Thursday, November 11, 2010

Announcing Our Thanksgiving Raffle!

Announcing the Winners to Our Thanksgiving Raffle!!!
Well, it's time to announce the winners to our raffle. I cannot thank all those who donated enough for their participation. We were able to raise $560! I think it's a good start on our next set of adoption fees. Here are the winners...

1st Prize (Princess House Pan) : Ray & Shannon

Runner-up Prizes

(1) Santa Ana Zoo Pass for 4 people: The Reynolds Family
(1) Santa Ana Zoo Pass for 4 people: Leah Munoz
Solomon Beads Bracelet & Earrings: Stacy Richards (strange, I know)

Please continue to pray for our adoption process. I just heard back from USCIS today that they received my form and are processing it. It's a nice relief to know that it wasn't lost in the mail. Also, we are waiting for pre-approval from the orphanage in Taiwan. I think our home study has been sent there this week, or it still may be being translated. Please pray that we will be approved by both the USCIS and the orphanage and that it will all happen according to God's perfect timing. Thanks again!

UPDATE TO THANKSGIVING RAFFLE...

It has been brought to my attention that some people would like to enter the raffle, but are not comfortable using their credit cards over the Internet. Therefore, if you would like to enter the raffle by mail, feel free to do so, but make sure we receive it by November 23rd! You can mail it to my office address at 17742 Irvine Blvd. #205, Tustin, CA 92780. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

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I was at the Home Depot the other day and a perfect stranger gave me two passes to the Santa Ana Zoo that get 4 people in each. I thought, "Hmmm, Lord, what would you like me to do with these?" Then, my wonderful co-worker, Angie, who sells Princess House, gave me a gorgeous 15 qt. stainless steel roaster along with a roll of raffle tickets, and the Thanksgiving Raffle was born! Stacy Richards also is donating a lovely pair of Solomon Bead earrings and a bracelet.

Check out the prize descriptions below and enter today by donating through my "Chip-in" to the left. For every $5 you donate, your name will be entered in our raffle. For example, if you donate $15, your name will be entered 3 times. Be sure to donate by November 23rd to be entered in the raffle! All winners will be announced on the evening of November 23rd! Needless to say, 100% of all donations will go directly towards our adoption expenses. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

Top Prize
(1) 15 QT. Stainless Steel Princess House Roaster w/ Rack
Click on the link to view more information about Princess House's beautiful, high-quality products.

Two Runner-Up Prizes
Two people will be selected to receive a pass to the Santa Ana Zoo that gets four people in! Click the link to be taken to their website for more information on the zoo. Note: Passes expire 12/31/2010, so you will need to use them soon!

One More Runner-Up Prize!
One fortunate person will be selected to receive a bracelet and earrings from Stacy Richard's Solomon Beads collection. Click the link to see some samples of this beautiful jewelry!

Be sure to donate by November 23rd to be entered in the raffle!
To enter just click the orange "ChipIn" button to the left to pay securely via PayPal with your credit card. 100% of all donations will go directly to our adoption expenses to bring Jing-Qi home.



Monday, November 8, 2010

We have raised our USCIS fees!

The Lord has been so faithful! Between neighbors and friends from church we have raised the needed money to send off our I-600A form to the USCIS! Yea! To all the people who have prayed for us or donated, we cannot thank you enough! Please keep praying! It is so appreciated!

We are now trying to save for the "Referral Phase" of our adoption expenses. We will need to raise $8000. There is a wonderful sister in Christ who is selling jewelry and other various items on her "Making Footprints" website to help raise money for families that are trying to adopt. 30% of the proceeds will go to our adoption fund if you mention "Jing-Qi" when you purchase. Thank you again for all your support!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Putting the Finishing Touches on our APPROVED Home Study!

I just received word from our social worker that our home study has been completed and was APPROVED! Yea! She has forwarded it on to the person that will be translating it into Chinese for a final review, but we should have it by the end of today or Friday. I am so excited that we are almost done with the home study phase of the adoption process. It's nice to feel like we are moving forward. Although we are completely new to the whole adoption process, I hear the next step is to send in our completed home study with our I-600 A form to the USCIS. I have completed the form and am ready to mail once I receive our actual home study. We need to send in $830 to the USCIS when we submit our form. Our wonderful neighbors have already donated $288 to go towards our fees, but we are scrambling to come up with the rest so we can mail our form. Please pray that the Lord will provide the funds for this. Also, if you are able and would like to contribute, please click on our chip-in button to the right. All money will be sent securely via PayPal. Thanks for all your support!