Dear daughter,

I have no idea how long its going to be before I get to meet you...how long it will be before I have to leave you there, knowing how much happier you'll be once you're here with a family until we come back again, and again before the last time :) ....and how long it will be before you bunk across the hall from me FOREVER.

I do know that the last couple months....pretty much since we committed to bringing you home and making you part of our eternal family, that I have felt the dial on my personal 'resistence' meter being cranked higher and higher. And do NOT get me wrong. I am not complaining. Things have been stressful. And I've cried and grumbled...and I'm sure I'll cry and grumble some more. But as I was hashing out my disasterous weekened with my physical therapist this morning...a man of great faith from a church different than mine own, a man I happen to like and respect a great deal...he gently chided me that these things are 'character building' and you know what? I NEEDED TO HEAR THIS. I obviously have MUCH to learn. I also surprised myself when I admited to him that I knew things would be okay...and he commented they might not...to which I agreed, and then said something to the effect of...but they will, because none of this crap matters. All that matters is bringing you home. And when you're home, all this will be payment made easy!

I 'get' it now. I get how people can give their hearts quickly and freely to a child not their blood. Don't think me awful...but I used to question it. Not now. I 'get' it. And I can't wait to have you here to share in my disaster-filled life!

So hang on...we're jumping through hoops...and I'm chubby. So it feels like I'm falling behind and its frustrating. But...this fat girl WILL jump through every hoop asked of me because I want to be your mom. I want my other babies to be your brothers...your sisters. They want it too. So....while these weeks/months are dragging by painfully slow and making me crazy...I'll try to remember you don't even know we exist yet. I'll pray someone combs your hair today...hugs you quickly...smiles at you. They're just bridging gaps until I can do that forever!

Mom

bleh.

Discouraged doesn't even begin to explain my feelings tonight. Nor does hacked. Or frustrated. Or heartbroken.

WHY in the heck is this such a painful process? What of this does ANYthing to ensure that Claire is coming to a good home, where she'll be loved and taken care of? Oh, you don't see the link? Good, me either! We're facing the need to do tons more training before we even get our travel date. And I am sick. And sad. Because I just want to hug her and bring her home.

And while we were told originally that Christmas was 'more than doable' we are NO way going to make that happen. We'll be lucky to get there by then. Bleh.

Who likes my attitude tonight?

Hmpf..

It sort of feels as if the process is stagnate. As in, NOT MOVING forward. Its so sad to me. Across the world there is a child, MY child...and I don't feel any closer today than I did yesterday to bringing her home. We're waiting for our region person to be back from vacation, which is supposed to be Sept. 10th. So no traveling until at least the end of Sept. for us. One month more lost!
There were five smiling faces lined up along our fireplace this morning. There should have been six. There were five backpaks loaded with crayons and protractors. There should have been six.
I used to struggle with the financial aspect of this adoption so much that I could generate huge amounts of anxiety over it. Can we do this? Is it right? Well, its sort of testament to me that she really is mine because the difficulty of this process,  and the criticism we've heard(and that which people offer behind our backs) has only solidified my resolve that we are doing what is right. She belongs here. And the fact that it is months away still makes me sad today. Why must it take so long to provide a family for a child? Its got me today.

A glimpse at my life this month!

Please don't judge me by my hoardish looking garage....
Because actually its worse than this pic gives way. This was after about 1 week of collecting. The only thing missing is the stove, dishwasher and fridge. They're sold. But dang near EVERYthing else remains. This is a 3 car garage...and my single attatched garage is full too! So, for those locals interested...here's a teaser of what there is!
2 twin bed frames...one painted and one is the original wood, in VERY nice shape.
Bunkbeds
Red upholstered chair, that rocks.
End table
Tv stand on rollers
2 area rugs
Several HP printers, Toshiba ink cartdridges, and a fax machine
6 office chairs
1 smoker...as in, food smoker
OLD Maytag washer and dryer. Clean. Work perfectly.
Weight set.
Ab Lounger
Smoke stack for wood stove.
TONS of kids stuff. Toys. Books. Shoes. Clothes, the bulk of which are girls size infant-12 big girls. Winter coats. Backpacks.
Fisher price baby swing. Car shaped exersaucer. Carseats. Booster chairs. Jog stroller. 2 umbrella strollers.
Books.
Movies.
2 dressers.
Luggage
Under the cupboard mount cd player
JVC stereo stereo system...hooks to tv. 3 disc.
Home decor. Pictures from a store that are BRAND NEW. Mirrors. Shelves.
Ankle, knee, elbow and back braces. Brand new in box
Kitchen odds/ends
2 George Foreman style grills
2 bbqs
Women's clothing and shoes. NICE stuff, name brand.
Bird cage. Cat climbing tower
Pre-lit 6 1/2 foot Christmas tree
Crib(older, but I would TOTALLY paint this and then antique it. It would be SO cute!)
Ceiling fans...still in box. Also have the mounting brace needed for one.
Brand new mirrored medicine cabinet
16" Poulon chainsaw
Drill
Jigsaw
These are just the things I can remember as I'm sitting here in my jammies...avoiding the HUGE amount of work that awaits me out there!
Oh...and fresh cinnamon rolls. LOTS of 'em.
So, please drag everyone you know over here tomorrow August 18 from 7-1 and help me reclaim my garages!

Sharing...

I've been a little surprised at the shock that most people express at the idea of fundraising for an adoption. And....a little bothered. I mean, we send our kids throughout the community to sell chocolate, cookie dough, Christmas wreaths, pizza kits and fancy bread to generate funds needed to send them on fancy trips to Belize...our to fund the community baseball team and other fun, worthwhile causes. But an adoption? I know...its not the norm. Its taken me a little while to come to terms with it myself. And now it bristles me a bit when I KNOW people are complaining and criticizing our efforts here.
And not that these people will ever read this...and even if they did, I don't care. I don't feel the need to justify our decision to anyone! But I do want to record my own feelings on this.
Buy your braided bread. Perhaps you could throw in a tub of gourmet cookie dough. Do it happily.

We are saving. a. life. A child, living entirely across the world from us, in an institution, is unaware that we are mortgaging what we can to bring her here. She has no idea that we pray for her EVERY single night, for her safety, for Heavenly Father to start to soften her heart to a family...to ease the transition. She doesn't know that we are planning Christmas presents for her the same as our other children. Sweet girl Claire has never known a family. She's never been snuggled to sleep...wrestled by siblings...or raced to the car for dibs on shotgun. We WANT to give her these things. We WANT our 5 biological children to know the blessing that she will be in our home. We WANT this.

It just so happens that its going to cost over $35k. And one person's $20 contribution is in no way going to to eliminate our sacrifice to get her home. But EVERY one person's contribution helps. And we have some incredibly generous friends...that have donated BIG donations of money...and some that have given their time....and some that have basically FILLED our garage sale with things to help us in this pursuit.

I am always amazed by those who criticize others. There are so many opportunities to better someone's life; to serve and lift another; to KNOW the peace that comes from living a Christ-like life. I am not saying my life is always just this. I'm a work in progress too. But it is so sad to me to hear bits/pieces of criticism aimed at us. Why waste your precious time? I for one, have so many better things to do!

Now, that said... take  a look at this amazing adoption fundraiser for our friends. Its wicked! And, there's something for everyone. So...consider the cause!

I stole this from her:
"There are only TWO DAYS LEFT in our adoption fundraiser. There are awesome prizes (iPad, $200 Amazon card, Blendtec blender, Kitchenaid mixer, & 30+ others) and not very many entries. Your odds are great, and entering will help us get our little girl home!. :) A $10 donation gets you two entries!"
http://bringthaliahome.blogspot.com/

Project Two:

As of yet, we don't have a specific date. But we're in the process of collecting as much sellable stuff as we can to sell in a yard sale. So far we've got some good loot, though not enough  to last more than a few hours. So...we'll keep amassing...and keep you posted!

IPAD GIVEAWAY!

We just took the bin full of tickets into the local bank and had the very pretty...very talented bank teller Miss Katie Whitmore pull us a winner!

DICK SWENSEN....my boss, my bishop and friend....is the winner!

Thanks for all of the donations....we're closer than we were last month....hopefully next month we can say the same :)

A few changes to the IPAD giveaway!

