Brittany's Hope Foundation

As we are preparing to travel to bring Michael home, we are getting ready to send in funds for our matching grant from Brittany’s Hope. I just wanted to once again thank Brittany’s Hope for not only their $2,500 matching grant towards Michael’s adoption (www.brittanyshope.org/seedling/Grover), but also for the incredible work that they do advocating for orphans around the world. This foundation has been an absolute pleasure to work with and I am grateful for their dedication to these important little people and the families who are trying to bring them home.

The following story comes from the Brittany's Hope website and shares how and why the foundation was created.

“Brittany's Hope Foundation was created in January 2000 for the purpose of advocating for orphaned special needs children who are longing for the love of a family. Our foundation was inspired by our first adopted child, Brittany who we adopted when she was 12 years old. While Brittany was home for Christmas break in January 1999, during her senior year in college, her life was tragically cut short as a result of a car accident.

She was pursuing a career in social work and hoped to help waiting children find loving families. As we reflected upon the person that Brittany was and the work that she planned to do, we remembered a conversation she shared shortly before her death. She stated she "dreamed of a world where all children know the peace and love only a family can provide."

Although Brittany was unable to pursue her dreams, we wanted to honor her life by beginning the work she intended. As a result, Brittany's Hope Foundation was born. We believe every child deserves to know the love and security only a family can provide; our foundation reflects this passion. Through our work, we advocate for children who would likely spend their lives in an orphanage as a result of a disability or simply because they are older than the more desirable infant. Sometimes our advocacy means the difference between whether or not the child even survives, such as our heart baby cases. Although we are a small organization, we provide hope and love to children from around the world by helping them find their forever families.”

Brittany’s Hope Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation. One hundred percent of all donations are used to provide adoption financial grants or fund humanitarian efforts that benefit the children who are left behind, arranging for surgeries, safe cribs, formula, and education and transitional housing for older orphans. To learn more, visit www.brittanyshope.org

Birthday and Article 5!

Many things have happened since our last post…including a NASTY computer virus that caused me to be without a computer for several weeks. The first event took place on April 7th. Our little Michael turned 8 years old. I wish that I could tell you that it was a happy celebration in our home, we tried to make it happy… but it just wasn’t. There were many tears as we sang “Happy Birthday” to his little picture and blew out his birthday candles on the cake. I was completely unaware, eight years ago, that clear on the other side of the world one of my precious sons had entered this life. I think the hardest part of Michael’s birthday this year was knowing that HE was completely unaware that he had eight people in Lehi, Utah who were celebrating his birth….celebrating that this extraordinary little boy had come to earth and was going to be part of their forever family. I can’t tell you how badly I wish that I had been there at Michael’s birth. I think of that often with not only him, but also with Jacob and Lauren. How much I would have loved to be there to hold them as newborns. I wish that I could have fed them, bathed them, been there for their first smile, first tooth, first step. That is the difficult part. So, we were absolutely devastated that we missed another of Michael’s birthdays but we anxiously look forward to his 9th birthday when we can celebrate his life TOGETHER!!

The second thing that has happened since our last post was that the Consulate issued our Article 5 on April 24th! It is now at the offices of the CCCWA and we are awaiting travel approval. We anticipate that this will be issued by mid May. This step is #16 on our Process List. I love checklists! They allow me to see progress! And the progress on this checklist is making me one happy mom!!

I-800 Approval!!

It’s here! I am holding in my hand the I-800 Letter of Approval! Michael’s I-800 took so much longer than Jacob’s and had many problems, but it is finally here! We are doing the “Happy Dance!” If you are following our process checklist, we just completed step 15. Our approval is being cabled to the Consulate in Guangzhou and they will issue an Article 5. It usually takes the Consulate two weeks to issue that. When CCCWA receives the Article 5 they will issue Travel Approval. We are just getting so anxious to travel and be reunited with our son. We think about him constantly and pray that he is ready for such a big transition. We’re coming Michael! We love you!!

Chili's Check

A HUGE thank you to all of our friends who ate at Chili’s on February Wednesdays!  I just received an email from the manager informing me that 15% of the purchases made with our fliers came to $220!  Thank you so much!  We really hope that you enjoyed your Chili’s food while you were helping to bring Michael home.  As I have told many of you…when you are eating to bring a little boy out of an orphanage, the food has no calories.  (Ok…no one quote me on that!)  J

Just an update...

