Jammin' Adoption Fundraiser!!!!

Have you heard of Jamberry????? I only heard of them recently, and am excited to get to try them out soon!!!!!

"Jamberry Nails are the NEWEST way to accessorize your fingers & toes! Lasting up to 2 weeks on fingers & 5-7 weeks on toes. These non toxic, vinyl based nail shields won't chip, peel OR fade! Heat them with a hair dryer & apply them to your nails! Over 300+ designs to choose from including Jamberry JUNIORS, French tips, solids, sparkles & designs galore! Your nails have never looked so good!" (description from Pinterest)

We are having a Jamberry party as a fundraiser to help with some of Layla's adoption expenses!!! My fellow adoptive mama friend, Brandy, has volunteered to do this for us and I am super excited!!!!

My party starts TOMORROW (Monday, February 16) and will run through Saturday (February 21).

If you want a FREE sample to try, just pick a number from the photo below and either leave a comment on FB with your number OR message me the number you want. I'll also need an address to give Brandy and she will get your sample in the mail to you ASAP!!!!!

I will be having a group on FB this next week through the party and would LOVE to have you be a part of it!!!!!

If you want to place an order NOW or see more about Jamberry, you can visit Brandy's site :-). If you decide to place an order, just make sure to choose "Maxwell Family's Jammin Adoption Fundraiser" at the checkout!!! Click HERE to place an order!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Matching Grant from Lifesong

We are excited to announce that our family has been chosen to receive a matching grant of up to $2,000 from Lifesong for Orphans (through Lutheran Family Services)!!!!!!

Here are the details.

 - Lifesong will match ANY DONATION up to $2,000 between now and January 14, 2015!!! So, for example, if a person were to donate $25 (or any other amount) to our adoption fund, Lifesong will match it to give us a total of $50!!!

 - You can MAIL your check to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Checks should be made payable to "Lifesong for Orphans." In the memo, write "Maxwell #4931" to assure it goes into our family account. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs. That means 100% of your donation will go directly towards our adoption!!!!!

 - You can PAY ONLINE by going to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select "give to an Adoptive Family." Complete the online form and fill in "Family Account Number" (4931) and "Family Name" (Maxwell) fields. NOTE: PayPal charges an administrative fee (2.9% + $.30 USD per transaction. Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.

 -  (NOTE: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor's suggested use. Individual donations $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.)

Would you please consider helping us continue to raise/save the remaining $6,300 we need to complete Layla's adoption? (Her adoption will be finalized sometime in February.)

Puzzle
We have not yet completed Layla's puzzle!!!! We have had 178 pieces sponsored with leaves us with 322 more pieces. If we had just 200 of those pieces sponsored, we would completely FILL our matching grant and be that much closer to having Layla's adoption paid for!!!! If you would like to donate via Lifesong to have your donation matched and would like your donation to be put toward sponsoring a puzzle piece, please just send me an email or FB message to let me know. For every $10 we will put your name on the back of a puzzle piece!!!!!

Will you have a part in helping us make Layla Autumn Rose a legal part of our family?!?!

Final Expenses for Layla's Adoption

Layla is already TWO MONTHS OLD!!!!! Time is moving quickly and she is growing and changing so much!!!! We are completely in love with her!!!!

Layla's adoption will be finalized when she is six months old, so we have four months left to raise/save the money we need for final expenses. I guess it's time for us to get busy!!!! (We have already been trying to save what money we can from our budget.)

Agency Fee ($5,200) ~ We have one more fee of $5,200 to pay to our adoption agency, Lutheran Family Services of Iowa, when the adoption is finalized at 6 months.

Attorney Fees ($1,100) ~ We will have an attorney fee of $1,100 for the legal work that is involved to finalize Layla's adoption.

Pay Back Interest-Free Loan ($5,000) ~ Because we only had eight days notice before Layla's birth (and the needed $10,200 agency fees needed to accept her placement with us), a family member loaned us $5,000. We would like to repay them as soon as we can.

