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.....
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
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....
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....
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Good news.....
We are home study approved!! Happy dance time at the ole Nicely homestead. We just received the news last night and are very excited. We still have some things to do, but this is a big hurdle we have just jumped. As promised we are now selling coffee through our blog as another fundraiser. The link is on the left side at the top. So if you are a coffee lover, head on over and browse the wide variety of coffees!!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Moving along
We are in the closing days of summer according to the calendar. We are moving deeper into our adoption process as well. Our home study report has been sent to our agency to see if anything needs to be corrected before it is finalized. This is really great news! Once that is done, we can start a new fundraiser. we plan to sell coffee on our blog! All of you coffee lovers out there keep your eyes peeled for that announcement. The company that does this not only offers ground and whole bean coffees, but K-cups as well for all of you Keurig owners!
Being home study approved also means we can start applying for grants as well. If anyone has any advise on what to do or what not to do when applying for these please contact us. We recently got an update on the kids and it seems they are doing well. We have celebrated two of their birthdays so far and have the next two coming up soon. We always have a cake for them and record us singing happy birthday. Kim and I hope we can show this to them when we meet them. Our goal is to travel early 2014 to get them. Please join us in prayer that the rest of our process goes smoothly.
Since we are nearing the next milestone in our adoption adventure, I would like to remind everyone that we are still selling our hand made bead bracelets. They make great gifts and we can do almost any color combinations. Some examples of what we have done in the past include: school colors, adoptive country flag colors, seasonal colors, and pro sport team colors. Contact us if you have any questions or are interested in purchasing one. The bracelets are $15 + S&H. Here are a few pics.
As soon as we move forward with the coffee fundraiser we will let you know. Enjoy the rest of your summer and until next time...
Being home study approved also means we can start applying for grants as well. If anyone has any advise on what to do or what not to do when applying for these please contact us. We recently got an update on the kids and it seems they are doing well. We have celebrated two of their birthdays so far and have the next two coming up soon. We always have a cake for them and record us singing happy birthday. Kim and I hope we can show this to them when we meet them. Our goal is to travel early 2014 to get them. Please join us in prayer that the rest of our process goes smoothly.
Since we are nearing the next milestone in our adoption adventure, I would like to remind everyone that we are still selling our hand made bead bracelets. They make great gifts and we can do almost any color combinations. Some examples of what we have done in the past include: school colors, adoptive country flag colors, seasonal colors, and pro sport team colors. Contact us if you have any questions or are interested in purchasing one. The bracelets are $15 + S&H. Here are a few pics.
As soon as we move forward with the coffee fundraiser we will let you know. Enjoy the rest of your summer and until next time...
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Homestudy is finished.......almost
Hello all! We have been blessed with some absolutely beautiful weather over the last week or so here in Central Indiana. There is nothing like having all the windows open in the house, the breeze blowing through, and listening to the wind chimes!
To jump right in, we are finished with all of our home study visits and now just have to wait for our social worker to finish the report. We hope to have that by the middle of next month. Once we get that wrapped up, we will feel like we have crossed another significant milestone in this adoption adventure. There are still more steps, but with every piece of paper obtained and item checked off, we move closer to getting our kiddos home.
We will start selling coffee once we are home study approved, so all you coffee lovers keep an eye out on our blog! Kim is still making bracelets and if anyone is interested please feel free to contact us. We can do almost any color combination. A big seller has been ones she has done in a child's native country's flag colors.
The kids have finished up with all of their summer camps and they had a blast. One of our favorites was the Fire and Safety camp put on by a local police department. The girls loved it, they learned bicycle, fire and stranger safety. They also got to do an obstacle course and fire paint ball guns on the last day. The Sergeant in charge did a great job with them!
We are looking forward to the rest of summer and enjoying this beautiful weather.....while it lasts.
Until next time......
To jump right in, we are finished with all of our home study visits and now just have to wait for our social worker to finish the report. We hope to have that by the middle of next month. Once we get that wrapped up, we will feel like we have crossed another significant milestone in this adoption adventure. There are still more steps, but with every piece of paper obtained and item checked off, we move closer to getting our kiddos home.
We will start selling coffee once we are home study approved, so all you coffee lovers keep an eye out on our blog! Kim is still making bracelets and if anyone is interested please feel free to contact us. We can do almost any color combination. A big seller has been ones she has done in a child's native country's flag colors.
The kids have finished up with all of their summer camps and they had a blast. One of our favorites was the Fire and Safety camp put on by a local police department. The girls loved it, they learned bicycle, fire and stranger safety. They also got to do an obstacle course and fire paint ball guns on the last day. The Sergeant in charge did a great job with them!
We are looking forward to the rest of summer and enjoying this beautiful weather.....while it lasts.
