Look what we got!!

Yep, it came today!!

Our agency has requested a Consulate Appointment of June 21st.  We will know for sure on Tuesday (since Monday is a holiday) if it is confirmed.

If it is, I could be leaving as early as June 10th!  With a Gotcha Day of June 13th!

So with all the excitement of TA, we do need the rest of the funds.

So please pray it will all come in just as God has planned.  :D   We just know that God hasn't brought us this far to not let it happen now!

We are so close!

Hold on our sweet boy, Momma and sister are coming!!

We wait and wait and wait

Well here we are.  

At the hardest part of the wait during the entire adoption.

Waiting for TA (Travel approval).

During this time, I struggle to keep busy, to stay focused, to concentrate on anything other than, is today the day we'll get TA!?

Of course I know it will come and in God's timing, but it's hard none-the-less.  Just knowing we are so close to going to China to bring our boy home!  

I also sit and wonder how he is doing?  We pray for Michael's health and happiness every time we pray.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at bed time.

There isn't a moment that Michael isn't on my mind.  I miss him so much!  Actually we all miss him so much! Mister, said again last night, "I sad."  "I miss Michael."

So here we wait and know that we are getting closer!  Our Article 5 was picked up on May 11th and TA may come between now and ???  We will have to wait and see.

What we have left to raise

Our Goat Milk Fundraiser has ended and we raised $71 from it.  It may not sound like much but, it's $71 more than we had yesterday and we are so very grateful for every little bit!

As we wait for our Travel Approval we are still needing to raise $5000 to help with the rest of the in-country fees, such as hotels, in China airfare, official fees, etc.

We've had a couple of more donations to our matching grant at Lifesong, so that leaves $652 that can still be matched.  Please see the right sidebar for information on our matching grant.  All donations made on our behalf through Lifesong is tax deductible.

We've added a Donate button, also on the top right hand side bar for donations through Paypal, you can also use a credit card.

We think we will have Travel Approval by the end of this month.

So please pray we will raise the rest of the funds.  If you feel led to donate to help bring our sweet boy home, we would be blessed!

Thank you for your prayers and thank you for the donations we have received so far!

God Bless!
 

Getting close!

WE HAVE EXTENDED OUR GOAT MILK SOAP FUNDRAISER UNTIL 

SUNDAY, MAY 1ST


Scroll down to see our soap fundraiser and the scents available 

So here we are the end of April and waiting for our Article 5.  

What is the Article 5?  It is a letter to inform us that our petition to adopt Michael has been sent to the appropriate visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place.

What does it mean?  It means that we have only 1 more step before we receive travel approval!!

How long will it take?  4-6 weeks is all!!

So what does it mean in the long run?  It means we still need to fundraise.  We have raised $4215 so far and thanking and praising God for it!  We aren't quite there yet though.

In addition to our Goat Milk Soap fundraiser that we have extended until Sunday May 1st, we also have the matching grant with Lifesong.  We have posted on the right hand side bar how donations can be made to our family.

Please pray that we will raise the rest of the funds before we travel.  Thank you so much!

Blessings and Hugs!

Goat Milk Soap Fundraiser

Here is our newest fundraiser and can't wait for all of you to try this soap!!


I will say that we have personally used the soap (Clean Cotton and Nautical) and actually I'm still using it and ABSOLUTELY LOVE it!!

Each bar is hand cut to weigh 5 to 6 oz and comes packaged in it's own cotton bag.  When you get yours in the mail and open it, be prepared, it smells wonderful!!

This soap is great for sensitive skin and doesn't leave any residue.  It is made with Raw goat milk; Saponified natural fats, coconut oil, olive oil, soybean oil; Fragrance; Natural color.

Gotta love it's all natural ingredients!

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask and we'll be happy to help!

The soap is $6 per bar.

How to order:

Please email us at weareblessed@clear.net with your order.  Please include your name and address, scent and quantity.

How to pay:

We accept PayPal.  Please use the donate button on the Top Left Hand Side Bar.  We also accept checks.  Please include the shipping charges (see below).


If you would like to pay by check please email us (at the above email) and we will be happy to send you our address.

Orders will be shipped USPS Priority Mail and shipping charges are as follows:

1 - 7 Bars:  $6

8+ Bars:  $11

Our fundraiser will go until April 27th and we will place an order then for all soap that have been ordered.

Black Raspberry

The sweet raspberry scent is softened by a hint of vanilla. This is an across the board favorite, delighting little girls, ladies, and grown men alike.

Clean Cotton

Yes - this really does smell like freshly laundered cotton and people just love it!. It is a very fresh and clean scent.

Nautical - Great for Men!

This is a masculine scent (that the women love).  It's perfect for all those men out there that want a soap just for them.

Oatmeal Milk & Honey

It is hard to resist the wonderful fragrance of oatmeal, milk & honey.  It is a very clean and warm fragrance that pulls you in with that sweetness of honey.  

Ocean

This is a beautiful bar that is swirled with different shades of blue and white.  This is an amazingly clean scent that appeals to both men and women.

Pink Sugary

It is so hard to resist the scent of Pink Sugary. A wonderful sweetness, the hints of vanilla actually turn the bar a deep shade of brown instead of pink.

Luv Spell

This is a lovely, feminine scent that smells of citrus and florals.  It is a very pretty, scent for all the ladies.  Similar to Victoria Secrets Love Spell

Lavender - Essential Oil

The scent of lavender is a perennial favorite and one of our best sellers.  It is made with lavender essential oil.

 

 Honeysuckle

Remember walking outside during the summer and catching the scent of a nearby honeysuckle vine?  This soap smells just like that. It is a truly beautiful honeysuckle scent with a hint of jasmine.

 Purity (Unscented)

This soap has no added fragrance for those with dry, sensitive skin. It's just plain, good for your skin, goat milk soap! Lots of people use this soap on babies or people with eczema.

Letter and photos, again!

The title of this posts says it all. 

Look at our boy!!

We are so happy to know that he is so excited about having a forever family! 

We have been asked, when do we think we may travel?  Our best guess is June.  Yes, that's right, it's coming up and quickly!

Still fundraising and keeping the faith that God WILL provide!  Even though the enemy is trying to tell us otherwise.  We'll leave that for another post.

So without further adieu.  Here's his letter we received with the photos.

Dear Baba and Mama,

I am so happy to get the gift of study machine from my forever family.  

I am very very happy to own the study machine because it will improve my English.

I cannot wait to meet you and my older and younger brother and my little sister.  I am so dreaming of be together with my forever family.  When that day  comes, my family will be full of love and happiness.

Now I am the class monitor in my classroom.  I can help my teacher to do some works for my classmates.  My study is excellent.  But I study harder.

Thanks again for the very nice gift for study from you.  I will use the study machine very well.

H J P

Apr 4, 2011

We are blessed!!

Matching Grant!

Where to start...

On Orphan Sunday back in November, our church started an adoption ministry through Lifesong for Orphans.

We were blessed to be the first family chosen to be a recipient of this ministry!  

We were asked to speak at all 3 services and share our story to and about Michael.  It was an incredible honor to share our God filled story.

Quite a few people came and spoke to us afterward and wanted to know more.  Not only about our story but about adoption in general and about adoptions from China!  God truly blessed not only us but I believe everyone who was there that day.

And here's how we were blessed!  Not only did we receive a $1000 "direct grant", but we also received a $1000 "matching grant"!

So what that means is, all funds donated to Lifesong on our behalf will be matched dollar for dollar up to $1000 giving us a possible total of $2000!  We also have already received $244 of that to be matched!

Amazing indeed!  And thanking God, our church and Lifesong for helping us bring Michael home!

If you would like to donate to our matching grant, there are a couple of different ways you can.

First by check:

Make checks payable to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Their mailing address is:

P.O. Box 40

Gridley, Il  61744

Be sure to note on the Memo line of your check:  For Cecil and Cathy W. #1704

The second way to donate is by clicking on the link below:

Lifesong for Orphans

Click on the "Donate" button and this will take you to the Paypal screen.

In the Purpose box (top left), please be sure to type in:   

For Cecil and Cathy W. #1704

This is how Lifesong will know the donation is for our family.

