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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Home study Visit and more news!!

Tomorrow is a big day for us:)  Our social worker is coming for our second home study visit.  Hopefully we will finish up the paperwork and sign a bunch of papers and be finished with our home study.  Then we move on to sending the appropriate paperwork and money to Immigration and get an appointment set for fingerprinting.  Once that is approved we will finish up our dossier in the hopes of maybe receiving a referral this summer.  A lot of that may sound like a different language:)  Honestly, sometimes we feel like we are feeling our way through the dark but we are simply trying to take things one step at a time and work on something adoption related each day.

We are so thankful that Mark's best friend, William Turner, ran a marathon two weeks ago to help raise funds for our adoption!!  He survived and raised over $2,000!!  We are so thankful and blessed to have such amazing friends, like William and Melanie, that are willing to invest their time, money and energy to help us bring our little one home!  Thank you William!!  Thank you to everyone that donated!


You probably also noticed the new pictures on this blog.  Lindsay Haselden took them so we could use them for our adoption paperwork and on the blog.  She did a GREAT job and we are so, so thankful!!  She also designed some neat thank you cards for us.  Many of you might receive them:)

Lastly, in the next few days we will announce through the blog another neat way we are going to be raising funds for the adoption.  Think colorful, spring and fun!!  I can't wait to show off a neat idea for gift giving this spring.  It'll be great for teacher gifts, Easter and Mother's Day!!  So be sure to check back in the next few days:)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Sharing...

No Longer Motherless Daughters

She lost her tooth on another continent. She learned to write her name there, and how to use the potty. Someone other than me taught her that girls like frilly dresses, but that it doesn’t keep them from playing in the dirt.
Her milestones, to date, are my mysteries.
We’ve named her Hope. She doesn’t know her new name yet – a whole new set of letters to learn – but she’s already becoming, for us, her namesake. One day she, herself, will breathe deep the reality of this name.... (to finish reading, click here or here. And I hope you will.)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Just Love Coffee

I (Erika) only started drinking coffee about a year ago... and I am sorry to say I am addicted:)  Getting up early mornings with the kids for school, especially when it is cold outside, sends me looking for some warm caffeine!  Mark actually has a more refined taste in coffee because he drinks it black.  I have a little coffee with a lot of cream and sugar:)

So we are always looking for ways to order our addiction while feeling like we are doing something with the money we are drinking down...so we like to order fair trade coffee. What is fair trade coffee? It is coffee which is purchased directly from the growers for a higher price than standard coffee.  The purpose of fair trade is to promote healthier working conditions and greater economic incentive for producers.

We recently discovered Just Love Coffee .  They not only sell excellent fair trade coffee but work with families that are adopting.  They help families raise funds to go toward their adoption.  So if you click on the nifty little link to the left:) and purchase some coffee from our "store" we will earn $5 per bag of coffee!!  We bought several different kinds of their coffee so far and have really, really enjoyed it.  They sell whole bean or already ground and ours came within 4 days of ordering it!

So if you want to try some new coffee, help out some fair trade farmers and help us bring our little girl home...then click and shop please!!!  Thank you ahead of time if you decide to grab a cup of java:) They make great gifts too!!