And the Winner Is.....

... lucky number #28 !!  Laura! She is the winner of the ARTWORK GIVEAWAY and in case you are curious she chose THIS beautiful painting!

Please do not be discouraged!! Rumor has it there may be another chance to own some of Debbi's art in our fundraising future!

As of tonight, we have raised $3172 between the ARTWORK GIVEAWAY and our AUCTION!!  This is  HUGE amount!!! A sincere thanks to all those who have donated, whether through the auction or within the last few days.  The icing on the cake was an ANONYMOUS DONOR giving $1500 today!! Talk about shock and awe.  I really wish I knew who to thank- but ultimately it was our Heavenly Father who orchestrated everything and knew who would be inspired to bless this boy's life. That is the amazing thing... He always knows what we need and he has a way to provide it.  I am grateful to that special donor and EACH AND EVERY donor we have had. Thank you.

I am always blown away by the never-ending kindness of everyone.  The only thing that makes me a little sad is when people who simply can't give feel badly.  Can I please reassure you on behalf of myself and EVERY SINGLE adoptive parent I have had the pleasure of knowing that IT'S OKAY. We get it and no one, least of all me, is keeping tabs of who "should've" helped or whatever.  I think part of that comes from my own realization that we are all doing our best to fight our own battles and meet our own obligations. YOU are the only one who knows where your priorities need to be at this moment and where your resources are best needed.  You are the steward over your own sweet children or your pets, or your extended family, or your job, etc.  I am thrilled and grateful for every buck that comes our way, but I trust that you know what you can or can't or just simply are not moved or inspired to do with your hard earned money! So, let go of any guilt and just offer up a pray for us instead that someone who has the spare change WILL find out about our cause and pitch in if they're able!

So for our NEXT giveaway...  I'm thinking about one of my QUILTS!  What do you think?

While I think about that, we have a NEW FUNDRAISER!

It is geared for LOCAL OWENSVILLE residents-

FREE DINNER OUT FOR A WEEK!! $200 VALUE!

I love our town!!

More details to follow!

Debbi Weitzell Original Art GIVEAWAY!!

This has me VERY excited!!  We are offering an AMAZING giveaway worth up to hundreds of dollars! 

A very talented and generous friend of mine has offered to giveaway ANY ONE of her paintings in support of our ADOPTION!  MARCH has become CRUNCH TIME for us!  We have received our Letter of Approval from the US CIS and now we are desperate to earn the funds to submit our dossier! ($8600) We need to do this within the next couple of weeks!

This is a GREAT INCENTIVE for you to pitch in whatever you can or help share our fundraising cause!  The winner will be able to choose any single painting from Debbi's website!

Click here to browse selection:
Debbi Weitzell Art - view giveaway options here!

Here is one of my personal favorites:
Pure Intelligence ~ Value: $150.00

Or this one!
Autumn Colors ~ Value: $250

But theses are just two of the choices, the winner can choose ANY available painting!  (I will cover the shipping costs).

How does the GIVEAWAY work?

When our ADOPT TOGETHER fund reaches $1500  (it is currently at $1036), we will give away a Debbi Weitzell original painting!

If you would like to be included you can do any of the following:

1)  Donate $5.00 to our Adopt Together grant fund and leave comment: "MARCH MADNESS"

OR

2) Simply share this blog post on your FB page or blog! Comment below "shared (#) times!"

For every share and/or every $5.00 your name will be added again to the free giveaway drawing!

CLICK HERE to Donate:
Adopt Together - Greene Family


Thank you Debbi!
 

One Way to Donate or Pay for Auction Items: Our Adopt Together Profile

Greene "Adopt Together" Profile

This is the easiest way to contribute to our adoption or pay for auction items through a tax-deductible and reputable crowd-funding platform!  "Adopt Together" will later take all our donations and convert them to a grant they send directly to our Placement Agency (Heartsent Adoption, Inc., Orinda, CA.)

How Does "Adopt Together" work?
Watch This Video

The above LINK was one of the first videos I watched as I sat alone one night with "C's" profile in one hand and an empty checkbook in the other.  I was a full-time student, working part-time, my husband was putting in all the overtime he could just to help keep things steady while I finished school and looked for better employment.  I watched this video and I wept.  I mean seriously WEPT.  I have always had a hard time asking for help, especially monetary help, and yet the desire in my heart and the conviction that this was OUR SON was undeniable. I knew if this was to happen that we could not do it alone.  Yet I also knew there are hundreds of worthy causes out there and not enough people to help everyone out.  I knew there were personal struggles and financial difficulties many friends and family were each facing.  I knew we would be at the mercy of strangers in many ways if we were to make the commitment to apply and move forward.

As I sit here realizing how close we are, and knowing the biggest obstacle is a STACK of MONEY.  It is daunting and humbling but it is ONLY MONEY and it is POSSIBLE.  I re-watch this little video and I again weep.  I weep because I never thought we would make it this far.  I weep because we just finished a fundraising auction which (if everyone pays what they bid) will have raised more than TWICE what my HIGHEST DREAMS were.  It is HUMBLING. It is a MIRACLE. And it keeps me going.

