Up 2 Date

     We are looking forward to starting our online auction within the next week! So keep a lookout for it on facebook! :) It's a great way for you to do some Christmas shopping and help us bring home our baby!!

     We have had a lot of people inquiring about the adoption, so we thought we would catch ya'll up on what is happening...
    We are still in the waiting stage of the adoption, our paperwork has been in Ethiopia since March 22, 2013 and that day is when our official wait time started. The adoption agency estimates the current wait is 2 to 2.5 years and it's possible that it will continue to increase. The biggest reason for this long wait is because the demand for younger children is higher than older children and we have requested a healthy 0-2 year old. It is really hard being patient, but I know God has a plan and that it'll be totally worth the wait when we bring our baby home!

     Since the wait is so long, we have documents that will expire while we wait. Starting in January 2014, we have to start renewing some of our documents, like our medical exams and our homestudy. We definitely aren't looking forward to getting back into the hassle of the paperwork again but I guess we should be use to it by now! Some of these documents have the potential of being very expensive to renew, but we won't find out how much they are going to set us back until next year. We are hoping that we will only have to renew once!
  
     We also are required to read 6 books while we wait. These books are intended to prepare us for the child and give us a heads up on what to expect. I like that the books prepare us for the worse, rather than sugar coating everything. We also found this cool website, which is helpful in teaching us how to care for their hair. http://www.chocolatehairvanillacare.com.
 
     While we wait we also have to come up with the money to pay for the adoption, cause unfortunately it isn't free! There is a range for how much our adoption will cost, the range that our adoption agency gave us is $28,190 - $38,100. You can find the detailed breakdown here: http://www.awaa.org/programs/ethiopia/cost.aspx. So far we have paid $9,587.00 and we still need approximately $10,000-$19,000. We continue to do new fundraisers and try to have at least one fundraiser a month. God has blessed us so much and we know that He will continue to! We are so very thankful and grateful for everyone who has helped us!  We still need a lot more to bring our baby home, so we will continue to press forward and trust in God and His plan! 
    

Adoption Fundraiser Spotlight

 We were highlighted on Julie Gumm's website, this is a great way to get our story out there!

Please check it out!!! Just ignore the mistakes that I made!
http://juliegumm.com/2013/11/adoption-fundraiser-spotlight-the-pack-family/

Julie Gumm wrote the book Adopt Without Debt, which is a great book and I suggest you read it!! It has a lot of great ideas!

BBQ & BINGO

     Words cannot express all that I want to say! I am so overwhelmed and speechless that all I can manage to say is Thank you, Thank You, Thank you!  My heart is overflowing with love and gratitude and I feel so unworthy to have such great people in my life. I am blessed with so much more than I deserve.

    

    Allan and I are so thankful for everyone who helped and contributed to our fundraiser.  We are so grateful and thankful for having true friends; people who love and support and cheer us on every step of the way. We are thankful for our amazing family and friends that really have gone above and beyond to help us.  I am thankful for my loving, generous, gracious, reliable mom and for our  wonderful community, with whom we continue to share every step of this journey with. 

    The fundraiser turned out great! We had a good turnout and had lots of fun! God continues to bless us on our journey and has overwhelmed my heart with gratitude. 

  Food Lion volunteered to cook the meat for us and then had several people donate their time and skills to shred the meat for us. They didn't have to do that, but they chose to and we are so grateful!

 

Nyokia and Maria cooked the meat for us!

 Sara Lee and Flowers donated hamburger buns and Snyder's donated Chips. They didn't have to but they chose to help us.  

Our dear friends donated items to make prizes for the Bingo, donated time and money to make coleslaw, yummy desserts and donated their free time to come help, participate and support us. My mom donated her artistic abilities and time to plan and decorate our event. They didn't have to give up so much just for us, but they chose to help us. They chose to help us get one step closer to bringing home our child. We are so blessed and so thankful and we love our friends so much! God has put some pretty awesome people in our lives! Here are some pictures from our BBQ & BINGO fundraiser!!

Leaves and Pumpkins that my mom cut out

Bingo prizes

More Bingo Prizes

Money table and Bingo Cards

The food tables!

Dessert table before it was filled up with tasty treats

Erica ready to take money!

Allan and I ready to serve food!

Krystal, her Nanny and Tommy. This pic was taken before the prizes started piling up

Fun for all ages!

Hanging out and enjoying yummy food

Annette and Bob, also adopting, came out to support us. They racked up lots of prizes!

Erica and sweet Nyla, who knows our baby is in Africa, really far away, and apparently is going to be put in a shopping cart! :) She is precious!

My mom playing BINGO!

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Again, I know I sound like a broken record, but through this fundraiser God has just completely overwhelmed me with the presence of love and support from our dear friends.  

It is just pretty neat that with each fundraiser, God reveals more to me. I totally get more out of the fundraiser than just another step closer to bringing home our baby! I grow so impatient waiting for our baby, but I have to say it is totally worth the wait with all that God is doing along the way! :)

Thanks to everyone who is standing by our side and waiting to share in the joy when we bring our baby home! :) It means more to us than you will ever know!