Thank you!

Yesterday marked the end of our puzzle fundraiser! There were a total of 51 puzzle pieces sold!! I want to thank everyone who bought a puzzle piece and everyone that shared our fundraiser and story.

This may not have been the most scientific way of choosing a winner but I let my 2 1/2 year old pick a puzzle piece out of a box. Let me say that was a task in and of itself. 1. Jacob does not understand pick one so he would pick by the handfuls. 2. Trying to keep them out of his mouth was not fun either. But finally after a few tries he managed to pick 1 and did not put it in his mouth!! I would say that was success!! So here are the winners-
For the butterfly necklace- BROOKE! I am sending an email for your address and she must promise to share with Claire :)
For the garnet necklace or sharing gift- NATALIA! I will also send you a message for your address.

Again these are just words but thank you again for all the support and donations for Joshua.
On to updates- My criminals came back which means we set up our last homestudy appointment. I was so disappointed as she scheduled us for the 25th of March and would have preferred it this week but it is what it is. She said our homestudy is first priority and she can have it to us beginning of April. Then it goes to UCSIS to get the "golden ticket" so I can mail my dossier to the unnamed country. Again we were reminded to act as quickly as possible as one child from another unnamed country has basically been put on hold because that country has temporarily stopped adoptions while they initiate hague convention policies for adoptions. This could be indicative of what Joshua's country might do in the summer months. Meaning a hold and delay on getting our son. So basically we need this done and are working as fast as we can on our end to make it happen. Summer could mean May or could mean August.. nobody knows. It also could mean nothing for Joshua's country but we do not want to find out. It is so scary to think about those things and I have to admit an overwhelming feeling of guilt and letting Joshua down. We committed to him in January and sent money to a homestudy agency who sat on our deposit for a couple of weeks. I had no clue how things worked and waited till I called them and asked what was going on to which they replied that last year they changed rules and would not do independent adoptions. I of course was furious that they waited that long and only once I called them they told me of this but more upset that I myself did not call sooner. I feel so much guilt and am sad about that delay but we are working hard to compensate for that.

A dear friend on FB has offered to raise some funds doing a fundraiser in Arizona on the 26th of March. I am forever grateful for her support during this time. I can consistently count on her to share our page and she is just a generous person to even offer to raise funds in her hometown. This weekend we are going to be taking Jacob down to Detroit to do a fundraiser project for his little brother. We are hoping to have his "artwork" available for purchase in the near future. I guess he will be our Picasso and help bring his brother home. Wish us luck that the paint ends up in the right place and not in his mouth :) Again continue to pray for us on this journey. We will not stop until he is safe in our arms. There is just no option but to bring him home where he belongs. Please stop by and visit a fellow mommy on her journey. She is adopting a little boy who is blind and could really use some support and words of encouragement. This is such a difficult journey for all and sometimes we need an extra friend to lean on. Here is her blog http://justonemore4us.blogspot.com/ Stay strong Amanda!
God bless everyone!!