Our Adoption Fundraisers...

We have been overwhelmed, totally blown away, by our friends who have offered to host fundraisers for our adoption and by those that have supported our adoption so far.

When we adopted Asher, we were able to do it independently and save us a little money, but last year the U.S. passed a law that required all American citizens pursuing an international adoption to now go through an agency to adopt. So we currently have an agency, but every time we have to send money I cringe because I feel like I could be doing the work and saving us money on fees.  :-/

Adoption is so very expensive and we truly appreciate the support of friends and even of those that don't know us! Here is a list of upcoming/past fundraisers for our adoption...

Date TBA - Zumba Fundraiser w/Lara Myers at Fit for Her

November-December 2015 - Just Love Coffee Roaster Fundraiser

October 2015 - T-shirt fundraiser (raised $761!)

September 2015 - T-shirt fundraiser (raised $527!)

July 27-30 - Lularoe Clothing Fundraiser (raised $1,000!)

Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - Giant Subs & Deli fundraiser (raised $470!)

May 2015 - T-shirt fundraiser (raised $647!)

Meeting "Mercy"

I just returned from an amazing trip to Uganda! I traveled with five friends and our primary focus was working with a babies home in Jinja, UG and Sole Hope. We also threw in a few fun things including a yoga class at the Source Cafe, N'Dere Dance Troupe, shopping at the market, and a safari. I will be posting about our trip on a new blog here as I have time ;-)

One of the highlights of our trip was when I got to meet the little girl we are in the process of adopting. I wish I could have spent more time with her but we were pretty busy doing things at the babies home. Plus, I didn't think it would be very healthy for us to get too attached to each other this early in the process. Here's a few pics from our first meeting...

I don't believe she knows we are trying to adopt her and it's better to keep it that way until we hear of a court date. We have to start the entire adoption process over which means a new home study and dossier so I'm guessing it will take about 9-12 months or so.

Funny that we never initially considered adoption for our family, then God led us to Asher & we can't imagine our life now without him. He's absolutely amazing and we are so thankful to be part of his family. And after we adopted Asher, we thought we were done for sure, but then we learned of "Mercy". We weren't crazy about going through the process again because it is so very hard but we really feel like God wants us to do it. So we are stepping out in faith. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in this life is that God's plan is always better than our own. So we are saying "yes" and we'll just see where God takes us on this next journey. As always, your prayers are appreciated!

A Happy Mother's Day Tale

So it looks like the adoption chapter of our lives is not over.

For about 4-5 months now I've been having the longing to adopt again but I thought we were done so I didn't really think any more about it. Then the girls started up with their begging to adopt again. Then about 1 1/2 months ago, we learned of a girl (we'll call her "Mercy") that is in a babies home in Uganda. She has been there about three years now and sadly they haven't been able to find anyone locally to care for her. So we were asked if we'd consider adopting her.

I said yes right away in my heart but we prayed about it & talked things through for over a month. Steve gave his okay one day last week so we are starting the process to adopt her! I'm super excited & I get to meet her when I go to Uganda this summer - wasn't expecting that when I first started planning this trip! So that's our news. We are going into it open-minded & just have big faith that God's will will be done. Your prayers are so appreciated - especially for little Mercy. Please pray that God would prepare her heart to live with her forever family, for God's protection over her, for good health, and for her to bond well with her forever family. Asher has fit so well into our family & we attribute that all to prayer so if you think of us, please pray. We have a crazy road ahead of us but we know it's hard going into it & are prepared for whatever comes our way. Thanks & God bless! ;-)  ‪

#‎incomplete‬ ‪#‎thisishowweroll‬ ‪#‎adoptionrocks‬ ‪#‎everyonedeservesalovingfamily‬ ‪#‎gottalearnhowtodoblackgirlshair‬

Blog Update: We are Mercy's forever family! You can follow her journey here. <3 Thank you, Jesus, for writing the best stories!