Counting Down to Forever...

Yes, we are very very excited!!  We would love to announce that we are having a BOY!!!
Our birthmother is expecting a boy and both of our families are overjoyed!!  The last few weeks
have been full of all kinds of emotions.  Adoption is such a wild but fulfilling ride!!  We are in daily contact with our birthmother and her family.  It is such an amazing blessing to know that we are not only having
a son but we are also gaining a whole new branch in our family!!  We are simply in love with her and her family and we look forward to joining both of our families into a Forever Family!!
If you have ever thought about adoption we would love to share more info with you!!  There are just not
enough words to explain our feelings for her and her family.  More news to come soon!!!

Adoption Fundraiser!!

Hi friends and family!  As everyone knows we have been chosen by a birth mother/birth family!
We are very excited!  We have been in prayer for her and her family as we know that this is not an easy decision.  We have been in contact with them since we were chosen, and we are putting our trust and faith in our Lord as He leads us on this new adoption journey.
We are planning a trip very soon to meet the family and we look forward to getting to know them better as the months continue along until the baby is born.
We are once again asking for your prayers for not only our family but also for her family.
We are also asking for your help in our next adoption fundraiser!!  We have just begun a Party Lite Candle fundraiser with the help of my friend Faith Soloman.  We are selling 2 different candle sizes in 10 different scents.  We will be taking orders for the candles from October 1st thru October 17th.
If you would like to see the brochure please let Wade or I know.  We will also be set up at our church, Panther Springs United Methodist in Morristown on Saturday October 12th from 9:00 to 11:00 am in the pavilion.
I have candle samples that you will be able to see and smell to pick just the right scent for you.
Once ordered the candles will arrive around the first week of November.  Just in time for Thanksgiving and the holidays!!  They would make excellent Christmas gifts along with helping us raise the needed funds for our upcoming travel days, agency fees and legal fees.  I also have several cookbooks that I had written for our last adoption that we are still selling for $10 each.  I will have them at the church on October 12th. also.
Please help us make this fundraiser a huge success.  Our family was so blessed by our first adoption and we look so forward to adding to our family.
Thanks for stopping by...
Julie

Summer and Smiles.....

Hi family and friends!!!  We are just wanting to update everyone on our adoption.  We are still in the "patiently waiting" phase of our journey.  We have represented so far to a few adoption situations, but our family has not been chosen.  We patiently wait to see where and how the Lord will bring us to the child for our family.  Waiting is never easy, but we know that great and wonderful things come to those who wait. 
Our family has been enjoying the summer so far with many adventures.  Alyssa is now in gymnastics and also swimming lessons.  She is in the summer reading program at the library as well.  Alyssa mentions daily how much she is looking forward to becoming a big sister.  She is growing up so fast!!  It seems like just yesterday we went to Russia to bring her home.  She has been slowly learning her adoption story and we make it a point to let her know that she should be very proud to be from Russia.  Russia is, and always will be a huge part of our lives.  We are thankful everyday for Alyssa, she is the joy of our lives.

As we wait, we are trying to save money for this adoption.  The process of adoption is not easy, nor is it cheap.  All of the paperwork costs, agency costs and legal costs are what we are saving for.  We have had one yard sale and are gearing up for another.  YOU can help us!!  Please see the links on our blog that bring
you to Amazon.com.  If you buy something using the links on our blog, we get a small percentage that goes toward our adoption!! 

Summer and  Smiles.....
We pray that you are enjoying your summer as we are.  Smile at everyone you meet!!  Be thankful for your children.... they are the world's future!!!  Hug and kiss them everyday!!! Every child deserves the love of a FAMILY....

Blessings,
Julie

We Need Your Help!!!

Friends and family we need your help!!  We are trying to fundraise to help with the costs of our second adoption.  As we said recently we have our home study and family profiles complete.  So far we have sent them out to 5 different adoption agencies.  We have already been presented a couple of times to two different situtations.  As of now we are still in the waiting phase.  Our family has not been matched as of yet, so we are in full throttle trying to fundraise.  We know that once we are matched we will be required to pay fees due for the adoption really quickly.  As you can see on the side bar of our blog, we are now an Amazon Associate.  When you click on the side bar it will bring you to Amazon.com.  If you make a purchase using our link, we will get a small percentage of the sale for our adoption!!!!  You can buy anything on Amazon and we will get credit for it as long as you go through our link!!!  If you have any questions please let us know.  You must go through our link for us to get credit for it!!!  As everyone knows Mother's Day is coming up.  What better way to buy a gift for your Mom, and also to help me become a Mom again!!   Please also keep our family in your prayers, as we wait patiently to see how the Lord works in bringing another child into our forever home!! 
Blessings.... Thanks for stopping by.....  Julie

One Step Closer....

Yes we are one step closer to being a mommy and daddy again.  Today we received our family profiles that we will send off to our adoption agencies.  We also received the rough draft of our home study.  We made the final corrections and sent it back to our social worker.  She will then send us the finished home study report.  We will send this report along with our family profiles.  We will also we able to apply for adoption grants that we so desperately need.  We are brainstorming on ways to fund raise for this adoption.  On our first adoption I had wrote a cookbook that we sold with great success.  We have been cleaning out the house and selling everything that we no longer need.  We still have about 30 copies of the cookbook that we are selling for $10.00 each if anyone is interested.  We are getting ready to have a yard sale very soon also.  We are starting to gather items to have a online auction too.  If anyone has anything new or gently used that they would like to donate please let us know.  We pray that we will have the funds that we will need once we get matched.  These funds will be needed very quickly.  If you would like to donate to our adoption you can donate through Paypal, or you can send it to us.  Any donation, even $5 or $10 will go along ways to help us bring our child home.  Thanks for stopping by..... More news soon!!!  

Beginning our journey to forever....

Just an update on the beginning of our domestic adoption journey.
We completed our home study visits at the end of last week, and now
we wait for the final home study report.  Our consultant that is working on
our profile will have it finished soon.  Once we have both items in hand, we can
fill out our agency applications and grant applications.  We are extremely excited
to send in our applications.  There have been families that have been matched
relatively shortly after sending in their paperwork and applications.
We pray that our wait will be short also, however the funds needed would come
quickly as well.  If you feel compelled to help us bring this new blessing in to our
home, you can donate using Paypal or you can mail us your donation.  Even
$ 5.00 or $10.00 can go a long ways to help us reach our goal.  We also ask for
your prayers as well.  Prayers for the funds needed as we go along.  Prayers for
wisdom, patience and guidance along the way.
Thanks for stopping by.......Julie

Forever and Always......

If someone would have told me that I was going to someday be a mom..... an adoptive mom, I would not have believed it.  I thought that having children would be something that would just happen after being married for a couple of years.  When having a biological child just did not happen for our family we searched and prayed for the answer.  The first adoptive journey for Wade and I was absolutely amazing.  From the very first minute when the Lord put it in our hearts that our child was waiting in Russia, to the final leg of our journey landing in the United States with our daughter.  We were so amazed by how the Lord walked beside us, carried us and showed us His never ending love for our family.  Sometimes there are just not enough words to express the amazing journey of adoption.

As we begin once again on this new journey, we ask for your prayers.  We ask for prayers for Alyssa as she will soon be a big sister.  We ask for prayers as Wade and I work to complete our home study.  We ask for your prayers for patience and wisdom as we begin this journey of  "Forever and Always".......
Blessings..... Julie