Whoops, where has the time gone.

It has been since August since last post. Nothing has changed. We understand that CCAA has finished reviewing all dossiers through October 31, 2006. Our dossier is logged November 24th. Almost there. This is another step to complete. It really does not mean much, just another step to go. The wait times are still 20-22 months. The way the time line looks, we will either be matched in August or September. We really do not know what will happen because of the Summer Olympics. Most likley, the CCAA will close along with all government agencies in China. That is what we have heard, but do not know for sure. That is ok, I would much rather go after the olympics are over and security, people, and everything else will be more relaxed. Will be "quieter".
We are having another fund raiser on New Years Eve. We are doing a Swing Dance with lessons. The times are from 7:30 to 10:30. We decided on this time because we did not want to keep people late because of all the other "parties" and impaired persons that might be out on the road. This will be fun. We can't wait. We are selling tickets for it as there is a capacity of 90 people. It is being held at Gateway Community Church here in Mayville. So, if you want to come, call us. Tickets are $10/person and $12/person at the door. Kari will be teaching dance lessons. Even if you don't know how, come anyway, lessons are part of the evening. Call us for tickets. Also, appetizers are being served and we asked New China to cater it... Get it... New China. Excellent food. Can't wait for that either. Well, had best close for now. Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Just think, next year at this time......... Take Care and God Bless.

Time is Moving

It has been along time since the last posting. We made it through the rummage sale with excellent results. We raised $2800.00 from the sale. This year, we did it different. While talking about how to price everything, Roy, Kari, Jennifer and I decided not price the items except for a few larger things. 90% we did not price. It was a success!!! PRAISE GOD! He truly blessed us in that time. People didn't know what to say when we would ask for a donation. There are no prices, just donate what you think is fair. It was a fun outreach for the community. If our numbers are right, we had less sales than the year before, but the amount per sale was more. We all agreed that this is the way to do a rummage. We were able to focus more on set up and preparing than pricing. That saved us a days work. We had a lot of help this year. Marlene kept the clothes organized and folded. That was a blessing. With out her, the clothes would have been a disaster. There were countless others that came and helped with set up and during the sale. Thank you to all for that. We had some of our family come down from Minnesota and help. It was great that they were able to come. I think they had a blast. Found a lot of items and filled the car full. We can not thank our families enough for their support. Next June is only 9 months away....
Nothing new to report on the process. We are waiting, waiting and waiting. It sounds like the CCAA is moving through the dossiers at a steady pace. We are still looking at next summer before we go. But if you think about it, that is is not that far away. We have a lot of work to do here at home to prepare. It is getting done but not as fast as I would like. It will get done though. We ask that you keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers. Roy, Kari, Jennifer and I are all so grateful for the support we are receiving from our friends and family. Without them, this process would be a whole lot harder to do. We thank God for what He is doing in our lives. Without him, none of this would be happening. This is His will for us. Thank you God! Until next time... What for an update regarding the Mystery Dinner......soon

Rummage, Rummage, Rummage

Not alot going on since the last posting. Just waiting. We did get some good news in regards to the USCIS fees. We are going to be getting an extension instead of having to go through the process for the 171H paperwork/fingerprinting. This just came out and we don't have a whole lot of details at this time. That is relief. We will not have to pay out another $800.00 for redoing that paperwork/fingerprinting at this time. Thank you God!!!! That affects every couple adopting and more.
We are gearing up for the rummage sale at church. It is next week--June 7-9th. The response we have been receiving is just unbelievable. I have this strange little feeling that it will be bigger and better than last year. Roy and Kari have been receiving a number of items from the members at Gateway Community Church. They are really pitching in to help. What a community of believers. We will start to set up next Monday by sorting than Tuesday and Wednesday will be all out. They will be long days as I am thinking I will be heading in to West Bend early both days to set up. We put an email out for help and we are excited at the response of people. What a great ministry and outreach this will be. We plan to set up coffee, cookies, brochures, etc. We put the ad for the rummage sale in 3 different newspapers and will most likely reach 50,000 people. We hope and pray for a great rummage sale. That people will come and have fun, fellowship and have a cup of coffee also. Will keep you posted on how we do. Until next time--- Take care and God bless all of you!!