That brings the total we need in four months to $6,300 and then the additional $5,000 as soon as we are able.

The company Nathan works for has an adoption-reimbursement program and we are anticipating receiving $5,000 from the company as soon as Layla's adoption is finalized. We would like to have saved the $6,300 we need and be able to use the company's reimbursement to pay back the loan. That would leave us "debt" free at the end of this adoption!!!!!

Nathan has begun the process of applying for an adoption grant and we will be continuing to look into a few other grant options.

If you would like to help us in some way, here are the fundraisers that we have up and going (we were just getting started with fundraising when we were contacted about Layla).

Soda Cans ~ If you are local, we will take your soda cans/bottles off your hands and redeem them for a nickel apiece.

Puzzle ~ If you would like to sponsor a puzzle piece for $10, we will write your name on the back of the piece and then add it to Layla's puzzle. (I have to be honest. We have had many pieces already sponsored, but I have not kept good track of the numbers and have not even begun to put them on the puzzle pieces OR put the puzzle together. But it is on my "to do" list :-).)

Donate ~ If you feel led to simply donate towards Layla's adoption, there is a "Donate" button on the right sidebar of this blog. Simply click on the button and donate that way.

I am hoping to get one or two more fundraisers up and going in the next few weeks. I know that four months is going to FLY by and we will be needing the money to finalize Layla's adoption and make her officially a part of our family!!!!!!

Faith and Grace Quilts are FINISHED!!!

Pam ~ You may remember way back in November 2010 when I told you about a new fundraiser that my friend Karen had started for us.  Karen started asking people to sponsor a quilt block and she would put together two quilts made up of the sponsored blocks with the money going towards our adoption expenses.  I was so excited about the idea and posted about it on this blog and on Facebook.

A few blocks were sponsored fairly quickly, but then it seemed to "stagnate" some.  Karen started a blog page devoted to this fundraiser and I posted about it on Facebook a few times, but it was still slow.

Then, this past February, Karen told me that a SIXTEEN blocks had been sponsored and I discovered that a friend in Colorado (Nikki) had felt burdened to share our quilt fundraiser with her church (which also happens to be my husband's home church and the church that my in-laws still attend) and many people had decided to "pitch in" and sponsor a quilt block :-)

I cried.

And then I cried some more.

It was super special to have someone do something like that for us!!!

And so my friend Karen has been faithfully posting pictures on the quilt blog and keeping everyone updated as to the progress of the quilts.

Guess what????

They are DONE!!!!!!!

And Karen, who lives several states away, and who I have only seen a couple times in the past probably eight years, is coming to visit this week!!!!!!  She is actually coming to attend the Seminary graduation of her brother (whose family are close friends of ours), but she is bringing the quilts and I'm looking forward to giving her a GINORMOUS hug!!!!!!

They look pretty great in the pictures, but I CAN'T WAIT to see them in person!!!!!!

New Fundraiser ~ Valentine Earrings!!!!

Thanks to Nathan's sister, Heidi, we have a new fundraiser!!!!  Heidi loves to make jewelry and she has graciously given of her time to make some beautiful earrings for us to sell.

I love hearts, and I LOVE these earrings.  They would make a cute Valentine's day gift OR simply a fun accessory to a favorite outfit.

4 pairs available

Sold Out

4 pairs available

Aren't they adorable?!?!  Each set of earrings is approximately 2 inches long and they hang very nicely.  (My ear lobes aren't the greatest models, but oh well.)

We are asking for $10 per set of earrings OR you may purchase two sets for $16.  The proceeds from these earrings will be put towards our adoption travel expenses.

If you are interested in ordering, please contact me via e-mail (hearts1982@gmail.com), or leave a comment.  If you are ordering from out-of-state, we are asking for an additional $1 to help cover mailing expenses.  You can pay via check, cash, or PayPal (just let me know which payment method you will be using.)

Order yours NOW as supply is limited!!!!!  Happy Valentine's Day shopping!!!!

