2012.... I can feel is going to be a good year!!

Our family finished 2011 by playing Guitar Hero. I am not sure if I would call mine playing, more like torturing. For the first time in years we all saw the ball drop. I still remember last year, just as it turned midnight our local tv station changed to a commercial. I believe someone was in trouble after that. There was so much excitement had by my Reece's Rainbow Warriors as we all, through the miracle of the internet, watched the babies on the Angel Tree reach their goal of $1,000. No, there were not any large donations like last year. This year was through the dedication of many Warriors coming together to advocate for children that would not normally have a voice, orphans that continue to wait for their families to find them. I do not take a lot of credit for this. I advocated but did not have great fundraising ideas as many other warriors had. Many great things happened in 2011 such as Patricia Heaton's twittering and Dateline running a story about Mia and her family's journey to bring her home. I am praying that 2012 brings more great things for these children.

Last Day for the Angel Tree

Today is the last day for the Angel Tree. My little angel has met her goal and more but there are others that need just a little boost to get to their goal. Please visit the Angel Tree and donate to help these children reach their goal as well. http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltreekids/. May I suggest Timothy. He is only $310 away from his goal.

BTW - He could really use a family for Christmas!! Please help spread the word about him. He is so adorable!!

Gabriella Met Her Goal!!

My little Christmas Angel has met her goal of $1,000 due to a great many people that donated to her funds. An amazing person matched her fund yesterday, along with many other children's, to be sure that many children met their goals. Now to find Gabriella a family...

Roller Coaster

I believe adoption is a roller coaster and you have to learn to take the twist, turns, and sometimes the flips as they come along. I have known for nearly a week but have been unsure how to put it into words. We are not adopting from Hong Kong. We are not adopting internationally. It is with sadness that I write this but I know deep in my heart that we will adopt internationally someday. The timing is not right for our family. It is for personal reasons that in no way hinders us from adopting in the future when the time is right. We are still completing our homestudy only it will be for a domestic baby or child from foster care with Down Syndrome. At this point in our life this is the right decision. I wanted to thank you for all the kind words and the warm feelings that everyone expressed. I look forward to following along with your adoption journeys.

Unexpected Surprise

Last night I received a phone call to call my financial institution in the morning regarding my account. I belong to a credit union so for them to be automating a message in the evening, I was sure that it was a scam. Today I was trying to order Christmas presents online and I received a message that my card had been declined, to try a different. Nearly everyone that knows us knows that we do not have credit cards. No, I do not have another card to try. Okay, maybe that phone call was not a scam. I contact our financial institution. I was asked if I was trying to make a purchase from Madrid, Spain. Um, let me think about that, NO!!! Luckily they declined the charge but now my debit card has been cancelled. I am unsure how many of our bills are automatically deducted from it. This evening will be spent checking on that. Did I mention that my husband is out of town in New York? Thankfully it was only my card and that his is still working. Wouldn't he have been surprised?!?! Now it is going to take 7-10 business days for me to receive my replacement card and, if I need any money for the next couple days, I will need to go withdraw it as many places do not accept checks anymore. I am grateful that they were unable to withdraw money from our account. It will just make it a little difficult to make purchases for the holidays. There is always a bright side to everything.

Slight Detour

For the past 1 1/2 weeks we took a slight detour in our adoption path. We were informed that two of our previous foster children were back in care. We felt that we needed to see that through before we continued on with our Hong Kong adoption. We now know that they can not come back to our home. We will continue to remain in contact with them in the future and be an extended family to them. Now we wait on formal application part 2. We have an adorable little guy that we are hoping to commit to but as all know that are adopting from Hong Kong, until our application and homestudy are complete and approved we cannot commit to a child.

Operation Orphan No More: Be Part of the Miracle - iPad 2 Give-Away

Check out the Morris family's blog to enter their fundraiser to win an ipad2 and many other great gifts. This fundraiser is to help bring home their little girl home and out of the institution.

Operation Orphan No More: Be Part of the Miracle - iPad 2 Give-Away: Want to do something incredibly special this Christmas? Be part of a miracle! Christmas gifts are fun but what's better than the love...