TWO WEEK T-SHIRT SALE!

TWO WEEK T-SHIRT and WATER BOTTLE SALE!

As many of you know, our sale began two days ago, Saturday, and will continue through next Friday, August 6th. We thank you for your enthusiasm of our designs and look forward to your assistance in sharing our love for Africa and for adoption! I have provided pics below for quick review. Click on our Fundraiser picture (top right side of blog) and it will take you to the site that provides you all the t-shirt/water bottle details and information on how to order!

We have created Water Bottles Too!

(one design/one color option)

TO BUY NOW, click the fundraiser picture located on the top right of this page!

BUT HURRY!

The t-shirt blitz is only for TWO WEEKS!

AND THE WINNERS ARE.......

IT IS ALMOST 8:30am AND WE HAVE JUST DRAWN OUR WINNERS!!!

We had 48 entries that were done correctly, which means that we will be gifting THREE shirts (one for every 15 entries)!

And the winners are:

1. LAURIE (Seeing the World Through His Eyes)

2. THE BOBO FAMILY

3. LIFE A BIT SWEETER

If each of you winners would please contact me via this blog or FB and let me know what design, t-shirt style and size you would like us to order, we would be MORE than HAPPY to do so! If you choose the swirly design, please designate if you prefer the blue, orange or pink background!

THANK YOU to EVERYONE who participated! It has been so much FUN getting to make new friends and find new families to follow and pray for along their journey, while sharing the fun with those already in my heart!

T-SHIRTS SALES START TODAY!

And we've created a WATER BOTTLE TOO!

T-SHIRTS and WATER BOTTLE WILL BE ON SALE FOR TWO WEEKS ONLY! So please, place your orders quickly, while it is on your mind! {smile}

Jeff has mastered PayPal and you can now just click on our FUNdraiser picture on the top right of our blog to order your shirts! We have also created a water bottle if you like them too!

DOSSIER IS IN THE MAIL!

(Okay, so I wrote this YESTERDAY ~ but did not get to post it until today)

WHEW! I still don't feel like I am breathing right. