Notice anything?

Anybody notice that the numbers are going down on the chipin?  We have been given some very generous donations this week!  Praise God!  We are getting there and I believe that God is going to get us to Anna's country, one way or another.  It's happening people!  God is so good!

Yipeeeeeeee

I got a call from USCIS (immigrations) that we were approved for our I600A!  We should be getting our letter in the mail soon!  We have really had some issues with our adoption and paperwork.  There have been several people in our adoption journey with great, big ego issues that really slowed us down.  When we finally got our paperwork sent off to immigrations they rejected it saying they needed FIVE more things added to our paperwork.  These were things that some people did not want to deal with and help us out to fix our paperwork so we could get approval.  Long story, short version.  We hired a new agency who bent over backwards to help us get our paperwork that we needed and sent in to immigrations.  USCIS received our paperwork THE day of our deadline.  A lot of tears, prayers and sweat went into getting all of this together on time.  The deadline was November 19th.  If we didn't get our paperwork to them by the 19th they were going to charge us $680 more dollars to re-apply!  I checked online to see that they did receive the paperwork on time and Fedex showed me that someone signed for it on the 19th.  So a month rolls by and we haven't heard anything.  I decided to call them and see if they will give me an update on our I600A.  Mrs. Williams we never received your paperwork, is what I hear through the telephone.  What?  You didn't receive my paperwork?  But Fedex says online that you did.  OK well send us proof that we received it and then fax us all of the paperwork.  Sounds easy enough, eh? Wrong! I run downstairs to find my paperwork showing the confirmation # so that I can fax it to immigrations.... EXCEPT....the portion of the receipt that should show the confirmation # has been torn off! What? How?  I am crying at this point, thinking we are not going to be able to show proof that they received it without that confirmation #.  I go through all 5,000 sheets of paper (that's what it looked like) at least 5 times and cannot find that little sliver of paper with the confirmation # on it.  More tears, more prayers.  So I throw myself together and run up the street to the little packaging store where I had sent off my Fedex package.  In my brain I am thinking they are not going to be able to help me without that #....but guess what?  They could help me and they did!  They were able to pull up on their computer where I had sent the package and it was delivered on the 19th and signed for.  Praise God!  Tears start falling again!  Thank you Lord!  So this morning I get a phone call from the very kind lady at USCIS saying that we were approved and should be getting our approval letter in the mail soon!  Thank you Lord!  We are one step closer to Anna!!

Dear God,
please let this be the last Christmas that Anna has to spend alone as an orphan.  Thank you for  making a way for us to be able to financially go and rescue her and give her a family of her own.  Hold her tight and keep her safe.  Let her belly be full and let her always know your love.  Comfort her when she's lonely, sad or sick, until we can go and take her away from her life in the orphanage.  That's really all I want for Christmas!
Amen

and the winner is......

The winner of our iPad is Jennifer Bourget!!  An email has been sent to notify the lucky winner!! 

CONGRATULATIONS JENNIFER!!!

A HUGE thanks to all who have donated and helped us get

a few steps closer to our sweet Anna!!

May God bless you all!

Prize give away-ENDED!

We will be taking donations for the iPad give away up until 5 pm eastern time.  After 5 pm we will gather all of the names and put them in a drawing.  I will also need time to get the names from Reece's Rainbow for everyone that donated through their website.  We aren't able to see who donated until they send us the list...so please be patient with us :)  We will draw the name later on this evening, so stay tuned......

I can't wait to see who it is!!!!!

A big thank you!

I am amazed at how God has been working in our lives the last 10 months, way back when I began praying for God to change Mike's heart for adoption if it was in his plan for our family.  I am not surprised at all that God did this work in his own way and I am not surprised, but humbled, by the people who are reaching out to us and really want to help us bring our little girl home.  We have had donations from people all across the United States, Canada and Australia!  God is so good and he has been here with us through all of the trials that are coming our way since committing to adopt Anna.  When we have needed money for each step of the way it has been there.  God IS seeing us through this journey and I have no doubt in mind that he will help us with every penny we need to bring HIS daughter home and make her our daughter as well.  I often get emails from complete strangers who want to know how they can help.  I had the sweetest lady email me and tell me that she wanted to make cards with Anna's picture on it and send it out to her friends and family and ask for donations to help us bring Anna home.  She was asking that they make a donation in honor of her son, rather than buying him Christmas gifts.  We don't even know her, but look how God is using his people to bless us and help us!  We still have a lot of money to raise, but I am fervently praying and believing that God has a plan in store for us and will make a way for it to happen.