New Stuff

It has been a while since the last post. A few things have happened since then that are helping us out. In November Jennifer and I applied for an adoption grant through Shaohannah's Hope to help us with the financials of the adoption. We were told it would be late February or early March before we heard anything. It was mid March when we received a letter from them and they were congratulating us for an adoption grant that we are receiving from them in the amount of $3000.00. Talk about taking your breath away. That was a tremendous boost for us. We thank God for that. Yet, another sign that His hand is working in the adoption. The amount will be sent to our agency through paperwork and they will pay up to that amount for the expenses that will be coming up when we make arrangements to leave. They said if there money left over, it will be given to us and then we can use it for the fees while we are in China. That will make things a lot easier.
We held a fund raiser on April 6 and 7. It was an Antiquities Photo fund raiser. We sold tickets for $10.00 to people/friends/family who wanted to have their child/children photographed in an antique like photo. This was a really neat one because you will get a 10x13 photo for buying the ticket. The photographers will come back next week and then they can purchase packets of pictures. That was 2 long days but let me tell you, after seeing some of the costumes and children, those photo's are going to be adorable. We can't wait to see the photo's. The photographers were excellent and did a great job with the parents/children. We are going to do another one of these later this summer/early fall. I will set a link to the right to their website so you can take a look.
We are planning our next "Mystery Dinner" for May 6th. It is Mystery in the Library. What happened to King George? Looks like a lot of fun. You will get to dress up as a favorite fairy tale character. We are finishing up invitations and hope to send out tomorrow. What for more on that later.
The rummage sale is coming at our church in June. It will be June 7-9. We already are collecting items and people are telling us now that they have items for us. This will be bigger then last year so we are going to need help. If you can help setting up or during the rummage sale, contact us. I have a monetary goal of $2500.00 for this. I know it is a lot, but it can be done.
We have changed our focus on the adoption fund raising. We want to bring awareness of adoption, our journey and tell others of adoption. This journey has been awesome to travel so far. It is only going to get better and when we travel to China, that will the "Highlight" of it. It is like you are just cruising along on an interstate at 90mph and you know the city is coming up, it is there, but you just aren't there yet. That is how it feels to me. It is fairly smooth with only minor road bumps. Some of the road bumps are going to be when we have to redo fingerprinting/immigration paperwork. Fees are going up for these also. That will be a minor inconvenience but we will get through it. I will have to start doctoring those fingers of mine so I can go right through it this time. It will be fine.
We have "teamed" up with Roy and Kari Smalley for the fund raising. Roy and Kari are committed Christians and they are walking this journey like we are. We will be doing the rummage sale with them. There are members from their home church that will be donating items along with members from our home church. They live only a few blocks away from us. We have been spending some time with them and getting to know them even more. We are doing a parenting bible study. It is great. There are good pointers and helpful advise for parents. I hope that will help us give a solid foundation to our children. There are many things to that but it is a tool to help. They are a great couple and we know we have established a life long bond with them.
We felt that the focus of fund raising would be taken off of us and directed towards the process of adoption, adoption it self and everything else that goes with it. It isn't about the money, it is about adoption and the journey God is taking us on. We have submitted to him the adoption and are leaving it in His hands. It is only by His hands that this will be fulfilled. I know that may sound different, but that is how we feel. That is where we are at in our faith journey. It's about growing as we go. And this is helping us with that. When we are all done with the process, what a great ministry about adoption we will be able to tell others. This is only part way into the journey and as we get closer the more there will be able to tell. God Bless all of you.

