Mini Celebration Time!

Time for a mini-celebration! Yahoo!! Yep, that means it is time for a little jump up and dance time. Well…. maybe not that much of a celebration; however, for those of you that know me at all, you know that I am not a blogger.  It's actually quite a miracle that I've documented this experience as well as I have.  I mean, this post is actually post #50!  I think that's quite a milestone. Which brings us to our “mini-celebration”. *dance party music

I’ve decided that for my 50th post, I will highlight our journey so far.  This accomplishes a couple of things: 1.For those of you that have recently started reading this blog, you may or may not have the time or interest in reading all 50 posts.  This will be a way for you to get a quick overview of our adventure. 2. It will give us all a chance to look back at how far we’ve come and celebrate the progress we have made so far.

You're welcome!

OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

We met 3 orphan siblings from Ukraine, felt badly about their circumstances, fell in love with them, knew they belonged in our family, and decided to adopt them.

·      http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/08/ive-seen-that-smile-somewhere-before.html

WE’RE STUNNED BY THE MAGNITUDE OF IT ALL

We found out about the process of adopting a sibling group of 3 from Ukraine.  Here are the things we discovered:

a.     It takes about 4 months to 1 year to get through the adoption process (depending on many different things).

b.     It costs a lot of money to adopt our three kids (we need to come up with between $65,000-$70,000)

c.     International adoption requires a TON of documentation and paperwork.

d.     Adoption of any kind is a huge emotional roller coaster.

REALITY SETS IN 

We very quickly realized that we didn't have $65,000-$70,000 in our savings account (what a surprise!) and knew that we had to be really creative in encouraging others to help us with the necessary funds to save these kids from a life of poverty, crime and huge difficulty.  We also knew that we had to depend on God, friends, family and community to help us!

·      http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/08/if-you-blog-it-they-will-come.html

GETTING TO WORK 

We started this blog, met with people, shared our story, and asked people if they could donate money (even a small amount is helpful!), their time, or items for an online/silent auction.  These donations are necessary in helping us with the funds needed to bring our kids home, safe and sound.

·       http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/08/1.html

FLOORED BY THE GOODNESS OF OTHERS 

We discovered many wonderful people that have donated to our kids, sent us sweet messages, prayed for our kids, and supported us in our adventure!

·      http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/09/prayers-for-albina-alina-maks.html

·      http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/08/message-me.html

REJOICING IN THE PROGRESS SO FAR 

We have a long way to go, but we have accomplished an incredible amount in a very short time (it's been 1 month since our kids returned to Ukraine).  We've reached Goal #1 and are just a few dollars away from reaching Goal #2.  We also announced donation matching earlier this week, and within 3 days we had over $1000 donated, reaching that goal! AMAZING!

·      http://truaxadoptionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/09/mathematical-magic_10.html

All in all, we are well on our way to saving 3 beautiful children! 

So again, another THANK YOU!  Because we couldn't accomplished any of this without the support and help of many good people!