So we say a BIG THANK YOU to those of you who have helped us along this beautiful journey that we are on.  Thanks to those of you who have given donations, held fund raisers, made cakes and cookies to sell, took up donations from their friends and families and also those of you who are praying us through this!  Your prayers and support mean so much to us!  You have no idea the things we have encountered during this journey, both good and not so good :(  There are people who don't understand why we would want to bring this broken, little orphan girl into our family and that really stings and cuts to the heart.  But thankfully there are only a few people with that view and hundreds more who are on our side cheering and praying and helping us make this whole process go smoothly.  We thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts!

We only have 4 more days to raise funds for our big prize give away on December 15.  To be honest we have barely made enough to cover the cost of the iPad.  Will you please, please share our link, share our story and help us raise more funds to help bring our little girl home?  You can share the link on Facebook, your blog and emails.  Get creative :) Please help us in any way you can imagine!  Thank you so much for your efforts and may God bless each and every one of you!

Where it all began...

This is where it all began~

I never, ever dreamed back in August of 1999

That Mike and I would be in the process

of adopting a sweet little girl

with Down syndrome.

When Ashlyn was born we thought

that we had lost our dream of the little girl

we were supposed to have.
(Didn't last long!  She's a treasure to us)

Never in a million years would we have thought

we would be fighting so hard

in 2010

to add another little girl just like Ashlyn

to our family.

Thank you God for planting that seed in our hearts way back in 1999.

Thank you God for making a way for us to go and get our other little girl

who is waiting for us in Eastern Europe.



Where doing nothing means nothing....

You know I have said more than once that we want to get to Anna before she is transferred to the mental institution. If you want to read about what life is like for children with disabilities in Eastern Europe after they are transferred to the dreaded and deadly "insane asylums", go and read this story by Julia who adopted Aaron after he had been transferred. She and her husband witnessed first hand what their life is like inside those walls of death and dying. Go here and read for yourself about their life of torture and despair.

And then go and read this entry as well, where she describes the different "jobs" that the boys are given at the institution. Reading her story hit me hard...very hard.

I hope that you will realize how DESPERATE we are to go and rescue Anna ASAP! Please consider helping us to bring her home by making a tax deductible donation. It will be a Christmas gift that will be remembered a life time!

10 More days until the big drawing!!

Only 10 more days until we draw for the give away of one iPad!  The winner will have it in time to place under the Christmas tree!!  Make a donation to help our family bring little Anna home and we will add your name to the drawing!  Not everyone is able to adopt, but there are many people who could help other families, like ours, to be able to bring this sweet little girl with Down syndrome into our family!!  Will you please consider making a donation this Holiday season to help give one sweet orphan a new family?  Please tell your friends and family about our desire to adopt Anna and spread the word about our fundraiser.  :)  She's waiting on us and we are tickled to be going soon for our first trip to visit her!  We need to raise a lot of money ASAP!!  GO  to Anna's picture below to make a tax deductible donation to help bring her home!  Remember, ONE person is going to get an iPad in our give away and how great would that be to put under your Christmas tree?

Why are we going across the world?

Many people want to know why we are going across the world to adopt a little girl with Down syndrome.  Children with disabilities in Eastern Europe are hidden away in orphanages and later transferred to mental institutions.  Many children don't live a full year after being transfered to the institution...why?  Neglect, trauma, malnourishement, a broken heart...

I am begging you to watch this video, especially those who simply cannot comprehend why we would adopt at all.  I pray that this touches your heart and let's you see what adoption means to God.  We have to rescue God's children....Jesus loves the little children, ALL the children of the world....