A Success!

Our "Bring them Home FUNd-raising event" was a success!!
On Saturday, January 30th at the Lakeside Community Center from 6:00pm - 10:00pm we had 90-100 family, friends, and co-workers attend our event!!!. Silent auction items were awarded, casino games played, Pat'n'Oscar's dinner eaten ... a fun filled night had by many. I cannot express the joy the event brought to our hearts. The sincere generosity by so many!!! And the love and encouragement felt throughout the night. I'm still giddy when I talk about it. We are so blessed and I look forward to the day Adam and I can convey to Maxwell and Anita what their lives mean and how they were so loved before they were even here!!!

Thank you LifeSong!

Our Blessings continue ... LifeSong for Orphans (www.lifesongfororphans.org) called last night and we have been awarded a matching grant! The James Fund (Family Christian Stores)and LifeSong have partnered to award us a matching grant up to $6,000. How awesome is that? If we raise $6k, they'll match the $6k and we get to touch lives in the process by speaking on behalf of the orphan!!! This weekend is set out to be amazing ... We are excited and we are another step closer to bringing them home. God is good.

Benefit Time!

I have the date in sight ... I have our babies on the brain! It's time to bring them home!!! We are finalizing all the details for our Big FUNd-raising event. With the help of some very amazing people, everything is falling into place. It's sure to be an amazing night. Sharing our journey with so many and spreading the good word on adoption. We will have Casino Games, a Poker Tournament, a Silent Auction, Pat'n'Oscar's for dinner, music (possibly live,) and prizes! I hope all can attend, YOU will sincerely be helping bring 2 orphans home! We hope the night is as much fun to you as we are having planing it!!!
See you on January 30th!!!

Coffee Anyone?

Are you a coffee drinker? If yes, or you know someone who is, please pass this info on to them. Just Love Coffee Roasters has an awesome fund-raising program for adopting famlies. For every bag of coffee bought from Just Love Coffee, $5 will be donated to Adam and I's store. These funds will get directly contributed to our adoption efforts. Drink delicious coffee and Bring our little ones home!!! http://www.justlovecoffee.com/GhanaTurners

Another gift ...

Two families currently in Ghana, waiting to bring their children home, sent us a gift today! We were informed the foster children, which include ours, have moved into a new Foster Home! The home now has running water, a toilet, shower, and beds. No electricity as of yet, but all of these items are cherished beyond our American measures. The two families took rice, chicken, soap, toilet paper, and slippers (flip flops) to all the children as a New Year's gift. Needless to say, the foster home had an amazing New Year's and the children were very excited to have a solid meal and new slippers on their feet. We also got to see more pictures of the little ones and all I can say is ... the children are beautiful!
I'm off to plan the Benefit! We hope you can attend, it's sure to be a great night, and we are on a mission to bring them home!

New Year's Eve!

Adam checked the mail and we received our I-171h today! So excited. So nervous. These are normal feelings, right? Our Dossier will now be mailed off to Ghana and we will wait for a court date. We continue to pray for our hearts to be molded and the hearts of our children to be prepared for their parents waiting to come see them. Another step closer ... to bringing them home!

USCIS

Well, the adoption won't be complete by the end of the year. Guess Ghana's end of the year is not much different than the states ... things seem to shut down or processes seem to slow in the last two weeks of the year. Either way, this didn't stop Adam. We had submitted our I-600a paperwork back in November, received a letter stating receipt but getting status was becoming difficult. So, my proactive husband decided to make an appointment with our local USCIS. This led us to fingerprinting last week and a possible I-171h this week. Really?!?! Such a big deal. Since policies changed within our agency, our Dossier will be held until the I-171h is received, another hold up, seems to be normal these days ... we continue to press forward.
My spirits are low, I'm doing what I can to be positive. Not only are so many emotions involved but then you have paperwork, invoices, and personalities. It's all taking its toll. How do questions and protecting oneself deem you as an appropriate or inappropriate parent ... if I was pregnant, would anyone be questioning our abilites as parents? No matter what ... we push forward with the ultimate goal ... bring the children home!