Once again our family would like to thank you for supporting and blessing us to bring Michael home!

God Bless!

And the winner is!...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Don't forget to scroll to the bottom to pause the music player

DEBBY H.

Congratulations Debby!

We would like to say thank you everyone that joined our giveaway and for blessing us to help bring Michael home!

We raised $91!!  We are so grateful for that $91, really!   Every little bit adds up and honestly, God showed up (yet again) for us.  You see, this morning we were behind and we ended just a few hours later, $91 ahead!  See how great God is!

We are still in awe and very humbled that friends and even those we don't know would be willing to donate to help bring our son home!

Thank you just doesn't seem like enough, but we are so so appreciative!

Also, we finally have an update on our Hip Mom Jewelry fundraiser we had in January.

We raised $108.00!!

Unfortunately, other than 2 people we know that ordered, there are those we don't know who you are.  But our gratefulness isn't any less appreciated!  So thank you for your support and for blessing us with your orders!!

So in the next day or two we will be announcing a great blessing bestowed upon us.

Thank you again and God Bless!

It's here!

We got word on Monday that our agency received our LOA!!!

We couldn't believe it!  Our LID (Log In Date) was 2/18 and here on 3/21 we have our LOA!

It was actually issued on 3/17.  Just 28 days after our LID!!!

Now let me back up a little bit and explain how it all went.  I wouldn't usually go into detail, but honestly it had God written all over it and I just have to share!

On Monday morning, I checked my email and there was one from our agency to the group saying they received 3 LOA's and 2 TA's.

I just knew we weren't one of the three since it was only a month after our LID.  In other words, it wasn't long enough.

Then the phone rang about 15 minutes after getting their email and my heart skipped a beat and it turned out to be someone else calling for my hubby.

So I got the kids breakfast ready and said prayers and asked God to please let our LOA come soon.

After getting the kids fed, I decided to tackle the paperwork that needed to be done for the next step for the adoption.  After all, I thought to myself, I might as well get it done, just in case our LOA comes next week.

So while I was working on the paperwork, I heard that another email came in, so I went to check it and it was from our caseworker at our agency sayng she wasn't able to have Fed Ex deliver a package to us over night, but we would have it Wednesday.

I thought, Fed Ex package?  What would they be sending us?  I mean after all we didn't get LOA.  

So when I scrolled down, there it read, our last name - LOA.

I jumped out of the chair and ran down the hall (to wake my sleeping husband who was home) screaming, "we got LOA!!!!!  "We got LOA!!!!!"

So I worked like a crazy woman getting the paperwork finished while we waited for our LOA to arrive!  2 whole days from the email date saying we got our LOA.

Today once the Fed Ex guy pulled into our drive way I was out the door with camera in hand.  :)  Poor Fed Ex guy, he had no idea what was about to happen.  :)

I asked if I could take a picture of him delivering our package and he was like, "um yeah, sure."  You know what I mean, with the sound in voice like okay this is weird.

So once I explained why I wanted his picture, he got a big smile on his face and said, "congratulations!"  "Why yes, you can take my picture." 

So here is the nice Fed Ex man letting me take his picture with our LOA.

Look at his smile  :)

And here's the coveted LOA!!  That means so much to parents that are adopting.

So all the paperwork that I was working on the last couple of days is finished and copied and is now on its way to various places it needs to go.

Thanking God for delivering our LOA so quickly and confirming one more time that we are supposed to bring Michael home!!

A special date!

We got news today that our LID is 2/18!!

What does this mean?  It means that it took only 7 days from when our dossier was received in China to be logged into their system!

What does it mean to be LID?  It means we can officially start counting down the days we are into the wait for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!!  We are on day 20, as of today 3/9, for our LOA!!

Looking at the time frames for others receiving their LOA from our agency, it's on average about 1 1/2 months to 2 months.

So we could possibly get our LOA at the end of this month?  We can only speculate we may get it sooner rather than later, but we ultimately know that is all in God's timing and we know one thing for sure, it WILL happen!!

So something as little as knowing our LID date is something very dear to us, because we know it's one more step down to bringing our sweet boy home!