private for now

Hey all of you that I JUST gave this blog info out to...I just found out I need to have a private blog for our time in country.  It could hurt our adoption if pictures of us or where we are or our girl get out before it's finalized.  So, if you'd like to be invited to our private adoption blog (which I guess I will create in just a minute), you can email me.  We'll be gone, but will have wifi.  My email is aksprinkle@gmail.com.  Please put "add me" in the subject.  I'm not going to privatize this blog, because then no one would know how to get on it!  Sorry.  Things are just so touchy about adoptions right now.  Thanks.

Exciting news!

We have an appointment date to be approved by Thea's country!  And, that means we're traveling VERY VERY soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait to meet our girl!

A few things...

We have lots of very exciting news! 

First, our dossier has been SUBMITTED, which means that all our paperwork is in the hands of the Adoption Council in Thea's country, and should be approved in the next week or so and we will be given a travel date.  We actually already have a date we are travelling (unless we get a call and have to go earlier) because we were given frequent flier miles, which is a huge blessing.

Second, we are fully funded!  We feel so blessed to have this answer several weeks before we have to, and are so grateful to so many of you for letting God use you to help us.

Now we are just trying to get packed!  Whew-four people, plus clothes and orphanage items for Thea, plus food for M who eats nothing unfamiliar, plus activities for girls for almost two months...wow.  Lots to think about!

At this point, the only need we really have is for a place for our dog to go.  She is a one year old boxer-hound mix, crated at night and we leave her outside for most of the day.  Never bitten anyone, though she is protective of her people and barks at strangers until they say something nice to her.  She does not walk on a leash well, we do have to let her go to the bathroom in part of our yard.  If you or someone you know is able to do this, please let me know! 

We are so blessed and so excited!

Mardi Gras bounce party!

As our (most likely) last fundraiser, we are going to have a Mardi Gras party and bounce party on Friday, February 17 from 6-7:30 at Nothing But Bounce, which is at Friendship Church at 8307 Ball Camp Pike Road, 37931.  We'll have king cake and chicken-sausage gumbo and rice, and bread available for dinner if you'd like to eat...and I'm from Louisiana and have a dad who cooks like it, so it is pretty authentic!

We'd love to see everyone there!  We'll have a suggested donation of $5 per bouncer and dinner, but it's only suggested, we'd rather you pay what you can and come play with all of us!

You are free to just show up, but if you know you are coming, please give us a head count so we'll know how much gumbo to make!  Hope to see you there!

(don't forget our chocolate truffle fundraiser also!)

**make sure you wear socks! 

Where we are: At this point, we need between 8-10 thousand dollars still.  We are applying for loans for that amount, but are looking to offset the loan amount as much as possible.  The loans that are available are very competitive, and personal loans with no collatoral are pretty hard to come by also.  Please pray for us to receive the amount we need before we get our travel date, which should be in the next few weeks!  We know God is all powerful to do whatever He wills, and we know He wills for the fatherless to be placed in families, but it's getting pretty close to crunch time and we struggle with anxiety at this large last amount, and we'd appreciate your prayers as we learn to be patient and wait on Him.  Thanks.

Valentine truffles

If anyone is interested, we are selling truffles for Valentine's day.  $30 for a dozen, you choose the assortment of five flavors.  Also, organic, sugared rose petals will be covering the truffles in the box!  The choices are:

Dark Chocolate
Milk Chocolate
White Chocolate Rose
Dark Chocolate Coffee
Milk Chocolate Hazelnut

All orders will be delivered Saturday, February 11!  Thanks!

Thanks, and fundraising round 2!

Thanks to all of those who made our last fundraiser so successful! We are so thankful for all of those who passed on our link, ordered a cheesecake, and prayed that it would go well!

While we do have to fundraise some, we feel so blessed to be loved and supported by so many.  Your prayers hold us up when there are difficulties in the process, and we're so grateful for that.

As far as December fundraisers go...

I will have orders available on Thursday afternoons for each weekend starting December 8. In other words, we have orders available for pickup on the 8^th, 15^th, and 22^nd.  Please place your order no later than Tuesday for delivery or pickup on Thursday.

