Milestone Day

Wow!  What an exciting day!  We hit two huge milestones in our adoption process!  The first is that all of our final dossier paperwork was sent to the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoptions (CCCWA) in Beijing!  This is called “Dossier to Country” (DTC).  Now CCCWA has everything that they need to issue us our “Letter of Acceptance” (LOA)!  Since we are the first family in our agency to return for a second WIC adoption within a year’s time, we are not sure how long it will take to receive the LOA, but the orphanage has requested that our case be expedited.  We are getting close! 

The second huge milestone hit today was in our fundraising efforts!  We received several hundred dollars in donations today…enough to reach our matching grant amount!!  We needed to raise $2,500 in order to receive that same amount for a matching grant and YOU DID IT!!!!!  Thank you!!!!! We are still in need of more funding, but it is such a relief to have the amount needed for the grant!  Thank you for your generous hearts and your willingness to help bring Michael out of an orphanage and into his forever family!   You have made an eternal impact today on our family and we are eternally grateful! 

Winner will be drawn when...

Heather has extended the deadline for her "Grover Give-Away!"  When we reach our matching grant amount of $2,500, Heather will draw the winner.   We only need $295 more to reach that goal!  You can read her blog and let her know of your donation at http://www.fillmoresjourneytoanna.blogspot.com/.  We are so grateful to those who have donated!  Thank you Tina J., Denise C., Christine A., and Janet T.! 

Angels Among Us

Do you remember the Alabama song, “Angel’s Among Us?”  It was one of my favorite songs and it has been playing in my head the past couple of days.

“Oh I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live
To teach us how to give
To guide us with a light of love”

The other night a sweet lady came to our door with a delivery.  She had been to visit her grandchildren in another state and while she was there she told them of our family.  She told them the story of Jacob joining our family and she told them of Michael and how we are working to bring him home.  Several days later this sweet grandmother was packing to come home when her granddaughters came into the room and handed her a Ziploc bag with money in it.   These young girls had worked very hard all summer to grow strawberries and sell them.  They had saved a large amount of money and when they heard Michael’s story, they discussed it with their parents and decided that they wanted to give their hard earned money to help bring him to his forever family. 

I can’t express how humbling it is to accept help from these angel children.  This gift represented an entire summer of hard work for these young girls. Their sacrifice and gift is absolutely sacred to us.  These young girls are “angels among us.”

I received an updated donor list today from Reece’s Rainbow.  We have received these lists in past weeks and have been so grateful for the friends and family that were represented on the list.  This week was different, however.  On today’s list, were several names that we do not know personally.  These angels read of Michael’s story and decided to help bring him home to his forever family.  Because I do not know how to send my gratitude to these angels that have helped us, I will thank them here and hope that they will see and know of our deep gratitude.  Thank you SunDee L., Stacey S., Rebecca B., Cynthia W., and Taryn S..  Your gift means so much to our family. 

So, as my mind replays, “Angels Among Us” over and over in my mind today, I will have specific angels in my thoughts and I will be forever grateful that they have come to me and my family.    

A Mary Kay Give-Away!!

Have you ever met a person that you instantly knew was extraordinary and that you would be blessed just for knowing them?  I met a person just like this last month at the Buddy Walk.  While walking through the booths we discovered the Reece’s Rainbow booth (a ministry that advocates for the adoption of children with Down Syndrome).  Both of our sons, Jacob and now Michael, have been listed on the Reece’s Rainbow site.  While at the booth we met a family who had adopted their little girl, Anya, from Eastern Europe.   We told Heather, Anya’s mother, that we had been awarded a matching grant for Michael’s adoption but were intimidated by the necessary fundraising.  Heather is very knowledgeable in this area and told us that she would help us.  She has been more than true to her word.  Recently, she decided on her own to hold a give-away in our behalf to help with our fundraising efforts.  Entries for her give-away can be earned by sharing a link to our blog on FaceBook, sharing a link to our blog on your blog, and/or donating any amount to our adoption fund.  Please visit her blog at http://fillmoresjourneytoanna.blogspot.com/2011/10/grovers.html and help Heather help us!  Thank you Heather for being such an extraordinary woman!