  We do not want these girls being left to pick up the pieces wondering what they did wrong should that happen.

While we are on the numbers note, I just want to give a big praise to God for his financial provision in this so far.  It seems like things are going a little easier in that aspect than they were previously and I can only take that as a sign that we are on the right track. 

Our updated homestudy ($1500) was finalized on June 23rd and we will be mailing our I800A along with $890 to USCIS on Monday.  PTL that we have the funding to do that.  We also almost have the complete amount needed for our next payment ($1500) to our adoption agency.  Literally just shy of it by around $100.  I’m hoping to have a few people take advantage of a fresh blog look and cover that difference.  This payment covers the case management and dossier coordination costs.   If you’d like to make a contribution towards these costs you can do so via the donate button on the right side of our blog.   If you’d like to get your blog redesigned just send me an email to tabitha@scrapberrydesigns.com.

The next payment (following the one above) will be a big one, $5300 to be exact, but that covers our final agency fee, dossier translation, and processing fees.  This will have to be paid prior to submitting our dossier to Latvia.  I’ve got complete piece about it though.  I know that God is going to provide the means to make this happen.

I like being very open and honest about the costs involved in our adoption because I am hoping that it helps others to see that if you take the process one step at a time it is completely possible for the everyday middle class families like us to bring these kids home.  If you’ve thought about adopting but are fearful because of the money involved set that fear aside and go for it.  Give it over to God, let Him take you by the hand and walk you through the journey.  He will travel the road with you, even the bumpy ones, and get you to your destination if you just put faith in Him.

I pray that you all have a very fulfilling and blessed week.  I know we will with becoming a family of 7 for the summer starting on Thursday.

14 days remain…

That’s it! Just two weeks until we pack up in the car and head to Atlanta to pick up A and D. I’m feeling excited, nervous, anxious, and fearful all at the same time. Kinda crazy!

We are still preparing for their visit here with us this summer. We are making their welcome signs for the airport this weekend and will start labeling different things in the house in both English and Latvian. Their room is ready and very girly looking. It’s the first girls room I’ve put together and I like it. Very bright and colorful. I did leave the walls empty so that maybe they can pick out some pictures or something they might like for their space. We’ve received some clothing donations to help get us through the first few days of their visit until we can go shopping too. Thank you so much everyone that has stepped up to help in these areas. The hosting fees have also been paid. However, there are still a few needs for both girls that I thought I would put out there just in case anyone is wanting to help but didn’t know what they could do.

The following needs are requirements that we MUST send home with the child. They can be second-hand, but must be in good condition. They must not be brand-name as this could cause bullies to harass them when they return home. We learned that most items they return with will become community property. If you are able to donate any of these items we would GREATLY appreciate it; or if you would like to give gift cards to stores like Target or Wal-mart that would be excellent as well!

• One 26-28 inch rolling suitcase for each girl



• One large backpack for each girl



• Tennis shoes/sneakers (we plan to purchase these for them after we measure their feet and would like for these to be new)



• 4 pairs of socks each



• 4 pairs underwear each



• Hygiene products



• One hand towel and wash cloth set-NO large towels do to lack of dryer space each



• One dressy outfit each



• 2-3 winter outfits (we don't know their sizes, so if you have second hand clothes for girls ages 8-12 we would gladly take it off your hands to have them try on and then either return remaining items or donate them to someone else on your behalf)



• One winter coat each



• One scarf each



• One set of gloves each



• One winter hat each



• A small photo album for each girl



• Board games that they can take back home; this actually may be better if it is the travel sized games and we were told repeatedly that the children in the orphanages love UNO and other card games



• Other toys that don't require batteries



• Small items for children who didn't get to attend the trip; items such as silly bands, beaded jewelry, or small items that can be found as Christian bookstores, like bookmarks and beads are recommended

O.K. So, we hope we didn't overwhelm you! The funny thing is that we still have SO much to share. In the meantime we hope that this gives you enough information to pray and consider until our next update!
Thank you for reading this blog and for loving us. Your support, is the greatest blessing and source of encouragement. And, since we believe it is God who prompts you to support us, we ultimately praise Him for giving us all we need to do His work.

Thank you! We pray you will also be blessed this week!