Handmade Birthday Cards

You may remember way back last September (almost a year ago now) we started a fundraiser selling handmade cards.  In the last year, we have sold a few packets of cards, but not very many.  So we are revamping this fundraiser and are going to try again.

Here are the Birthday Cards we have for sale.  We are asking for $2.50 per card, OR you may purchase 5 cards for $10 ($2 per card).  Just leave a comment or e-mail me (hearts1982@gmail.com) with the number(s) of the card(s) you would like.  If you are local to the Des Moines area, we can arrange drop-off / pick-up of the cards/payment.  If you would like to have the cards mailed to you, we are asking for an extra $1 to help with shipping costs and you may pay via a mailed check OR using our PayPal button located on the right sidebar.  If you choose to pay via PayPal, please be sure to include a note that it is for our handmade card fundraiser (and e-mail me the numbers of the cards you would like to purchase).

In addition to numbering each birthday card, I have also included how many of each card we have available.  #15 is available in green, yellow, pink & orange.  #16 is available in blue, yellow, orange, green & pink.  #21 is available in pink, blue & yellow.

Sold Out!!                                    #2 (1x)

#3 (3x)                                       #4 (1x)

#5 (1x)                                      #6 (4x)

#7 (1x)                                    #8 (1x)

Sold Out!!                                #10 (2x)

Sold Out!!                              Sold Out!!

Sold Out!!                         Sold Out!!

#15 (7x)                                  #16 (11x)

#17 (5x)                                         #18 (1x)

#19 (8x)                                            #20 (2x)

#21 (11x)

Soup Supper & Silent Auction TOTAL!!!!!

Pam ~ This is going to be a short post because we are leaving for church in a few minutes, but this is the first chance I've had to update you all about our Soup Supper & Silent Auction we had last night. 

The bad news.  I forgot to take any PICTURES!!!!  I am soooooooooooooooo upset with myself that I forgot!!!!  I had my camera there and everything, but I got so distracted with visiting everyone and enjoying the evening that I completely forgot about my camera :-(.  So I don't have any pictures to share with you :-(

The good news.  God allowed us to raise..........

$1145.85

Isn't our God GREAT?!?!?!?

AND this amount will be doubled because of our matching grant from Lifesong!!!!!

Fundraising Focus

Soup Supper & Silent Auction

 

 It's actually almost HERE!!!  God gave us this idea just about a month ago, and we have been hard at work ever since to put it all together.  Over 30 people have volunteered to help us in one or more areas ~ donating items for our silent auction, making soup or desserts, coming to help serve/clean-up, etc.  What a blessing they have all been to us!!!  And what a story we will have to tell to our children!!!

While we are praying for the Lord's blessing on this event, we are also praying for a peace and contentment within His will.  If God choose to provide through this fundraiser, we will give HIM the praise and glory!!!  If God chooses to not provide financially through this fundraiser, we will STILL give HIM the praise and glory for how He chooses to provide in another way!!!  God is teaching us to trust in Him fully and completely through every area and step throughout this adoption journey!!!

Having said that, we ARE praying for God to bless this fundraiser.  Will you join us in praying for the success of our soup supper?

If you live in central Iowa, we would LOVE to have you attend our Soup Super & Silent Auction!!!

Place: Slater Baptist Church, 601 Story Street, Slater, Iowa

Date: Saturday, February 19th

Time: 6-8 p.m.

Cost: 2 yrs & under ~ FREE

          3-10 yrs ~ $3 each

          11 yrs & up ~ $5 each

Silent Auction Baskets include

     * Hair Bows

     * Bible Study w/coffee

     * "Kitchen" basket

     * 2 hand-made baby afghans

     * Mary Kay

     * "Edible Arrangements" fruit bouquet

     * Ice Cream cake

     * "Winter Night in Iowa" basket

     * "Wellness" basket

     * Chocolate & Coffee

     * An evening of babysitting

     * Family Movie Night

Other Fundraisers ~ Homemade cards, Faith and Grace quilts, Just Love Coffee, Soda cans, Christmas ornaments

Fundraising Focus

Soup Supper & Silent Auction

 

Here is our NEWEST fundraiser!!!  We will be having a Soup Supper and Silent Auction on Saturday, February 19th, at Slater Baptist Church in Slater, Iowa.