Many of our family members and friends have asked about Michael and how the adoption process is going, so I thought that I better write an update.  We sent in our I-800 application for Michael to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services at the end of January.  Jacob’s I-800 was approved in just a little less than a month and we anticipated that Michael’s would take that same amount of time.  Along with our application, we sent in a check for $720 for the filing fee.  Strangely, we received the check back in mid-February, along with a letter stating that we didn’t need to pay the fee.   On Friday of last week I got so excited when I opened my mailbox and discovered an envelope from Homeland Security.  However, it was not the approval letter but rather a letter from USCIS stating that they could not process our I-800 because they hadn’t received the $720 filing fee.  I emailed and called the Hague officer and was told that the application would not be processed until they had received the new payment along with proof that the new check had been cashed.  I sent in the new check immediately but this has delayed the I-800 by several weeks.  There is nothing that can be done and we are getting increasingly sad as we realize that Michael will have his 8^th birthday in the orphanage rather than with us.  So for now, we just wait.  Thank you for all of your support and prayers.  It really means so much to us!

It's A Wonderful Life

Every year at Christmas, our family watches “It’s A Wonderful Life.” My favorite part is the end, when George Bailey stands in his living room surrounded by family and friends who have all come to help him through a difficult time. I have always wondered what it would feel like to be George Bailey. How would it feel to be able to really see how many people love and support you…to have family and friends come during a difficult time and lift and help you in a way that you could not do for yourself?

My dear friends, last night I came home and wept because I truly felt like George Bailey. Your response to our Chick-fil-A night was overwhelming! For over two hours the line was constantly out the door and the drive thru packed. It was incredible for us to be able to individually name everyone in those lines. The restaurant was so full that many families needed to take their dinner home because there were no available tables. Our family was doing our best to help with garbage, cleaning tables, refilling drinks and making ice cream cones and therefore did not get to personally thank each one of you and give you a hug. I just hope you know that you not only helped us financially, but you truly made us feel loved and supported in our efforts to bring our son home. Thank you for coming and thank you for staying through those long lines! 

Thanks to each of you, we had 143 “Bring Michael Home” vouchers turned in last night. We raised $563 from your Chick-fil-A purchases! In addition to this, $401 in donations was handed to our family throughout the night and was even left at our front door. Many people asked how they could make direct donations through our blog and $485 was given to Michael through his Reece’s Rainbow site last night and this morning.

We are grateful beyond words to you for your support and love. I just wish that our little Michael could see and feel how many people in our community love him and are sacrificing to bring him home. I truly hope that one day he will know. But as for me, when Christmas comes around again and we watch “It’s A Wonderful Life,” I will remember my own George Bailey experience in the American Fork, Chick-fil-A and I will be forever grateful for our friends who have helped to give us a really wonderful life.

Dine to Donate!!

It’s time to take a break from cooking and treat your family to a meal “out”…all while helping to bring Michael home! We have two wonderful local restaurants, Chick-fil-A and Chili’s, who have graciously offered to help us raise funds to “Bring Michael Home.”

On Monday, January 30^th, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Chick-fil-A will donate 20% of your pre-tax purchase towards Michael’s adoption. Please remember to print off the voucher, located on the right side of our blog, and bring it with you to Chick-fil-A. They MUST have the voucher in order to donate towards Michael’s fund. Our family will be there to help refill your beverages. We are excited to see you!!

AND…

Every Wednesday in February (and with Leap Year, there are FIVE Wednesdays in February this year) Chili’s will donate 15% of the revenue associated with your purchase towards bringing Michael home. Again, please remember to print the voucher for Chili’s on the right side of the blog. Chili’s can only donate to Michael if you bring the voucher with you.

We are so grateful to Chick-fil-A and Chili’s for being so willing to help us in raising the funds needed to bring Michael home to his forever family! We also would like to thank the UPS Store in Lehi for donating the vouchers that we will be placing on local neighborhood doors! These are three fantastic businesses that truly wish to better their local community.

We will see you on Monday! Come hungry!!!