Hats, hats, hats!

I have been pretty busy making hats lately. I just completed an order for 18 hats! I am so thankful that people are ordering hats to help us with adoption fees. What a blessing! I have had a blast choosing styles and colors. Here are some pictures of the hats I have made:

I will have more hats to add next week. I have been working on Ear flap hats, slouch hats and animal hats. Check out my Etsy site: Harebell Handmade http://www.etsy.com/shop/HarebellHandmade?ref=ss_profile

Hats range from 10-20 dollars. All proceeds go towards our adoption costs. If you live near me just text or email and we can do a direct sale and avoid the shipping!

It's a Jeep thing!

Aaron on his run bike!

I took Aaron to a pump track today. It's a park designed for bmx and this one includes some trials-riding obstacles.  As I recall, it was also the first time he rode his bike off pavement (other than the rocks and grass along our driveway), so it was quite exciting for him.  We had it to ourselves for the most part and Aaron was quite enthralled.  I had my phone with me, so here is some video of him on the bumps. Enjoy.

Edit: I tried to fix a couple of the videos and add one of Aaron riding a "skinny."

So Much Can Change in a Year

It's incredible how much can change in a year. I think back to this time of year last year, and I am amazed. This time last year I was seeing four different doctors for three different reasons. How our family would grow was quite uncertain. Adoption was in the back of my mind, but didn't seem like a possibility for the near future. My how quickly things can change. Especially when God has a plan!

The fall season is here once again. This year we are waiting for approval from the US to adopt and then we will send our request (and lots of paperwork) to Uganda. Our family will soon be growing! The only doctors visits any of us have had is to ensure that we are in good health and that we will be able to parent an adopted child.  What a difference a year can make. 

A lot of people have been asking for updates on our adoption. I just love that so many are interested in our adoption journey and how everything is going. It means so much to us that people are interested! Things are moving along. Sometimes it seems slow, but progress is being made!  

John and I had more fingerprints taken, this time in Denver. Don't ask me why we needed more fingerprints done and why we had to go to Denver this time. It is somewhat of a joke in international adoption. It's pretty much the exact same thing we had to do for the homestudy, just in Denver and much much more expensive! Oh well, just another hoop to jump through I guess.

Currently we are working on preparing our dossier. The dossier is a a whole bunch of official papers that we send to the Ugandan government. It includes copies of our homestudy, birth certificates, our marriage license, passports, letters from our doctors, letters of reference, proof of employment, photos of our home and family, and our approval from the US government to adopt. Everything must be notarized as well. 

The next fee is $3000 to send the dossier. Once we send in the dossier, we will be told what number we are on the list. Then we wait for a referral for a child! We will not have another fee until we accept a referral. It can take months or possibly a year plus to receive a referral. I can't imagine how excited we will be to finally have a picture of our son or daughter!

Thanks to the amazing generosity of our friends and family, we have what we need to send in our dossier! What a blessing. We had a garage sale in September. Our friends donated a lot of great items and we were able to raise $760 dollars! Just a couple of weeks ago our sweet friends asked that donations be made towards our adoption in lieu of gifts for their daughter's birthday. The Hill's raised $200 dollars (thank you everyone who donated!!) which turned out to be right about what we needed to order certified copies of birth certificates/marriage license etc!! Praise God!

Here is another break down of the fiances:

Donations: $9170

Fundraisers (coffee, hats, garage sale): $977

Total raised: $10,147

Out of pocket: $5819

Adoption cost is estimated at $27,000+

Only about $11,000 more to go! All the glory to God!

Again, thank you to our family and friends. This adoption WOULD NOT 

be possible without your generosity. Words can not express what 

your support means to us!

Fall on the Western Slope

Aaron and I enjoyed another extended weekend out west. John was hunting with a friend. We drove most of the way together, after dropping John off Aaron and I continued west to spend time with my parents. We all had a great time. 

Aaron enjoyed lots of play time with Nan and Pops, the pumpkin patch/corn maze, hiking, movies and football. My mom and I were able to get out for a bike ride. We enjoyed lots of great meals; grouper fingers, Chicken Tikka Masala... mmm! It went too fast as always.