I know that we will be blessed with the grants and money we need to bring our child home.  I haven't the foggiest idea HOW but I know we WILL.  We ask for your PRAYS and continued support as we continue to wait for GRANT results and APPLY for new ones; and prepare for our YARD SALE, and PRAY for GENROUS and ABLE DONORS to be part of this great cause.  We BELEIVE in PRAYER and we believe if we keep doing everything in our power first, that our Father in Heaven will meet us the rest of the way.  Just as He ALWAYS has.

 

 

USCIS APPROVAL!

OH HAPPY DAY!!

Well, we had been told we would receive an e-mail from Homeland Security/USCIS prior to receiving our hard copy, so when we went to the post office this morning to get boxes for our auction, I was rather shocked and honestly very nervous when my husband handed me a letter from Homeland Security.  I figured good news would have been received via e-mail as expected.  I literally had to catch my breath for a few minutes before even opening it. Then I had to re-read it several times to make sure it was in fact AN APPROVAL!! And it is!!  OH, HAPPY DAY!!!

What is the I-797? Why do you need it to adopt?

The I-797 is the decision Homeland Security makes after reviewing your I-800A application- which includes your home study, vital records, background checks, references (I think?) and the actual application.  The cost to submit the application was $790 for the application and $130 for the final round of fingerprinting ("biometrics").  A few weeks ago we received a letter (via our adoption agency) stating they needed additional clarification and specifically wanted to know where we stood with our Foster Care License.  At the time we didn't know because we had sort of been left hanging by DFS.  However, we were able to contact our social worker at DFS and she was able to talk with some people and we were then told we were approved for the DFS Foster care License for the state of Missouri!  This was awesome news although sort of a moot point since our path has taken a turn toward Bogota right now.  It was critical for CIS though to confirm we had not been denied or loss our license based on any negative reports or event or anything like that.  Our home study agency was then able to revise the home study with the updated license status and re-notarize it and fed ex to California so that our placement agency could send it to USCIS.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services could then decide to accept and approve our application, or many times they send another round of questions. So we waited and crossed our fingers and prayed and tried not to worry about it.  :)

Now What?
Now we submit our dossier to Colombia!! First to be translated then to be reviewed and hopefully approved by the ICBF in Colombia. That approval would mean our official "referral" and once we accept it and commit to this sweet boy, we would set a travel date. The referral is also the point at which we have permission to share with the world our son's name and photos!

There were dozens upon dozens of steps and documents that were requested, paid for, collected, notarized and apostilled that make up the dossier.  If memory serves there were almost $700 in fees for notaries, apostilles and postage just for this step alone.

Our last step of our dossier is the photo album I am frantically trying to finish and our psychological evaluation report which is almost complete.

What the I-797 approval also means is that it is CRUNCH TIME for fundraising, grants, and raising money any which way possible.  We CANNOT submit our dossier until we have paid our next installment of over $8,000 to our agency.  We are PRAYING and WORKING and PRAYING and WORKING endlessly to make this happen as soon as possible! 

We cannot say enough how grateful we are for EACH person who has played a role in this HUGE undertaking! Every single dollar, every single prayer, every single token of kindness and encouragement has been invaluable. We thank you and we pray that you will in turn be blessed with what your hearts desire and need at this time. PLEASE keep SHARING our story and our fundraising events if you feel so inclined. You NEVER know who it make reach and who may be in a position to help bring this little boy to his HOME! Thanks!! :)

Our "It Takes a Village..." Tree

Just after New Year's I was debating whether to take the tree down and for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  This Christmas we both just felt like our child had missed the festivities, and it seemed we hadn't really celebrated Christmas at all.

I decided I would be leaving it up UNTIL HE COMES HOME! :D

Then in mid-February I thought maybe it might confuse the little guy if he arrives in July and we have Santa Claus ornaments hanging on a tree in our living room.  :D  But I liked the idea of having the tree lit for him, as a reminder that he is truly in our hearts and we are devoting each day to bringing him here.  I decided to try and incorporate something that would be familiar to him and make him smile when he saw it.

So... I removed the "really Christmas-y" ornaments, I left Angels and a few others on the tree and started making my own Colombian chain garland (like we did in second grade) out of strips of yellow, blue and red paper.  (Their national colors).

I started writing on each link of the chain the names of each person who has helped us in some way get one step closer to creating our family. It may be the social worker who worked on our home study, the notary, someone who contributed to our auction, someone who wrote a reference letter, someone who made a financial donation, someone who was a moral support to us, someone who helped me with an application or a translation, or just answered questions about their own experience... the list goes on and on.  I have counted over a hundred links so far (I purposely make them very small).

And I have LOTS and LOTS more names to add! 

