Want to know how much has been fundraised as of February?

If you have been following along with us using the little tracker on the right hand side of the blog, you will notice it doesn't change much.

The good news is that that amount does not accurately display the amount of money we have fundraised; the little donation 'ticker' only shows how much we have had donated through our Pure Charity fundraising account, and as you likely know, we raise funds through all sorts of means, (tee fundraiser sites, PayPal, checks, etc.)

If you are interested in knowing the real total fundraised to date, take a look at our Pure Charity update, here!

The Countdown Begins: 50 Days!

I can hardly believe it.

I'm standing 50 paces from the 'finish line' that I've only seen on a 'map' for over a year now.

Some days I felt my strides were strong and that I was getting closer - that I'd make it.

Other days I broke down, stopped in my tracks, and wept for the time lost with this waiting child, and the 'never-ending' process to get to him.

But between a Firm Foundation, my husband, and the best of family and friends, I always got back up and kept moving forward - even when the end wasn't even close to in sight.

One foot in front of the other. One day at a time.

50 paces left.

50 days till court.

50 days till we give all we have of our hearts, and our intentions, and our time, and our love, and our lives to get approval to raise our son. To be a family.

We get on the plane to take us there in 41 days, and 9 days from that our family changes forever.

Our lives change forever.

Most importantly: In 50 days, an orphan will become a treasured son - my son.

9th Fundraiser - Africa-Heart Vinyl Stickers

We've placed an order for these sweet-awesome vinyl Africa-Heart stickers, (order was completed and placed on Friday, February 20th.)

Please note: we are ordered them in red, even though they are pictured in blue.

Here is the link to pay for your stickers if you ordered any, (or contact me for my address to send a check):

A couple important notes:

• Please be sure to include your address so I can mail your stickers to you!
• Also, don't forget that it is a $5+ donation per sticker, so fill in your donation amount and include how many stickers you want in the comment box! ($10 could be $5 for the sticker and an extra $5 donation not necessarily meaning you want two stickers... ok? Thank you!)

8th Fundraiser - "Oceans" Tees

Good morning, friends!

Valentine's Day is off to a good start in this house! I'm baking some 'healthy' macaroons and enjoying some fruit juice, and thinking of all of you wonderful people who I love so much! I'm also dreaming of a little Ugandan face with big, brown eyes, a cute little nose and sweet cheeks that I wish I was kissing today... my little Valentine is waiting for me, and I'm dying to hold him in my arms.

One thing I hope you all remember this Valentine's Day, (the day of love), is how much you are loved by our Father!

One thing that always reminds me how much I am loved by God is the song "Oceans"; this song was the one that we sang in church as I realized that Jesus was calling me deeper in my relationship with Him... through adoption!

That my 'my faith would be made stronger' on this new journey with him.

That if I asked him to 'take me deeper than my feet could ever wander', He would... gladly.

And He has!

This song has many meanings, feelings and reasons for being important to me, and I wanted to share some of that with you. But I know many of you also love and have similar feelings toward this song, and, if you have one, I would love to hear about why you love "Oceans" too!

So to celebrate the importance of that song in our adoption, (and hopefully in your life), my friend and extremely talented artist, Anna Cummings, created a beautiful design for our current tee fundraiser!

Get your "Oceans" tee at http://www.booster.com/cormicanadoption!

I love this shirt, and hope you do too, 'cause we are hoping to sell quite a few to help us raise the funds we need to go get our son in April! 

Please share this fundraiser with everyone you can think of who may be interested! It takes a village, friends, and we know we have one of the best supporting us!

So please check out our tee fundraiser and purchase your tees before the fundraiser ends on February 28th! (The shipping is 'flat rate', so be sure to order with others if you live with/see them often!) We need at least eight (8) tee orders for these tees to go to print, (but I know you guys will help get us way past that)!

Even if you don't know or have a special connection to the song "Oceans" this is a beautiful tee that anyone could wear! Don't miss out on these awesome tees! Join in the fundraising to help bring home our sweet little Valentine!

Court Date is Scheduled!

Hooray!

Yay!

Yippee!

Things are moving along now! We've been scheduled to appear in court on April 14th, which means that we will leave the U.S. for Uganda about a week beforehand! As you can imagine, we cannot wait for April to get here!

Please start praying over our case, and that the judge finds favor with us! In the meantime, we will be attempting to learn some Luganda, (the primary language spoken in the parts of Uganda that we will be in), read and learn more about toddler adoption and attachment, and of course create more fundraisers!

Did you know the flight to Uganda alone is about $1,000-$1,500 per ticket? We are (and have been) saving up as much as we can, to cover those expenses, but we still have all sorts of other adoption costs to cover too! And your participation in our fundraisers and your donations have really helped and continue to make a huge difference in our adoption expenses!

We will be announcing the next fundraiser soon, so stay tuned, but for now, let's CELEBRATE! We're only about two months away from giving this sweet boy a family, and that is worth getting excited over!

7th Fundraiser - Trades of Hope

Our friend and neighbor, Dawn, approached us in the summer, offering to help us fundraise through her business, Trades of Hope. We were finally able to take her up on it, and the result is this awesome online shopping experience where 20% of the sales will be donated to our adoption fund!

Here is a bit about Trades of Hope from our hostess, Dawn:

"Our mission is to empower women out of poverty by helping them build sustainable businesses. We sell fair trade accessories and home décor that are enabling moms to keep their babies, feed and educate their children. By purchasing through this party link your are not only helping fund Tony and Tara's adoption, you are also helping empower a women out of poverty."

This party link will be open until February 14th, so be sure to get your order in soon if you are interested!

Also, the 20% that is donated to our adoption will count toward the 6th fundraiser, which is still going on, in hopes to help you all learn our son's name! That's right, what you buy through this fundraiser will also go toward 'buying' the next letter in his name as well!

If you have any questions about Trades of Hope, please email Dawn at dawnhansentoh@gmail.com.