We're Approved!!

  

This is not our picture but it is so appropriate :)                                          

  Finally, after months of continual paperwork, home study visits, and fundraisers we are APPROVED! So this means we are now eligible for a birth mother to pick us to adopt her child. We could be waiting for a short period or years, but we are just excited to be to this point. As I mentioned before, there is just something about knowing we could get a phone call at anytime that is really exciting :) So please continue to keep us, our child, and their birth mother in your prayers. 

It's ALL In!!!

    We finally did it! We have all our paperwork, certifications, autobiographies, photo albums, etc. submitted to our agency!! I mailed the last of it off yesterday :) Our home study has been finished and reviewed by us and sent to our TX agency for review. Once they review it the study will be finalized and sent to them in hard copy. Then our file can be reviewed and approved for adoption. Then..... we will be placed out there as an adoptive couple to be picked by a birth mother! We are so excited to be at this point. It seems like the last few months have been a whirlwind!! We have been so blessed by all our friends and family and we can't help but say thank you all again. Your help has allowed us to go through these stages quickly, because we weren't having to wait on the money.
   Even though we can't be picked yet please start praying for us. Obviously we would be happy with fast :) but mostly we want you to pray for the right match for us, the birth mother, and our child. It is so exciting and a little scary to think that we could be picked in the near future:) I know we could have to wait awhile too, but there is just no way to know. Jonathan has said for a long time I'm the queen of "this could be the last time we ever...." but I really am thinking it a lot lately (in a good way) and I think he is too.
    As a side note, I bought our first diapers and wipes :) They keep forever right? I couldn't resist a good coupon deal. I went to rite aid three days in a row:) But I got three jumbo packs for about $5.60 a piece! It wasn't free like you see on TV but still a good bargain. I am gonna try to pace myself but couponing is a little addicting so we'll see.
   Anyways, I just wanted to share the good news, and I hope to be sharing more in the next week or so :)

ALMOST through with the paperwork!!

  Well we have now finished our in-home home study visits and only have one more visit to complete our home study completely! We are quickly approaching the end of this approval phase :) We almost have our paperwork done too!!! Yay!!!!!!!! I mean YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about feeling accomplished. Before long we might actually have time to spend an evening relaxing in front of the TV :) We will be ending our t-shirt fundraiser soon so if anyone wants a shirt you better go ahead and order it. If anyone wants a large of the brown faith, hope, & love shirt I have a friend that ordered an extra one (or two) accidentally that I am sure would be glad to sell it to ya:) Just let me know and I'll get you in touch with her. Also, We really, really need to sell these Titans tickets for Sept 29th! It will be here before we know it and I don't want to hold on to them too long. We do not have any big fundraisers left, and this will probably be the last one. Several people have said they heard we had all our money, but that's not true yet. However, we are getting really close. If anyone still has change jars that they want to return you can give them to Mindy at the bank. Thank you all so much for your support whatever if may be! Please continue to pray for us as we enter the next phase, waiting. 

Still Truckin' Along

  I told you I was not good at this blog thing :) A lot has happened since my last post. We had a great yard sale! People said it was more like a flea market! We have sold all our big items. The only fundraiser we have now is some Titans tickets we are trying to sale. The game is Sept. 29th against the Jets. So if you know anyone interested send them my way. We have started our home study process and have our first in home visit next week! This will be our second of four visits. As far as paperwork goes we are coming along pretty good there too. A few more weeks and we should have it all done:) So hopefully sometime in September we will be eligible to be selected by a birth mother! Yay!! We may have to wait a while to be selected but we may not. It's pretty exciting! We won't know what to do with our time when all we have to do is wait. We hope everyone will continue to pray for us through this journey. It has been so wonderful this far. God has blessed us in all our efforts to raise money and through so many friends and family members. We have meet some great people who have been where we are now and it's great to see how things ended up for them. Both of our agencies (for placement and home study) have been absolutely great! They are so good at what they do and wonderful to work with! Well it may not sound like a lot but we have been some busy people. A few more weeks of this craziness and then things will start to slow down.

Yard Sale Extravaganza !!

  Well as many of you know we are back to work on our fundraisers! That Saturday afternoon off really was nice :) We have added another storage building to hold our yard sale goodies! So we currently have our garage and two storage buildings full of stuff (and I mean FULL). Not to mention several friends and family members are holding stuff for us at their houses. So please spread the word. It will be just off Manchester's square on August 3rd. We need shoppers! We have such a variety of stuff and items from probably over 40 families! All the way to the bathroom sink (no kitchen sink yet) Yeah I know that was corny, but hey :) Tons of things will be $2.00 or less! All sizes of clothes too. I will give you more info as it nears but start saving the date! 

It was a SUCCESS!

   Well we have had our first big fundraiser, and it was a big success. I was a little worried the rain and flooding might deter people from getting out but it didn't stop our sweet friends and family! Our little hometown of Woodbury really put it's arms around us in support of this breakfast/auction. We had over 90 items in our silent auction from local businesses, friends, and family (and family of friends). Not only did our little town make a big showing but our Manchester crew really rallied behind us too. It was so great to see friends we had not seen in such a long time. Our "workers" did an amazing job at cooking, serving, cleaning, collecting money, delivering take out orders, and a lot of other jobs that made this breakfast/auction flow. It was so hot in the kitchen and very busy at times but they never complained. Even when I asked them to get there at 5:30 on a Saturday morning! We were not able to keep up with the number of people that came because it got so busy, but it was well over 200. The silent auction also went great! We are so overwhelmed by everyone's generousity and support, and we want to say THANK YOU to everyone to participated in any way!!

Pancake Fundraiser Breakfast

Who loves pancakes!!!! We are having our Pancake fundraiser on Saturday July, 6th from 6 AM to 10 AM. The breakfast will be held at the Woodbury Church of Christ fellowship hall which is located at the back of the building in the basement. One of the most exciting parts of the breakfast is the silent auction consisting of over 85 entries donated from local craftsmen and businesses. There has been an amazing outpouring of support for this fundraiser and we hope for a great turn out. Thank you so much to those that have donated  items to help make this breakfast a success. All we need now is a big hungry crowd on the morning of the 6th so save room for pancakes and bring some friends. Also check out our Christian Homes and Family Services display at the breakfast, it may help answer some of the questions you may have about "open" adoption process.