Hurry up! Only one week left! We've decided that because some of the people that have donated to the IPAD giveaway are family/friends...in a small community...we're going to have an actual drawing, instead of using an online program. I've made paper tickets and will have someone who has NOT purchased a ticket do the drawing. I'm going to ask someone in the community to do it. Then, if by some FREAK chance someone in my family, who has NEVER won anything before :) actually wins it...I'll sleep better knowing NO ONE can suspect that anything was rigged. I know. But I worry.

I've also changed the fact that if you donate $10 bucks you get TWO tickets. What a doofus I am for making it just as favorable to refer it along. We need donations! We are travelling within the next month and need to generate $2-3k to be fully funded. Its a BIG dang goal.

So, challenge your friends, pass it along. And, watch for the winner on Aug.1, 2012!!!

A few unmentioned names

I'm not naming names. But I have to express my grattitude to everyone who's been purchasing tickets to the IPAD giveaway. Every little bit moves us closer! We have been so blessed by the generosity of dear friends and family! This whole process is humbling, believe me. We've heard a little static regarding the idea of fundraising for an adoption. And this is hard. But we just try to remember that we're trying to save a life...and enhance our lives in the process. I'm just focusing on those who have been supportive...
So I'm not naming names. But thank you.

IPAD

GIVEAWAY ENDING JULY 31, 2012!!!!!

So, here it goes. We can't call it a raffle. So, its an IPAD giveaway. This is the new Ipad 2, 16G. It retails at approximately $500.

 Here's how the giveaway works:

For every $10 you donate to our adoption, we'll enter you in the giveaway one time. All checks must be written to Reece's Rainbow. This is a registered 501(c)3 and all money donated to this organization qualifies for a tax deduction for you...and no money comes directly to us. It goes straight into an account to be used exclusively to fund Claire's adoption expenses. All checks must be received by July 31, 2012. AND, if you share my link on facebook and enourage your groupies to do the same, you'll get a free entry. You'll have to message me you've done this....as tracking it might be interesting :)

I need 50 tickets just to break even! Come on....

Send all checks to: Pitchers
                               Po Box 305
                               Fairfield, Mt 59436

For those not loving the 'check' option...there's this link below. Again, all funds go into the account specifically for Claire.

http://reecesrainbow.org/35748/sponsorpitcher

My worry is that these donations will be harder to track...so if you donate via the paypal link here, you HAVE to either leave me a comment here or message on facebook to let me know so I can track these and give you your giveaway tickets...

There is an online program that will select a random winner for us. Happy bidding!

Could it be?

Please say some prayers that some of the fundraising possibilities we have lined up work out. It would be nothing short of miraculous!

Chaos...quite simply...

Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to get everyone's attention for these pictures? (I actually DO have some where our lovely photographer was succesful, these are just funnier!)
For those of you reading this blog who aren't very familiar with our family, here's the scoop. We have the perfect life. We are rich in the only way that matters: we have each other. My husband is the best of the best. He's honest, loyal, dedicated...and loud! And, I'm a little loud too. We've been married 15 years and blessed with 5 healthy, happy, sometimes naughty children who bring us joy. I primarily stay home with the hooligans....so I guess you could say most of their flaws, are mine.  We work hard, play hard, laugh and cry, and recognize that our lives have been hugely blessed by our Father in Heaven. Adding Claire to the mix is not something we decided on lightly. But anyone who knows our loving Father in Heaven knows that sometimes His plan for us is way different than our plan. So, another day, another post, I'll share the full story of how we came to find ourselves here...all of a sudden thinking our brood of 5 was not enough, and that somewhere, all the way around the world, a very integral piece of our crazy pie is missing!
I know alot of people think we're nutso for wanting to adopt. And, I'm not going to lie, we are. But we've been that way for WAY longer than the time in which we decided to add sweet Claire to our family. And, we decided a long time ago that chaos was just a given. Sure, I'd kill for a few quiet days, locked into a padded room with a constant supply of diet Coke and books. Instead, I'm blessed with a life full of noise, laundry and laughter. We travel in a pack, and we draw attention sometimes. So, at this point it doesn't really matter how many kids we have: chaos is chaos.
We started this journey completely unprepared. We weren't looking to adopt, but after seeing this angel we lost a piece of our hearts. Until she's home, running wildly through the house with the rest of our monkies...something is missing.

The purpose of this blog is to advocate our fundraising efforts. So, follow us along our journey to bringing Claire home!

http://reecesrainbow.org/35748/sponsorpitcher