I love having this tree lit every night as I work on grant applications, or even when I'm doing my homework or just cleaning the house... it brings his little presence here and I am constantly reminded of the reason I am so exhausted and the reason I feel sometimes I can't answer one more question or address one more envelope. 

I become re-energized just a tad and I smile and say a prayer for him.  I pray that his sweet heart is somehow being prepared by the great orchestrator of this entire crazy plan.  I say a prayer that he will know we are there to love him and that he will be able to trust us even though we have no way yet to communicate with him.

I pray for this process.  I pray for the many people and organizations involved.  I pray to be led to the right grants and funding sources.  I pray for all the other families going through the same process and for each child who does not have someone fighting to bring him/her home yet.

And I pray for each link.  I pray that each and every person who is a link in our chain will be blessed and know of our sincere gratitude.  I pray that each link will have the desires of their heart and that their family will be a happy and complete one as well, whatever that means to them individually.

This might sound like a silly idea but it is my way of remembering him and letting him know that even before he was part of our family, he was truly part of our lives. And its my tribute to each of you for helping accomplish a miracle in our lives.
 

GOOD NEWS !! Three CHEERS for THREE RIVERS!!

GOOD NEWS WEDNESDAY!! ONE STEP CLOSER!!

If anyone has read about the grants we have applied to, you know we applied to the local THREE RIVERS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE for their Helping Hands program called "Change for Life."  We requested assistance to help us get a fence installed prior to this little guy's arrival.  Between his Deafness and his developmental delays, we have real concerns for his safety.  As a parent you worry more than anything about the safety of your precious charges.  After seeing his latest videos (which were AMAZING!), and seeing how impulsive, FAST and oblivious our little guy is to the real dangers around him, we had to move the fence situation up to a top priority. 

Even so, we simply did not have an extra $1,000 laying around to be able to purchase the supplies for the fence. On top of everything else I was having nightmares of worse case scenarios and it was not a good thing. :(

Well, an amazing and inspired friend reminded me of the Three Rivers Grant!!  We applied last week and TODAY we received the PHONE CALL!!!  We were approved!!  Words cannot tell you what a load this was off our mind.  THANK YOU THREE RIVERS!!! And thank you to all their customers who have signed up to the "Change for Life" campaign by rounding up their electric bill each month!  Three Rivers then uses these extra pennies to bless the lives of families like us!

So GRATEFUL for some GOOD NEWS TODAY!!!

Our next step is to find some local muscle who knows about fences to help us install it! Any ideas?

Reece's Rainbow!!! Family Sponsorship Program APPROVED!!

This is an exciting step in our Adoption Journey!!  I learned today we were approved for a Family Sponsorship profile on Reece's Rainbow! This allows a way for people to make donations (can be anonymous) and is also a potential venue for future giveaways, especially if strangers want to make donations and are not comfortable donating through our personal Paypal to someone they don't know.

Reece's Rainbow

"Because every family deserves the blessing of a child with Down Syndrome..."

 

I LOVE that motto!! Once I realized they had expanded to include ALL children with Special Needs I was moved beyond tears.  One of the adoptive mothers I had met online had found her beautiful daughter through RR and I believe that is how I first learned of it.  Since then I have visited the site frequently and just prayed for each of these families and children in crisis.

Reece's Rainbow has dozens upon dozens of profiles of child in various states of finding their forever family.  Some are in the USA and many are in our countries.  Some have been recently added and are praying someone sees their profile and falls in love with them and can see past the daily challenges they face.  Some are like us, matched with a family and have future parents who are praying, scrimping and saving every nickel to bring that child home.  Some children are in danger of aging out and may have missed their opportunity to be linked on earth with that special family.  That is the heartbreaking part. 

To be honest I can't bear to be on the site every day because I get so emotionally involved with each and every sweet angel and wish I had endless resources to bring each and every girl and boy to their families.  In the beginning RR focused on precious children with Down's Syndrome, and then it grew from that. Some have special needs that are mild, some have severe deformities and serious health issues that require a very special and unique family to embrace them.

"In 2006, the program expanded to include promoting the international adoption of children with Down syndrome.   By raising money to offer adoption grants on waiting children, we are able to give adoptive families the extra financial help they need to bring a child with Down syndrome home from a miserable existence in overseas orphanages... Our Sponsorship Program provides a unique opportunity for anonymous donors to contribute to the adoption journey of our families.  These children are viewed as outcasts with no ability to learn or be functional members of society." (From Reece's Rainbow "About Us")

We are so honored to be included in the Reece's Rainbow Family!!

You can visit our profile at:
Alejandro for the Greene's!

Personal Checks are welcomed as well and avoid the Paypal fees.
 
Checks should be made payable to: Reece’s Rainbow
Mail to:
Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 4024  
Gaithersburg, MD  20885

Be sure to indicate it is for Denise and Charles Greene as there are several other "Green/Greene" families on RR.