Yikes!!!  That's only three weeks to get this all planned and ready to go!!!  We are still in need of some help, so if you are local and can help in any of the following areas, PLEASE let us know!!! 

*Silent Auction baskets/items ~ We have the following baskets/items promised: "Hair Bow" basket, "Kitchen" basket, 2 baby afghans, "Mary Kay" basket, "Edible Arrangements" has donated a basket :-), Wellspring gift certificate, etc.  Do you have any more ideas to help us?????

*Soups ~ We need more people to help by providing a crock pot of soup.

*Desserts ~ Can you help by making a pie, cake, cookies, etc.?

*Decorations/Set-up ~ I'm not good with decorating.  HELP!!!!!

Of course, in addition to volunteers to help us prepare for this fundraiser, we also need PEOPLE TO COME!!!!  Please help us pass along this information ~

What: Soup Supper & Silent Auction

When: Saturday, February 19th from 6-8 p.m.

Where: Slater Baptist Church, 601 Story Street, Slater, Iowa

Price: 2 yrs & under ~ FREE; 3-10 yrs ~ $3 each; 11 yrs & up ~ $5 each

Will we see YOU there???

Other Fundraisers ~ Homemade cards, African puzzle, Faith and Grace quilts, Just Love Coffee, Soda cans, Christmas ornaments

Fundraising Focus

 Just Love Coffee

This is a super easy fundraiser we began last October.  We have a personalized "Just Love Coffee" webpage where people can go order some VERY yummy coffee and have it delivered directly to their front door.  We receive proceeds from EVERY SINGLE order and have a check mailed to us each month.

If you are a coffee drinker, would you please go check out our page and consider trying some of this coffee?  You may click on the link included in this e-mail, OR simply click on the "Just Love Coffee" photo and link on our sidebar.  There are MANY different options to chose from, so take a few minutes to look at everything.  Just make sure you start on OUR homepage (there is a picture of us) to make sure we receive our proceeds.

If you are interested in a little background as to how "Just Love Coffee" was started, keep reading :-)

Rob Webb knows coffee. When Rob was two years old, his father started Webb’s Coffee Service, which blossomed into a full-blown refreshment service supplying businesses in Nashville, TN and the surrounding areas, and is now run by Rob.

Rob Webb knows the adoption process. In the summer of 2008, Rob and his wife Emily were called to adopt from Ethiopia. After much prayer and discussion with their first two children they started their adoption journey in August 2008. During the flurry of paperwork and preparation, Rob & Emily read books not only on adoption in general, but specifically on Ethiopia. Learning that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee caught Rob’s attention, and after reading about the living conditions and wages of the average coffee farmer, he was compelled to take action. What developed through his reading and his trip to Ethiopia to unite with his daughters was a realization that he could combine his expertise and longstanding desire to roast his own coffees with his desire to help others. Just Love Coffee Roasters was born! Roasting Fair Trade Specialty coffees, Just Love uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world.

Other Fundraisers ~ Homemade cards, African puzzle, Faith and Grace quilts, Soda cans, Christmas ornaments

Fundraising Focus

Faith and Grace Quilts

In October, I had a good friend from college contact me about doing a fundraiser for our adoption.  Karen likes to make quilts and she wants to make a quilt for each of our children that is put together via donations from family and friends.

Here is how it works.  For a minimum $10 donation, Karen will make a quilt block.  Each block will feature an appliqued star and no two blocks will be made of the same fabric.  On the back of the quilt, she will put your name so our children will know who helped bring them home!!!  

If you are interested in helping put together these quilts, just contact Karen over at her blog ~ 27 Penguin Place ~ and let her know how many quilt squares you would like to sponsor.  She has information on her blog as to how to send her the money.  She is collecting all the money from this fundraiser and will send us a check along with the quilts when they are finished.

