It's official.....

We hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed their holidays.  We received word on Christmas Eve that we have the official referral for the four children we are adopting from P!!  Kim and I could not ask for a better present, but we got one anyway.  We also found out that the kids would receive the picture books we sent as well as learn they are being adopted on Christmas Day!!  Our hearts were jumping for joy and Kim was crying.  My tears were all allergy related ;)

All day on Christmas we kept thinking about what their reaction would be to the news that they are being adopted and being kept together.  Would they be excited, scared or both?  We both smiled knowing next Christmas would be very different, but in a good way.  All of us are looking forward to having them home and beginning this next phase in our lives.

So, we will now start to work on our I-800.  We also still have the last part of our adoption fee to pay off which does not include what our travel and in country expenses will be.  We have applied for seven grants so far, but have not heard back from any of them yet.  With the official referral in hand there are a some more that we can apply for.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we work on clearing this hurdle.

Happy New Year!!!

I-800A approved!!

We are I-800A approved!!  All we need to do is get it apostilled on Monday morning and then overnight it to our agency.  The foundation in charge of our children meets early next week, so please pray that we get the I-800A letter to them in time to review our dossier and issue the official referral.  We appreciate any prayers, wishes of good luck, etc.  For those keeping score at home, if we get the official referral in a week or so, we should be able to travel sometime in Feb/early March. 

It was in February of last year that we committed to these kids.  It has been a year that has shown us the best of people in so many ways.  Complete strangers who have supported us through kind words, prayers, encouragement and through our fundraisers.  We have come to realize (even more than we did before) that we are part of something so much larger than just our little world.  We are have been introduced to some amazing families who have opened their hearts to adoption and they have shared not only their joys, but their struggles as well.  Kim and I are better for having met you all!!

As we approach the end of the first leg of our adventure, Please consider donating to our adoption through our Just Love Coffee store:

https://justlovecoffee.com/nicelyfamilyadoption

Or by purchasing one of our handmade Kumihimo bracelets.  There are photos in the below posts.  Either of these make great holiday gifts, especially when you factor in every dollar gets us closer to bring the "Fantastic Four" home :)

So much closer

We have been assigned an officer to review and approve our I-800A.  This means we are getting very close to receiving the official referral for our children, which then leads to travel dates!  The foundation responsible for our children meets next month so hopefully we can get our I-800A approval to them before then so we do not have to wait until the next meeting.  Stay tuned for further updates.

We have a couple of prayer requests.  There is a family who is adopting a little girl in the same country we are.  She is not doing well right now so please keep this little princess in your prayers.

Also, a very good friend had hip replacement surgery this week and I ask that everyone pray that he has a speedy recovery.  "R" we hope you are back on your feet very soon!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Christmas comes a little early

Hello!!!  Thanks again to all of you who follow our adoption adventure.  This week we learned that our kiddo's will learn about us for the first time a little before Christmas.  I wish I could insert a dramatic pause, because I have no idea how to describe how this makes us feel.  It still has not sunk in.  How I wish I could be a fly on the wall when their foster family tells them that after all this time of waiting there is a family that wants to adopt you!  I would give my left pinkie (ok just the tip) to see their face as they look through the photo books we sent over for each of them.  Will they be scared, happy, excited, or indifferent?  What do they know if anything about America?  All of these thoughts race through our heads.

It does mean that for us that no better Christmas present could be given.  Knowing that any feelings the kids may have had of being unwanted or worry that they would be separated can start to be relieved.  As a little kid all I wanted was my two front teeth, now all I want is my four kiddos from the land of pierogi's.

Since the holidays are coming up let me mention that we are still doing the handmade kumihimo bracelets as a fundraiser.  They make fantastic and unique gifts for family members, friends, co-workers, teachers, librarians, astronauts, day care providers, nannies, you name it!!  Besides giving a unique handmade gift you will also be helping bring these kids home.  As we near the end of this part of the adventure, travel fees are a big thing we are focusing on (one way airfare x 4 for example). 

 If you look in the below post you will see some examples of bracelets my wonderful wife has done.  We can do a great deal of color combinations so don't be afraid to ask.  We continue to pray for all of you so please keep us in your prayers as well!

Can you hear that??

Do you hear that sound.....the sound of four more orphans about to be swooped up into a family.  It's the sound of four young children learning for the first time in over two years of waiting that someone wants them....all of them.  That's the sound of a child knowing that a mom and dad he/she hasn't met yet is loving them from 4,669.9 miles away.  It is the sound of little hearts having part of their hopes and dreams fulfilled.