Update with Upcoming Stuff

It has been almost 2 months since the last posting. There is no change. We are waiting. We maybe waiting even a little longer now. The times are increasing. It will be sometime next spring with the way it is going. That is ok though. That will give us time to get the house finished even more and save even a little more money.
We have some upcoming fundraisers. After some thought and consideration, Jennifer and I along with Roy and Kari Smalley are teaming up with fundraising. They are logged in 3 weeks ahead of us. I know Jennifer and I feel our focus is changing. We want to bring awareness about adoption and how it will change lives. It is so different when you adopt compared to have a child naturally. We feel that as a group of 4 that we can do this. Our goal is to keep awareness out there.
Back to the fundraisers, in a nut shell, we are doing a great one now with antiquities photos. It is really cool. You buy a ticket for $10.00 and you get a photo sitting. This is for children up to age 16. The photo look really neat, especially of young children. Kind of like the ones you would have taken at a county, state fair. Dress up and pose. With the $10.00 you get an 8 x 10 photo. When you pick it up, it is then you buy different packages with different sizes. We are hoping to sell a minimum of 60 tickets (we have to) and want to do it at the end of March. If you want a ticket, see or call Jennifer or myself - SOON.
The next thing we are doing is a MYSTERY DINNER. Hopefully in April. The Library is this one. You can dress up as one of your favorite story book characters. We have the list. Call us if you want to attend. It is alot of fun to do these. Can't wait.
Then in June, the first Thursday - Saturday we doing the Rummage Sale at Fifth Ave. UMC. We did it last year and it was a huge success. This year we doing it on Thursday also. We are under the understanding this is the day the "professional" rummagers are out. I have a sinking feeling we are going to run out of room. Not that is a bad thing. We are collecting boxes already for it from generous people. We are being asked about it and this is going be twice as big as last year. Plus, we have a good time setting up. It is hard work, but is it fun.
That is it right now. There are a few more things we are talking about after the 4th of July. We will post more on that stuff later.
Again, we (all 4 of us) want to THANK everyone who is behind us. All of you are a huge support in your way and I wish we could tell everyone thank you. We forget sometimes. This is going to be a great year. We are going to be ready to go financially, maybe emotionally, and hopefully physically. This is not an easy task. It takes a lot hard work but will it be worth it 10 fold. Check back soon and hopefully we will have an update about the photo shoot and The Library mystery dinner.
Again, THANK YOU TO ALL!!

Mike

A New Year 2007

I truely believe this is going to be a great year. We have so much to do, so little time. A year will go by fast if you are not careful. We have a house to baby proof yet and that will get done once summer comes around. We will start on little things now but the larger stuff will get done when the weather is warmer. As I look back at 2006 it went by in a blur. The adoption paperwork and appointments kept us going. Always to do something. Now, it is different. The paperwork is done, but now it is the house.
We have so many people praying, supporting, helping us in their own way, it is hard to say thank you sometimes. I have the plan, a plan but maybe it will come together, and that is when we get back home with our little one, and after we settle down, we hope to have a party. A GREAT BIG PARTY for everyone that was there to support us in the way that they did. Only one small way to say thank you.
2007 is upon us and we have still alot of work to do. Some fundraising ideas are in the back of our minds. We hope to have the rummage sale again the first weekend in June. We may even team up with the Smalley's and do it together. They are only a few weeks ahead of us. We may even do some other fundraising with them. Geogia from Georgias Bridal deserves a great big THANK YOU for her generousity. She had ordered and sold jewelry with 100% of the proceeds going to our adoption fund and the Smalley's adoption fund. She raised over $200 by doing this. She has been such a supporter for both the Smalley's and us. So, THANK YOU Georgia!!! You are truely a great blessing to us. You are in our prayers. There is going to be some fun times coming up. As always, keep us in your prayers. Thanks

Angel Donor

The day after we got home from our Christmas trip to Minnesota we got a call from Alana our church secretary. She said someone from Mayville had called the church to ask about donating to our adoption fund. This person then contributed $500.00, but asked to remain anonymous.
Mike and I are utterly amazed and humbled by this generosity. Words cannot describe how deeply this whole process has touched us. Whoever you are - I am glad you have remained anonymous because there is no way we can humanly thank you enough. As much as I would like to be able to say thank you face to face, I have complete faith that God will reward you for your generosity and your discretion. Know that we are praying for blessings to reign down on you for God's word says: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured out into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 And: "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:3-4
Thank you to all of you who have contributed to our adoption fund. We are not worthy of this trust and generosity. Pray for us that we may be good stewards of these God given gifts. We know these gifts are not for Mike and Jennifer, but for God's will to be done through us when we bring home that precious child he has chosen for us.
To God be the glory forever, and ever. - Jennifer