Fundraising Results!

I just wanted to give a quick update on the Thirty-One fundraiser results! We put in quite a bit of work organizing and planning the open houses in Lebanon, PA and Omaha, NE but God multiplied our efforts. We had established a goal to sell $2,500 worth of product so that $500 would go toward our adoption cost...well, all of you supported us above and beyond what we ever dreamed! Drum roll please....

Together with the two open houses and the online event there was $5,098 worth of Thirty-One product sold!!! That more than doubled our goal! On top of that, we received a few donations and my mom and sister did a raffle that raised another $300 for a GRAND TOTAL of $1,399.70!!! How amazing is our support system? The very best one out there, in my opinion!

I simply cannot thank everyone enough for the support...we are totally blown away by the generosity of our friends and family! We love you all and know that God will multiply blessing back to each of you!

Also, as I mentioned in my last update we need a bigger vehicle that will fit 3 car seats (well 2 and a booster). So here is a picture of our mini-van!

It's a great vehicle with lots of space and in the couple of days that we've had it, it has already made life easier with our two boys. We consider it to be progress as there is nothing left we need except for the referral of our little girl! And of course we could see God's hand in our purchase as He made everything go so smoothly and the price come in lower than we originally budgeted! All glory and praise to Him!

I-800A Approval!

Time has continued moving right along at a fast pace...for that I am grateful! This process takes time, so the faster time goes, the faster we get to bringing our Filipino Princess home!

Just 10 days after my previous update, we received our appointment time to get fingerprinted at the USCIS office...which is part of the approval process to get our I-800A approval. I was surprised at how quickly we received our appointment times. I had read online that if you don't receive an appointment time 6-8 weeks after they accepted the application, you should call them...I wasn't thinking that just 10 days later we'd have our notice! The appointment was for last Thursday, May 9th and lucky for us USCIS has a facility here in Omaha...which was still a 30 minute drive from work! LOL! We also received notice that our dossier was received by the Inter Country Adoption Board in the Philippines and is being reviewed as of April 30th. We are believing God that we will receive notice of approval very soon!

Some of the most exciting news is that today when I got home from work we had our I-800A approval in the mail! It hasn't even been a week since we had our fingerprints taken and they have already approved us! Favor from God? I sure think so! It's all about God's timing and not our own...even though we want it to go FAST! I have to admit that it's super exciting and somewhat surprising when things move quickly. I know I shouldn't be surprised because nothing is impossible through Him and He is guiding this entire journey but He still never ceases to amaze me! 

So, what's next? Well, more waiting...waiting for the official word of approval from ICAB on our dossier and then just waiting to get matched with our child! Once we get matched we'll have more paperwork, of course but for now, we wait. I'm not so good at waiting, so I meditate on Habakkuk 2:3 and keep busy with fundraising and our boys. We have now sold over 215 scarves! Can you believe it? There are scarves in 3 countries...U.S., Philippines, and England...and 8 different states...Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin!

Our great friend Kerstyn has been selling scarves for us as well (and buying them for herself!). She has sold about 15 scarves for us! Jonathan's Aunt Paula has been buying scarves for her sisters and herself and his Aunt Janet is the one who took one to England for her daughter! We are so very blessed!

This Saturday I'm having a Thirty-One Open House fundraiser so I've been prepping for that as well. My amazing sister is a consultant and is giving us 20% of all sales straight to our adoption fund. Her and my mother have pretty much sold Thirty-One and/or a scarf to every person in our family, and every one of their friends and coworkers. People who have never met us before are helping support our adoption. I've always thought I had a pretty awesome family but I'm amazed at their hard work on our behalf. I'll give an update next week on how much we were able to raise through the Thirty-One sales.

I also hope to be updating everyone soon that we will be getting a mini-van...that's right, a mini-van! Our current vehicle is not big enough for 3 kids so we will be adding another vehicle out of necessity. It's pretty exciting as it's really the last thing we need to bring her home (besides all the fun girl clothes shopping I'll get to do.) As always, thank you for your support and prayers! This journey has been so amazing and just keeps getting better! Also, please keep Cooper in your prayers as he will be having hernia surgery on May 31st. Thanks and lots of love!!