This week our dossier was sent to Poland for translation and in that package are four photo books, one for each of our children, that will unveil to them for the first time they have a family waiting for them.  In our minds we dream of what we hope their reaction will be.  We hope and pray this heals their hearts a little from the ordeals and trials they have already experienced.  We hope that they will be excited to meet us in person as we are them, for there has not been a day where we do not gaze upon their photos or think about them.  If all goes well we hope that day comes in the early part of 2014.

With this step down we are approaching the final turns in this adventure we started almost a year  ago.  Some big obstacles (fees) are still to be overcome and we are applying for grants and saving all that we can.

As the holidays approach I would like to mention again that Kim makes handmade Kumihimo bead bracelets like the ones below.  We can do almost any color combination and ALL of the proceeds go directly to our adoption fund.  We sold a good number of these last year and heard a lot of great compliments so please keep us in mind for your holiday or birthday shopping.  Buying one of these will make an impact on an orphan's life.

Since Fall is upon us, we would like to also remind you that our coffee store with Just Love Coffee is still open:  https://justlovecoffee.com/nicelyfamilyadoption

A portion of each purchase goes toward our adoption process.  There is no better way to warm up on these cool fall mornings than with a warm cup of Joe, especially when it helps to bring our four children home.

Most of all, we would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support.  I would take up pages thanking everyone individually and since you probably haven't read this far down, I wont :),  Please continue to pray for us and our four children who we are working to bring home soon.  God Bless you all!

Some exciting steps forward...

Hello!  We have had a pretty productive week thus far.  We were able to do our biometrics appointment earlier than scheduled (yay) and we applied for some grants last week to aid in funding the adoption.  Our agency also let us know that when our dossier is sent over shortly we will be able to send photo books to our kiddos :)  This will be the first time that they learn about us! 

I can't begin to tell you how excited that makes us feel.  If only we could be there to see their faces when they find out after all of this time there is a forever family waiting for them.  So now we are working on what to include in the books.  Kim had picked up four photo books over the summer so we will make one for each of the children so they have something of their very own.  We are wanting to include pictures of the four of us, of course, but also places we visit frequently like our church, local library and the park.  We will include pictures of our house, yard, their rooms and of us doing family activities together.  We are open to any suggestions from those who have sent books to their kids before meeting them.

I'm working on a few more grants this weekend.  If anyone knows of any that don't appear on the common lists please PM us on Facebook.  We will get the last of our docs apostilled this week so our dossier can be assembled very soon.  Our hope and prayer is we will travel sometime after the first of the year.  Please continue to pray for the kids, the process, our fundraising, and all those kids who are waiting for a family.

Until next time.....

We are making some progress....

Hello all!  It has been a busy couple of weeks here.  With our home study now complete we are gathering the remaining documents we will need to have apostilled so we can complete our dossier.  We have our next fingerprinting appointment next week so we will get that out of the way.  As we move closer to the end of the year the impact of all  of this seems to get larger and more real at times.  By the grace of God, we could have these four kiddos home in less than six months!!

We still have more money to raise so if you know anyone who likes coffee please share with them our Just Love Coffee store link:

https://justlovecoffee.com/nicelyfamilyadoption

Thank you to everyone who has purchased coffee.  Every single dollar helps get a little closer.

Our adoption video for Give 1 Save 1 is finished and we are waiting to be the featured family.  When that happens we will make sure we let all of you know.  We would not have made it this far without all of your prayers and support.  We are so very grateful and pray that God blesses you all.

Last week we went to an event put on by the parks department called the Family Outdoor Experience.  It was such a great time.  We went horseback riding and the girls rode horses for the very first time unassisted along the 1 1/2 mile trail.  They were awesome!  We saw some deer, although I wonder if they were "released" just for our ride since I heard other riders say they saw them as well around the same point.  Nevertheless, it was pretty cool.

We also did some archery, air rifle shooting and skeet shooting.  They had some great exhibits of wild birds, bee hives, animal pelts, handmade fishing nets, and native spices of Indiana to name a few.  We also met a great family while waiting in line to ride the horses.  It is amazing how just talking about adoption can bring people together.

Another beautiful weekend is in the forecast so hopefully we can get outside.  First we have to get these grant applications done!  Keep us in your prayers, you are in ours.

Until next time....