Matched!

I'll share more details soon, but for now, so excited to announce that we are matched with a 14 month old little girl from the province of Guangdong!  It all happened much faster than we thought and in such a neat way.  We are so thankful!

Sarah ZSO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! She is absolutely beautiful, and I can already imagine her bustling around her new home and being adored by her big brothers and sister. Must be the most amazing feeling in the world to see her photo and know she will soon be in your arms. <3

Birthday stuff for Allie

Thank you to friends and family that helped make my birthday special with gifts (many for our new daughter or China travel), spending time together, and sweet words. It was a great day and hopefully I will have more to share this week about why it was so special!

Logged In

Hooray!  Just got an email saying we are officially logged in to China's database (LID).  We are on our way and it's so nice to be in this stage where things are happening a little more quickly!!

Using Our Matching Grant

Hi.  We are getting connected with Lifesong for Orphans and figuring out all their procedures so that we can use the matching grant as we get more donations.  Since everything can be doubled now, we closed down the Pure Charity fundraiser and have a new website for accepting donations:  https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/bringing-home-little-piece-china/

We still have some pieces left on our puzzle fundraiser, so we're happy to accept donations for that if you are interested.  We've sold about 225 with about 50 to go.  Thank you!

I'm also setting up a craft sale at the end of October at my house and am scheduled to do one in Fort Mill Thanksgiving weekend, so I'll be able to take purchases through the Lifesong site for those items too.

I am adding weekly to my stash of paintings and scarves and am keeping photos of them here:  http://crabtreecrafts.blogspot.com

Some friends and family have jumped ahead of my craft show (how pushy!) and already bought something or commissioned me to do a painting similar to a piece I have at home.  So actually if you need a gift for someone before the end of October sale or just want to go ahead and get it, it's perfectly fine to choose something now from the site or ask me to do something specific.  

**Please make your check to Lifesong for Orphans with Crabtree #6332 in the memo.  We can also take payments via this link if you prefer that method:  https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/bringing-home-little-piece-china/.  ALL PROCEEDS will be sent to our agency for adoption fees.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

Banner Week for Us

Wow, I am so thankful to report that we got more awesome news today!!  We were awarded a $3000 matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans!  This is perfect timing with my plans for craft sales this fall.  Up to $3000 of our sales will be doubled for a total of $6000 directly to our expenses, which is just great news!  When we didn't get the first two grants we applied for, I kind of accepted that we may not get any, so this is such an unexpected blessing and we thank God for providing for us.

Barnette CGreat news!

September 10, 2016•Edit•Delete

Cindy CWow! Great news!

September 10, 2016•Edit•Delete

Amanda LWow, that's awesome!

September 12, 2016•Edit•Delete

Dossier To China!!!!

Hooray!!  About a week earlier than I expected, our documents are on their way to China!  So excited to be on this step now!  Here's the email I received...see if you can make sense of it with the lingo :)

We received your final dossier documents back from the Chinese Embassy today, fully authenticated.  As a result, we are shipping your completed file to CCCWA for registration and translation.  It will arrive in China on Monday, 9/12.

Typical time to LID is 1-2 weeks from the day your originals are received in China.  When we see in the CCCWA database that your file has been registered, Beth or I will email you the official LID date. 

Congratulations on being DTC! 

If you didn't catch all that, here are the acronyms:

CCCWA – Chinese Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption:  Chinese branch of government that oversees adoptions.

DTC – Dossier To China:  Your dossier has been loaded electronically in the system and mailed to CCCWA to await translation and review. Usually takes 4-6 months from starting paperwork to being DTC for the first adoption.  Subsequent adoptions may be a little shorter because the home study should be faster and usually case workers don’t repeat all of the state clearances – just your current state if you’ve been there 5+ years.

LID – Logged In Dossier:  CCCWA acknowledges receipt of your hard copy dossier and issues a “Log In Date.”  After this your dossier will be shuffled from desk to desk as it gets translated, reviewed and approved by different people. From DTC to LID can be a few days to several weeks.

Show Hope!!!

Much to my surprise yesterday, I opened the mailbox to find a letter from Steven Curtis Chapman's adoption organization to which I had applied for a grant and was to hear no sooner than the end of September.  One piece of paper, gotta be another rejection.  But no--we got the grant!!!

Could not believe it and got all teary.  Don't know why they chose us when other organizations didn't...was it something particular I said on the application?  Or something they look for that other groups don't?  Whatever the reason, so encouraged and thankful for this provision!  We are close to halfway funded now and who knows--maybe we will get more grants before it's all said and done.

For now I'm still working on those crafts, starting to sell some custom orders, and counting the days (hopefully 7 more) till we are DTC--Dossier To China!!