Will you take .50 cents for that?

When you have a huge goal you're striving for, i've learned that you have to take it in little steps... you have to believe that you'll get to the finish line eventually & that it might even get fun at some point. So as it turns out international adoption is expensive & what do you do when you don't have the money but you have the will to succeed? It's this little thing called
the Garage Sale...

THE GARAGE SALE...yes, this is where you take stuff out of your house or better yet, have people donate their stuff & you throw it on the lawn of someone's house & put little price tags on it & people drive by & pay you quarters & dollars for stuff. I was new to the garage sale world unlike Greg who grew up exposed to them. Our first success was at a city wide garage sale in Campbell - we had it at my parents house & we brought in over $900 - our friends & family were amazing in helping us & donating items for us to sell. It seems that we must have enjoyed that sale so much that we've done it 3 more times with another one on the way. Our official garage sale site is at Greg's parents house (lots of garage sale hungry people). I like to let Greg & his mom do all the work & i show up with Thomas a bit later... i find that when i get nervous when big crowds come my brain goes blank & i'm unable to count change back to people. My masters degree didn't prepare me for the simple stuff :) Really though, this is where Greg shines - he goes & picks up all the donations with his dad's truck & lifts & moves stuff & then wakes up at 6am the day of the big sale to get to his mom's. He & his mom joke with people & deal with the "will you take a quarter for this" situations. I prefer to watch from a distance with Greg's dad in the safety of the garage.

Of all the fundraising we've done, the garage sale fundraising is the easiest because most people enjoy getting rid of their stuff for a good cause so it's a win win for all involved. The clean up is exhausting but the cash in Greg's hand is worth it...we know that we worked hard for every quarter & there is something about laboring for quarters & dollars that makes the quarters & dollars much more valuable. We know that we're doing this for some little boy out there who has no clue how many people love him already & who has no clue that his life is about to change from Siberia to sunny California.

why adopt when you can make em

This is a question that's been asked many times since we have no infertility problems. As we hear other people's adoption stories, we've come to learn that we are not alone here...many people choose adoption not just as an alternative but as a way to build a family.

Greg & I were always open to adoption but it was after the birth of our son Thomas that it really struck us what it would mean for a child not to have the love & security of parents. The love we had for Thomas really sparked the desire to help another child & then God just grew the desire bigger & bigger until we couldn't rest until we did something about it. Our journey started locally with Greg & I taking foster/adopt classes through the county. At the end of the class we did not feel that this is where we were suppose to be. We spent a lot of time in silence trying to hear God's voice. Slowly, the thoughts of orphanages & children who did not have enough care takers, enough nutritious food & enough affection/touch began to haunt us & then Russia started popping up over & over again & then there was that tv special about a family's adoption story in Russia which made me cry hard. Greg & I researched Russian adoption, prayed for guidance & after pushing several fears & concerns aside, we said "Yes!" We chose America World Adoption, a Christian agency.

The hardest part was finding our way to the place where we said "Yes" - yes, we'll go to Russia. From then on it's been one step in front of the other & on my part, a constant ignoring of every fearful & anxious thought.

Adoption Moving Forward

Hi everyone! We just got word from our adoption agency that our paperwork "dossier" is in the city of Krasnoyarsk waiting to be officially registered there. This means that our child is at an orphanage in this city. After being officially registered there we are told that a referral of a child can happen between 2-3 months. We are pleasantly suprised at how quick this happened & now we at least know where our child is waiting.

Here is a link to some information about that area of Russia.

KRASNOYARSK

Us

This is our story beginning with our Russian Adoption and beyond....

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name,
welcomes Me"
Matthew 18:5