Information Meeting

= These are the statistics from the Law Center that we will be using!

Well, we went to the information meeting on Saturday January 26th. We left there feeling very excited and optimistic.

In this meeting we learned about the exact process that we will be going through from the day we sign the contract until the finalization of the adoption. It made it seem so real, and so possible for us! If it's at all possible, we are more anxious than ever!

We are going to be having a Casino Night Fundraiser on March 22, from 6:30-11:30. Please save the date! We will be sending out invitations very soon. If you are interested and want to make sure that you get an invitation sent to you, please do not hesitate to let me know, so we can make sure we get your address! Although this is not going to be an Invitation Only, it Will be a Ticket only event. We are so excited and hope that this fundraiser gets us a lot closer to signing that contract!

Cell Phone Fundraiser

http://www.thewirelessalliance.com/followouradoption/

Why Recycle Your Cell Phone For Our Adoption? It is estimated that every year, 150 million cell phones go into closets, desk drawers and worse, in the trash. We are helping the environment by keeping cell phones out of landfills, and in return you will be helping us raise money for our adoption fund. Please consider dropping off any phones you would like to donate, or simply go the website, (link above) and print your prepaid shipping label. We thank you in advance for considering, not only helping our environment, but also for helping us raise funds to adopt a beautiful baby who needs a loving home ~ our home.

Silver Change

Thank you, soon to be Grandma and Grandpa Manley.
My mom and dad have saved their silver change for the last couple of months. How fast it adds up! They have donated a jar with $351.00 in change and left some space for us to continue to fill it. We have added the silver change from our garage sales, and that increased the total by $65.00. It adds up fast, and every bit counts! Thank you!

Words Can Not Describe....

Words can not describe how grateful we are to have the support that we have had so far! We can't express how wonderful it is to have people involved, interested, and supportive of our decision to adopt. We are so fortunate to have people in our lives that have blessed us with kindness. We received a donation a couple of days ago, from a man whom could never be thanked enough. We have not "asked" any one for money, only support and maybe some junk for a garage sale....but the donations we have received have definitely been appreciated. As we have explained in previous blogs this process is very very expensive and to achieve our dream of becoming parents we have reached out to those in our lives that we feel could/would like to be a part of it.

A Very Special thank you to the person who donated $5,000.00 to our adoption fund! Words could NEVER express how grateful we are! When we opened the card and saw that check, I (Kristi) started to cry. We knew, that this makes everything possible for us! We know now...next month, we will be able to start the actual adoption process with the agency. We are going to an informational meeting on January 26th and will sign the agreement shortly after that.

We will still be fundraising, as we still have a ways to go to raise the necessary money to make it all possible. We thank you for your continued support!

Fundraising Results

Thank you Thank you! We had our 2nd Yard sale with the items that were left over and some other items that were recently donated. We raised another $765.00. So with the $1,200 from the first sale and $765.00 from the second, that = $1,965.00 that we raised all together! We could not have done that without you! All of you who donated, Thank you again!

Also, the Pampered Chef Party raised $105.00 and the Creative Memories work shop raised $75.00. Thank you to those of you who came to those!

For the Holidays

The holidays are here and Danny and I have decided to "Adopt a Family". This time of year can be especially difficult for those families struggling to make ends meet. Gifts and special holiday meals become secondary when bills need to be paid. There are many low income working families in our community that are experiencing financial crises and we want to help make the holiday season brighter by "adopting a family" for the holidays.

If you are interested in doing the same...Here is how it works...
Fill out an application and fax it to them. They will assign you a family. You can provide a gift for each family member and/or a basket filled with x-mas dinner items. They will give you the names, ages and sex of each person in the family, which will make shopping more fun. Check out the website at http://www.capoc.org/getinvolved/adopt.html

1st Garage Sale Results...

WOW! What a great turnout! Here is a picture of what our garage looked like before the sale. This does not include the stuff that was in the driveway and in the back yard that would not fit in the garage. We only had the sale on Saturday, because we were just way to exhausted to get up again on Sunday. But we have SO much stuff left over that we will definitely have another sale on December 1st. We will still be accepting donations. Just because we have a lot doesn't mean more wont sell! We raised $1,215.00 and are hoping to raise at least another $1,000 at the next garage sale. Please know....We are more than grateful to all those who took the time to clean out their items and donate what was not wanted. Each and EVERY Item was appreciated!

Fundraising

Thank you to every one who has made donations so far. Everything is so appreciated! The garage sale is this weekend and we have so much stuff that we should really have a good turn out. On November 29th at 6:00 we are having a Pampered Chef Party at my house. The theme is "Real Food Real Fast" - 30 Minute Dinners. 15% of the sales go to the adoption fund. Also on December 8th at 11:00 at my house, we are having a Creative Memories Party to help you tell your story – to capture it, preserve it, and share it for lifetimes beyond today – in meaningful, photo-safe scrapbook albums. 15% of the sales are going to the adoption fund. Please try and find time to make it.

Also, please check back. I will post the results from each fundraiser here on the site...so everyone can see how much their generosity has helped out!

Nothing to tell...

Just wanted to let you know, we haven't forgotten about you. There are no updates at this time. Were having our first fundraiser, the garage sale on November 17th, and the save your pennies fundraiser will end in January...I will post a blog to give you an update on the results of our fundraisers as soon as I can. Thank you again for you support, and remember everything you do helps us get one step closer to our baby boy!

Picnic Results

Well, Not so much luck with the picnic. Yes we were disappointed. We drove all the way to San Diego and drove all around the park which is all the way around Mission Bay, and never found the picnic/carnival. We saw plenty of signs for B-day Parties and Company Picnics etc....but nothing for Adoption Options. We tried calling the Agency to see exactly where they were supposed to be set up and, of course they were closed for the picnic...Oh well.