I can't wait to see these quilts!!!  Will you please help her put these quilts together for our children?!?!?!

Other Fundraisers ~ Homemade cards, African puzzle, Just Love Coffee, Soda cans, Christmas ornaments

Dossier

Pam ~ I spent some time on Saturday putting together all of our dossier paperwork.  Our dossier has to contain all ORIGINAL documents {with a couple exceptions} along with 2 copies of all the paperwork.  We went last Wednesday and made all the copies, but they have been sitting on our kitchen table waiting for me to have the time to "assemble" them.  We are still missing one document {which will hopefully come in the mail SOON}, so these pictures aren't quite complete :-), but I think you can get the basic idea.  And, just in case you are actually interested, here are the pictures of the photo pages I put together.

All (-one) of our original dossier documents

Yesterday's Fundraiser ~ Our friend, Megan, raised just under $200 for our adoption fund at the fundraiser yesterday!!!  Praise the Lord!!!  And a BIG Thank You to Megan for all her hard work!!!!

All we are waiting on now in order to submit our dossier is just under $600.  The paperwork is sitting on the table waiting to be mailed!!!  It is really hard for us to see the dossier packet and know that the only thing keeping us from getting on the waiting list for our children is $600.  PLEASE pray along with us that the money will come in SOON!!!!!

Prayer Request

Pam ~ Take a look at our thermometer!!!  We are just under $800 in what we still need in order to submit our dossier!!!  We are still praying that we will be able to submit it before Christmas and we are SO CLOSE!!!

My friend, Megan, is having a fundraiser for us THIS MORNING at an open house that is being held in her area.  Would you please take a minute to pray for the success of this fundraiser?  We are thanking God so much for her encouragement and sweet giving spirit!!!!  I'll try to post an update as soon as she lets me know what was raised!!!

Fundraising Focus

Pumpkin Pie 

This is a BRAND NEW fundraiser for the holidays!!!  A parent of one of my students has volunteered to make pumpkin pies as a fundraiser for our adoption!!!  Martha is taking local orders and will have them done to be picked up or delivered by Christmas {or before if you want them early!!}.

She is asking for a minimum donation of $12 per pie, and they will be DELICIOUS!!!  If you live local to her {Indianola, IA} she will deliver your pie(s) to you; if you are local to the Des Moines area, Nathan and I can arrange a pick-up location with you.

If you are interested in ordering a delicious pumpkin pie, please e-mail Martha (mmkclrowe@gmail.com) or me (hearts1982@gmail.com) with your order and the date you would like your pie.

Thanks, Martha, for all your hard work!!!

BTW......There may be a limit to the number of pies she can make by Christmas, so get your order in TODAY!!!

Adoption Friendships

Pam ~ One of the blessing of our adoption journey that I hadn't expected was making new friends within our adoption community.  Our agency {America World} has a Yahoo group for those of us who are adopting from Ethiopia and it has been SUCH a wealth of information and encouragement over the past few months.  I have been especially interested in connecting with other Ethiopian adoption families here in our own state so that our children will have some friends from their home country.

One of these new friends is Megan.  She and her husband are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia and were DTE {Dossier To Ethiopia} on 11/4/10.  She and I have also connected via Facebook and it has been great getting to know her and her family a little.  It was such a blessing when she and her husband and two sons stopped by our house a few weeks ago and we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of Christian and adoption fellowship!!!

This past Friday, I received an e-mail from Megan telling me about an open house that a group from her area is having this coming Saturday.  Megan was asked if she would like to have a fundraiser for her adoption at this open house, and she instead contacted me and asked if she could have a fundraiser for ME at this open house!!!  She has been such an encouragement to me and I am thankful that the Lord brought her into my life!!!

Megan blogs about her family's adoption journey over at her blog.  Why don't you go read her story????

Would you join me in praying for the success of Saturday's fundraiser?  We are soooooooooooooo very close to having the money we need to submit our dossier!!!!!