Auction Totals

We went into the auction knowing that we needed $5,000 to finish up fundraising.

The total last week for money that came in was $5,088.

($4,643 from the auction, $300 in donations, and $145 in T-shirt sales)

It's been amazing to see God provide for Jack's adoption through the people in our lives.  It is yet another example of how God calls us to live in community.  We need each other.  

As Christa Wells puts it - "Islands are great to visit but I have found we aren't meant to live apart" (If you don't have her new CD with this song on it, it's so so good, you may want to go buy it by clicking here.)  The song is called "More Than I Am" and y'all together we make each other more than what we are alone.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being on this journey with us!

Final Update Pictures

This sweet face was in our email last week!  It is our "final update" from his orphanage. We are SO excited to be close enough that they are sending our final update (but a little sad that no more pictures will come).  Look at this little guy.  We love him!

Auction!

Welcome to our online auction!  We are so excited to share some great items with you.

Before we start on auction info, we also are selling our T-shirts for $5 this week only!  This T-shirt sale will end next Wed. Oct. 16th.  Click on the link to the right to get to our store or just contact us directly.  For $5, this T-shirt will make a great gift. Stock up!

Click here to see the auction!

On to the auction details:

• The auction will start Wed. Oct. 9th and end at 7pm on Wed. Oct. 16th
• All auctions items were donated so 100% of what you pay with your winning bid goes towards our adoption fees!
• The auction is on Facebook so you place bids by making a "comment" on the item with the dollar amount.
• There are several items that we have more than one of, so please note that on some items several top bidders will win.
• We will contact the "winners" when the auction is over and winners will receive their item after it is paid for via Paypal or check.
• For Raleigh winners, we will deliver the item or it is available for pick up.  For outside of Raleigh, if it is a gift card, there is no shipping cost. However larger items, a shipping fee is noted.  The shipping fee is to be added on top of the winning bid if the item needs to be shipped.

Please share the auction with as many friends as you can!  We need your help to spread the word.  Because it is on Facebook, you can even share a certain item with a friend if you think they may be interested in it. 

Happy bidding!

Article 5 Update

We got news that our Article 5 was dropped off on Sept. 24th and is scheduled to be picked up on Oct. 15th!  Once it is picked up, we wait 2-3 weeks for our Travel Approval from China.  It still looks like mid-November travel.  We are so excited and so ready!

The auction starts on Wednesday!  We've been working hard on it and can't wait to share it with you guys.  :)

Article 5 Non-Update

An interesting thing happens the first week of October in China.  They have a "trade fair" that is the largest in the world.  The government and most businesses shut down for an entire week.  I don't think there is anything to compare it to in America.

So an interesting thing is happening right now:  both our government and the Chinese government are shut down. Not working.

This means that we will have no news or updates or progress until next week at the earliest.

The American government shut down actually *shouldn't* cause problems for the rest of our adoption process.  We were glad to hear that news from our agency.  However, we do need the Chinese government to be working.  Thankfully, they are planning to be back next week.

800 Approval & Adoption Nesting

Cross the next step off the list!  Jack's immigration approval (called the I-800) came yesterday.  This means that we have been approved by China and Jack has been approved by America!  Now all of our documents will be sent to the National Visa Center in China where they will begin to process Jack's visa.  This process is called "Article 5."  We will keep you posted as we move through the Article 5 process.

Meanwhile, our visas are being processed here in America.  We are still thinking somewhere between mid-November to mid-December for travel. We are so ready!

Speaking of being ready, I feel like I'm in the final trimester of pregnancy.  Well thankfully I don't physically feel it, but emotionally, I am nesting y'all!  My wheels are spinning about what needs to done for our home and our family to be ready for Jack. This weekend, we moved the crib into our bedroom:

Jack will sleep there for several weeks while he adjusts.  We've read that we will treat him like a newborn those first few weeks in that we will meet his every need 24 hours a day.  He has to learn that he can trust us and that we will provide for his needs.  He will be going through some pretty big shock - everything will change for him (language, food, smells, people who look different, everything!) so we want to be available to him as he processes things.

We are excited about the auction, our last fundraiser!  We are planning on having it Oct. 9 - 16th. It will all be online, so get ready to bid on items and share with your friends.  We're counting on your help and trusting God to provide!

One Last Fundraiser, Friends!

As we wait on Jack's immigration approval, submit our visa paperwork, and do general travel reading/prep, we are also working on one last fundraiser!  God has graciously provided for us all along the way and now we only have $5k more to raise (praise him!!).  We have really loved seeing God provide the funds and it has encouraged us so much to have our community come around us and cheerfully give to help us bring our son home.  Thank you for your sweet generosity!  So, what is our last fundraiser....

We are going to be doing an online auction!  The plan is to have it in October.  It will last one week.  What we need your help with now is collecting donations.  We have been working at night, contacting folks that we know (and many that we don't) that might be willing to help.  We've gotten some really great donations- but we need more!  We are asking our fellow travelers along this adoption journey to put on their thinking caps and help us come up with some new donations.  Here are the categories we are looking for:

Vacation packages: know anyone that has a rental property at the beach, a timeshare, or access to a vacation property that is used for promotional purposes?  This would be HUGE.

Restaurant Gift Cards: everyone can help with this- just ask the owner/manager at your favorite restaurant if they would be willing to donate a gift card to the auction.  These always sell very well, and would really help!

Sports apparel/memorabilia:  have a signed basketball, signed jersey, or collection of bobble-heads you'd like to donate?  Do you have a connection with a famous college or pro athlete that might be willing to sign something for us?  

Tickets: we are looking for tickets to all kinds of events: football games, basketball games, Broadway shows at DPAC or Raleigh Memorial, movies, concerts....anything would be great!  NC State, UNC, Duke....bring it on!

Services: looking for local businesses to donate some of there services- could be a carpet cleaner, masseuse, home cleaner, auto detail shop....anything! Do you have any connections here?

Gift Packages: do you know any small business owners that would donate a small package from their store?  Could be a bakery, florist, decor.  

Crafts/Jewelry/Etsy/Art type stuff: know someone really talented?  See if they'll donate something for the auction!

Do any of those ring a bell?  We'd love to hear from you!  We hope to get this auction in front of a lot of people so this would be great advertising - a great way to get some visibility for your company.

We're excited and can't wait to share with you the fun things donated already!