Thursday, January 4, 2018

New Year, New Updates!

Happy New Year! We have had a wonderful holiday season and in the midst of it, got some great news from our agency. We have been formally approved from China to adopt our cutie pie.
We were so excited to receive this news, and several weeks earlier than we had expected to hear it. This was the first time in this whole process that anything has happened early, heck we haven't even had much happen on time. Things seem to take way longer than we had thought.
This meant some more paperwork to me to fill out and send to USCIS. This will allow our new daughter to enter the country as an American citizen. As soon as our wheels touch down on US soil, she will be a citizen. Pretty awesome!
We also have to step our fundraising, as now is when lots of big dollar bills will be coming due. Please keep us in your prayers, and if your are able to donate, we would be so very grateful.
I think with this paperwork step we are at, it may be about 8-10 weeks before we travel. We should have her home for Easter hopefully~
This photo is from last Christmas when we hosted her in our home.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Where We Are at

Hey all! Hope this holiday season finds you healthy and happy and busy!
A little about what is going on here. We have completed all of our paperwork for now. It was bundled up after getting all of the proper signatures and authentications that are necessary for adopting from her country.
It was sent by FedEx to Austin, Texas where our placing agency is located. I'll tell ya, it was not easy letting go of that pile of papers after working so hard on it since February. You become like a mother hen to that pile. They received it on Wednesday November 8, 2017. On Friday, November 10,2017, it was sent to China! What a huge relief that was.
I have received word that the documents arrived there safely, have been logged in, translated and are now in review.
We expect to hear something about the middle of next month, which will then take us to our next step.
While our girl is priceless, the adoption itself is not. The fees are mounting by the day it seems.
For this reason, we have set up a You Caring site. It works like Go Fund Me. We would truly appreciate any monetary donations you are felt led to donate. It is very comforting to know we have a village behind us. This girl is so worth it!! The link to the site is on the sidebar of this blog, and is very easy to use.


Friday, August 4, 2017

Homestudy Complete!!

Although we have been MIA for awhile on this blog, it was for good reason. We have been very hard at work gathering documents and preparing for our homestudy.
If you are not familiar with the world of adoption, a homestudy is a months-long process where I had to gather several different important documents. They needed to come to me certified, which sometimes took a little more time. They must also come from any state that you have lived in. We have lived in New York and now North Carolina. I am grateful we haven't lived in any more.
Once the documents are gathered, you have a series of meetings with a social worker who is trained in adoption matters. She spends several hours with the whole family asking questions, talking, interviewing and touring your home. At the end, there is nothing this woman doesn't know about us! LOL!
But the good news is that we now have a completed homestudy! All paperwork, etc. was fine. Our interviews and visits went great. Our social worker was awesome, and we cant wait to see her again when she has to come and do post placement visits. I would recommend this agency without hesitation.
I will be posting much more frequently on the blog to let you know where we are in the process.
We have a link on the sidebar that will lead you to our family page on Reeces Rainbow.
Any donation would be greatly appreciated as this is a very expensive process.
For now, I leave you with a sweet picture of our little cutie!


Sunday, April 23, 2017

Waking up this sleeping blog

I know its been quite a while since I have used this advocacy blog. For the last few years, I have been using FB as a ways to communicate.
But since we have some big news of our own, we will be using both this blog and FB.
Many of you may have seen my posts on Fb about our sweet little host child. We hosted her thru Great Wall China Adoption Agency for the holiday season.
We had to say goodbye to her in mid January, but had decided that she needed to return ~ to be our daughter~ a sister~ a granddaughter~ a niece, and so on.
She has Down Syndrome just like our Theresa Lauren, and the two of them got along splendidly.
I hope in restarting this blog, to give updates, share photos, and fundraise.
Thanks for taking the time to read my little introduction, and for now I will leave you with this cute photo.
This photo was taken her second morning in America. Jet lag was in full swing at this point.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Merry Christmas To All !!!

Hope you all had a blessed day with family and friends. This sweet girl as of this afternoon has $607.00 in her grant fund. I am so grateful to all who have given to her. My prayer is that next year I will be fundraising for another little one because Sally will be home, under her own Christmas tree, with her new family.
Together we can make it happen~

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

BABUSHKAS ARE HERE!!!

For a $5.00 or more donation to Sallys fund, you will receive an adorable set of 4 notecards~ in Eastern European style!! They come with matching envelopes and will be mailed right to your door. If you choose to donate $35.00 or more, you will also get a beautiful Christmas Ornament, with Sallys photo on it, to hang on your tree this Christmas. Here are some of the Babushkas!!





For the price of a cup of coffee, you could help to save her life, so next holiday season she could be in the arms of her forever family!
After donating, please leave me a comment so that I may contact you for your address.
Many thanks for stopping by..

Friday, November 4, 2011

A Little Background Info...

Donations to Reece's Rainbow as adoption grants have made it possible for more than 500 children with Down Syndrome and other special needs to find their "forever families" in only five years!

The Christmas Angel Tree Project is their #1 fundraiser for the year. The average cost to adopt a child internationally is $20,000- 40,000!! Your sponsorship donation for a child can mean they never have to spend another Christmas alone.

You DON'T HAVE TO ADOPT to make a difference! Give the "gift of a family" with your generous sponsorship donation this holiday season.

With your gift of $35 or more, you will receive a beautiful photo ornament of your sponsored child. This is a special way to "share Christmas" with an orphaned child, and a meaningful, personal gift for someone you love!

Reece's Rainbow is a 501(c)3 public charity which promotes the international adoption of children with Down Syndrome exclusively.