Until next time......
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Summer is here and things are moving.....
Ah...the warmth of summer is upon us! Things have been busy around the old homestead. We have had two home study visits and they both have went well! We have one more short visit to complete in the next couple of weeks and then this stage will be done and we await the completed HS report.
We also had another fundraiser at the beginning of June. Our community has a garage sale and ours was a success. We want to thank everyone who donated items and all who visited our sale. We had a special family donate the help of two of their daughters and we are extremely grateful for that. We feel very blessed to be touched by so many who have wanted to help.
Last weekend we attended an adoptive families reunion just outside of Cincinnati. We had a wonderful time and learned so much from everyone there. Most of all we made some great connections to lean on as we continue our process and more importantly for when we have the new kiddos home. The conversations were great and what a blessing it was to watch all of the children play together. No matter what their challenge or whey they are from, kids are kids! Laughter has no racial, ethnic, economical, or religious boundaries. It was through the grace of God we found this group and I know we will be back for future reunions.
We are looking forward to completing this part of our journey and are preparing for the next step in the process. Thank you to everyone for the continued support and especially the prayers!! God Bless you all.
Until next time.....
We also had another fundraiser at the beginning of June. Our community has a garage sale and ours was a success. We want to thank everyone who donated items and all who visited our sale. We had a special family donate the help of two of their daughters and we are extremely grateful for that. We feel very blessed to be touched by so many who have wanted to help.
Last weekend we attended an adoptive families reunion just outside of Cincinnati. We had a wonderful time and learned so much from everyone there. Most of all we made some great connections to lean on as we continue our process and more importantly for when we have the new kiddos home. The conversations were great and what a blessing it was to watch all of the children play together. No matter what their challenge or whey they are from, kids are kids! Laughter has no racial, ethnic, economical, or religious boundaries. It was through the grace of God we found this group and I know we will be back for future reunions.
We are looking forward to completing this part of our journey and are preparing for the next step in the process. Thank you to everyone for the continued support and especially the prayers!! God Bless you all.
Until next time.....
Monday, May 27, 2013
Home study and fundraising update!
Hello all!!
It has been a very busy month for the Nicely family. We have celebrated three of our princesses birthdays this month!! Mother's Day was in there of course and just this last week we hosted the bake/food sale at our local home school used curriculum sale. Thank you Mrs. Burgess for allowing us the opportunity to run the booth this year! Also, thank you to all of the wonderful people who donated treats for the sale. We are very grateful for your support!
It was a huge success and we all had a great time doing it. Everyone was so supportive of our adoption! We want to send a special thank you out to the Murray Family who once again always go above and beyond in their efforts to help us. Our Plainfield Chick-Fil-A donated some chicken sandwiches and chips for us to sell. So, along with hot dogs we had a pretty good menu. Here is another shot of the awesome treat selection we had:
We had a blast!!
That same morning just as we were about to leave to get set up, Kim's phone rang and it was our social worker calling to set up our first home study visit!! Woo Hoo, that's one step closer to the finish line! We are very eager to start our lives with these children and our new expanded family. We know that God is in charge and we just need to pray, relax and let go.
We are also getting ready for our next big fundraiser which is a huge garage sale on June 8th. Folks from the curriculum sale donated some of their things so we could sell them at the garage sale. Our garage is overflowing with books!! Our summer is full with fun events and in between we will continue to ready the house for all of our new additions ;)
Until next time......
It has been a very busy month for the Nicely family. We have celebrated three of our princesses birthdays this month!! Mother's Day was in there of course and just this last week we hosted the bake/food sale at our local home school used curriculum sale. Thank you Mrs. Burgess for allowing us the opportunity to run the booth this year! Also, thank you to all of the wonderful people who donated treats for the sale. We are very grateful for your support!
It was a huge success and we all had a great time doing it. Everyone was so supportive of our adoption! We want to send a special thank you out to the Murray Family who once again always go above and beyond in their efforts to help us. Our Plainfield Chick-Fil-A donated some chicken sandwiches and chips for us to sell. So, along with hot dogs we had a pretty good menu. Here is another shot of the awesome treat selection we had:
We had a blast!!
That same morning just as we were about to leave to get set up, Kim's phone rang and it was our social worker calling to set up our first home study visit!! Woo Hoo, that's one step closer to the finish line! We are very eager to start our lives with these children and our new expanded family. We know that God is in charge and we just need to pray, relax and let go.
We are also getting ready for our next big fundraiser which is a huge garage sale on June 8th. Folks from the curriculum sale donated some of their things so we could sell them at the garage sale. Our garage is overflowing with books!! Our summer is full with fun events and in between we will continue to ready the house for all of our new additions ;)
Until next time......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)