Pops and Aaron bouncing

Pops had to go down the slide too

He looks uncertain, but he loved riding the pony!

Aaron and two of his favorite people!

Hiking!

It was a wet and cold hunting trip for John this year. He didn't get an elk this time.  However, just being in the beautiful mountains is enough for him. His buddy got one, so there was still plenty of work to do!

One particularly frosty morning, he spotted a very large bull from around a tree. The huge animal looked up at the same time and immediately bolted.  In his haste to raise his gun, he forgot to take his  glove off and away it went. John described the elk as ghost-like. After telling me the story, we both agreed it was fitting that such a majestic animal got away.  Just seeing them in their habitat is amazing.

Happy Fall!!

A Lovely Evening for a Hike

Last night we hiked Arthur's Rock Trail in Lory State Park. It's just over a mile but the trail gains about 1000ft elevation in that mile. Although short, it is a moderate hike because it's steep. Towards the top, there is a beautiful view of Horsetooth Reservoir. 

It was a nice cool evening and the fall colors were really pretty. Winter seems to be just around the corner. We didn't quite make it to the top, Aaron was starting to get tired and the temperature was dropping. As we hiked down the sun was setting and we saw some deer grazing. 

Once again Aaron has proved to be an awesome little hiker! He really seems to love hiking. It is wonderful to go out and do something all three of enjoy. He loved climbing on the rocks and jumping off logs. He pretended to be a dog for part of the hike. He even barked at strangers! Hopefully our next little one will like hiking too!

After our hike we had dinner at Mt. Everest Cafe. The food is really good. It was the perfect place to eat after being out in the cold. Pretty much a perfect evening in my book!

He's actually going pretty fast

Helping Mama over the rocks :)

He really wanted to stand on the tallest rock

Heading back down

A very pretty evening

Photos by my wonderful husband! 

Adoption Update and Generosity

When we first began this journey, we truly had no idea how the finances would work. I felt God was saying that He could take care of the money. John and I decided to step out in faith. Not all the money is due at once, the fees are paid at different times. We decided to save and raise funds in order to pay for our adoption. We knew God could provide and are excited to to see His faithfulness in action.

Some incredible things have happened in the last month. God has provided through some very, very generous donations. Donations that have left us speechless. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would receive such generous donations to our adoption fund. It has taken me days to write "thank you's" to these people because I keep tearing up as I write.

It is humbling that our friends and family care so much and want to help.  It is inspiring that there are people around us that are this generous. It is also encouraging, and confirms that what we are doing is truly the will of God. He will fund what he favors. Wow.

I believe we will learn so much in this process; lessons that will carry into other areas of our lives.  God is not only teaching us that he can provide, but also inspiring us to be more generous.  John and I see that there are areas in which we can grow. I think being more generous with what God has given us is one of them.

We still have a ways to go. There are some big fees ahead. However, it feels more in reach. We are staring to feel like the financial side of adoption can happen. We currently have all the money we need to pay the next fee that is due! Amazing!

God has blessed John and I with such incredible friends and family. The love and support we have seen already is so wonderful.  I am so glad we will bring our little home to such a great community of family and friends. 

To our dear family and friends: There is no way we could do this without all of you! Thank you so much!

Here is a little break down of where we are at with the finances of our adoption:

Donations: $6,980

Fundraisers (coffee, hats): $85

Total raised: $7065

Out of pocket: $5819

Adoption cost is estimated at $27,000

Only $14,100 left to go! We are nearing the half way point! YAY!  Praise the Lord!

Next fee due is $3000. It is for the dossier which is a massive collection of documentation that is sent to the Ugandan government.  The fee will be due in a month or two.

I plan to begin applying for grants and doing some more fundraising soon. Once our homestudy is approved by the state we can begin applying for grants.  It's a lot of work but very exciting too. We have some neat things in mind for fundraisers! A lot of our friends have already offered to help us out with fundraising. Check back soon for more details about these.  We are so excited about all that God is doing!

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. ~Eph 3:20-21