Cheesecakes: These can be made as a whole cheesecake for $30, or individual cheesecakes for $2 each with a minimum order of 10.
-White chocolate cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and a cranberry-orange topping
-Pumpkin cheesecake with a homemade graham cracker crust and brown sugar pecan topping
-Chocolate mint cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust and a dark chocolate ganache with peppermint pieces
Biscotti: 20-four inch pieces for $15
-Cranberry almond
-Chocolate hazelnut
Baked goods $15
-Almond rosewater cake (great sliced and toasted for breakfast, or with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert
-Crème fraiche cinnamon coffee cake
-Rosemary Apple White Cheddar Scones (8)
-Blueberry Scones (8)
Playdough $10 for a glass jar
Hot Chocolate play dough-pink for candy canes, white for marshmallows, brown for hot chocolate
Christmas-Green for pine, red for cinnamon, white for mint
Foodie Gift bag $25
Homemade vanilla (around 12 ounces?-started in February last year), Half pint jar of Rosemary salt, 10 cranberry almond biscotti with cute labels in a bag with bakers twine Also, we have our justlovecoffee.com/theatappan site still up, and we get a percentage of each of those proceeds, and if you find that you would like to donate but just don't need anything, there is a link to the Reece's Rainbow paypal site (tax deductible) in the side of this blog.

In January we will have a dinner with music and childcare and hopefully cookbooks and (maybe!) cds available, so stay tuned!

How you can help!

I think it's best if I just let an email I sent out say it all!

In the United States, children with down syndrome have wonderful
resources available to them.  They are able to start intervention at
birth and it continues with them through the public school system
until they are 22.  Thea will grow up with playdates, trips to the
park, two sisters and parents to adore and care for her, a loving
extended family, and a supportive, amazing church family.  She'll be
able to work and be a part of society here, and can accomplish most
anything she'd like, though she might need some help.
In Eastern Europe, the situation is much more bleak.  Virtually all
children with disabilities are given up at birth.  They live in a baby
house until they are 4-5, where they move to an institution.  85%
won't live for six months in the institution, and all but a handful
won't make it to their seventh birthday.  Almost none of the children
have ever been outside walls of their home.  We love the idea of
adopting domestically, but having knowledge of this situation makes
our hearts pull towards these kiddos.
We had originally been told to plan on April/May to travel.  Now,
there is the very real possibility that we could travel as early as
December, and at least early next year!  This shortened time span
means that we have to be a little more creative in our fundraising
efforts.  Here's what we have going so far.

1.  The thing I can do best on my own at home is cook!  I'm making two
kinds of cheesecakes that can be shipped anywhere in the US.  All
shipments will go out on the Monday before Thanksgiving, and I can
deliver to Knoxville on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, Atlanta on
Monday, and Louisville on Wednesday that week.  We'll do another run
of cheesecakes and other things around Christmas.
The pumpkin cheesecake has a homemade graham cracker crust, pumpkin
brown sugar filling, and a pecan praline topping that is pretty
amazing. 

The chocolate cheesecake has ground hazelnuts and chocolate
cookies for the crust, chocolate filling, and a dark chocolate
hazelnut praline topping (think nutella, just much, much better!)
Each cheesecake costs $30, with an additional $12 if it needs to be
shipped!  These can also be tax deductible, we just have to change the
way you pay for them!

2.  I'm also making two different themes of non-toxic, scented play
dough.  The autumn theme is orange-pumpkin pie, yellow-nutmeg, and
green-pine.  The Christmas theme is red-candy cane, white-marshmallow,
and brown-hot chocolate.  Each jar of dough is $20, but it makes a LOT
of play dough!

3. I make waldorf dolls in an 18 inch size (larger than average).
They are custom made to your specifications, and require two weeks of
advance notice.  Each doll is $175, and can be tax deductible also.  I
can provide pictures of past dolls!

4.  The easiest one...  www.justlovecoffee.com/theatappan  We get $5
for each bag of coffee and a portion of all other sales.
Again, I'll also be offering more food items around Christmas, when
we're less busy!  (Thanksgiving brings a new niece due, and a cousin
birthday as well as Maeve's birthday...all four in seven days!)

Please, if you know anyone who might be able to use this information,
pass it on!  The Thanksgiving orders will be over soon, so I'm trying
to get this out to anyone who might know some people who would be
interested!  We would also love your prayers, for those of you who are
the praying sort.  We feel so blessed to be able to have Thea as our
daughter, and are so excited that it might be soon!  Thanks!