A few updates...

A week ago today, I typed and mailed a letter to local merchants telling them a little bit about our story and what our plans are for the dinner/auction this coming April. I prayed the whole time I was typing the letter, writing addresses on the envelopes and when I mailed them. I felt like I was putting myself on the line, exposing personal information to people that either I had met or not met but had never talked about our situation with. While I know some people will open the letters and toss them to the side or some might ask "why don't they just adopt through dhs"...these were hard realities that actually did happen this week. If you've read my previous blogs you know that at some point after we do private adoption we do plan to adopt through dhs. We believe that EVERY child deserves a loving stable home. I'm just not ready to take a chance of going through adoption when a few years down the road the parents decide to be parents and the child goes back to them. If that were to happen I'm not sure I'd be able to go through the adoption process again because of the pain and hurt. That is why we have chose to do private adoption first. Now that does not mean that we do not plan to try to adopt through dhs later down the road, because we do. On the bright side of some negativity, Daniel and I came home Friday evening to an envelope in the mail from a local merchant who received my letter. Inside the envelope was a hand written note and a check, plus they will be donating a gift box for our auction. Words cannot describe how grateful we were for this local merchant. It totally put a smile on my face, warmed my heart and had tears running down my face. God sure has perfect timing!


Dinner/Auction update

Within the last week we've had 10 items added to be auctioned off! Some of the items are from people whom we've never met! They heard about us through some of our friends and wanted to help. We talked with Daniel's sister and decided on the plans for the dinner. I'm so excited to start putting everything together for the event! Once we have the event I will post pictures and a list of items that were auctioned off for anyone who is interested in hosting a dinner/auction to help them with their needs. Again, I got this idea from pinterest, dinner/auction idea.

 

Puzzle update week 3

We sold 38 puzzle pieces this week!! That's more than we sold in week 1! Almost half of them came from the check we received from the local merchant. Only 944 to go! :-) If you'd like to buy a puzzle piece you can either click the "Donate" button that is on the right sidebar under Wilks Adoption Fund or at the end of this blog. It will send your donation securely through PayPal. Please be sure to include your name so that we can add it to the puzzle piece! You can also donate cash in person if you wish or through the mail. We've also created a page on gofundme.com. This site was suggested to us to help spread the word. Our link is here.

Just the left side and the bottom have been completed.
This puzzle is harder to put together than we thought so we
have been working on putting more together and ready
to add names to the pieces! Anyone wanting to help put
it together is welcome to come over!! ;-)

Being lazy while mom and dad work on the puzzle in the nursery.

 

Thank you for reading our story and helping us get closer to our dreams! Please continue to share our story and pray with us!!

New fundraiser/ Puzzle update

Over the last few weeks we have been working on ideas for our second fundraiser. I got the idea from Pinterest, gotta love that site! ;-) You can read about the idea here.

We will be hosting an Adoption Dinner/Auction at our house the first Friday in April. Daniel's sister and brother in law will be donating the dinner for us. My friend Rebecca will be making cupcakes. I've been contacting lots of local businesses, friends and family for donations. So far we have over 20 donations! Ranging from consultants, hair dressers, photographers to different restaurants. I'm still waiting to hear back from more people. I will keep you updated along the way. If you are interested in donating an item or coming to the event you can email me at senteldawn@yahoo.com or message me on facebook. Anyone is welcome to attend!

Puzzle update week 2

We didn't sell any puzzle pieces this week. If you don't know about our puzzle fundraiser you can read about it at puzzle fundraiser. So far we've sold 18 pieces. Please continue to share our story and pray with us. Only 982 to go! :-)


To Donate: You can click the "Donate" button that is on the right sidebar under Wilks Adoption Fund or at the end of this blog. It will send your donation securely through PayPal. Please be sure to include your name so that we can add it to the puzzle piece! You can also donate cash in person if you wish.

Praying and waiting



Andie, waiting to be a big sister ;-)

 

Puzzle Fundraiser Update- Week 1

It has been one week since we started our first fundraiser to help cover some of the cost of our adoption. We have put 18 pieces together over the last week! Thank you so much for your support and prayers! Please continue to pray for us and share our story. I will continue to keep you updated.

Starting with the edge pieces.

My mom requested to have a corner! :-)

Setup in the nursery.

If you don't know what our puzzle fundraiser is you can click here to read more.


To Donate: You can click the "Donate" button that is on the right sidebar under Wilks Adoption Fund. It will send your donation securely through PayPal. Please be sure to include your name so that we can add it to the puzzle piece! You can also donate cash in person if you wish.

Puzzle Fundraiser

Our first fundraiser will be a Puzzle Fundraiser. I got this idea from a girl I've mentioned in past blogs who has gone through the adoption process. I've also seen lot's of them on Pinterest (you can find anything on Pinterest)! As many of you know from reading my blogs adoption is not cheap! Different agencies range from around 22K and up towards 30K depending on things that come up during the process. All of these must be paid for upfront. We will be saving throughout this whole process and doing fundraisers to help raise money.

This is how this fundraiser works... We have purchased a 1000 piece puzzle. We are asking friends and family to buy a piece for $10 each. We will then write your name on the back of the puzzle piece and add it to the puzzle. Daniel and I have bought the first two pieces so they will start the puzzle process. We cannot complete the puzzle until all pieces have been purchased.

 

We plan to put the puzzle in a double-sided frame once it has been completed. We will then hang it in our child's room. They will be able to see everyone's name on the back who helped bring them home to us!

The puzzle we bought for the fundraiser, "Color of Love".

 

To Donate: You can click the "Donate" button below and it will send your donation securely through PayPal. Please be sure to include your name so that we can add it to the puzzle piece! You can also donate money in person if you wish.

 

I will post updates frequently on how the puzzle fundraiser is coming along. Please continue to pray for my husband and I as we make this journey to adopt and become a family of three.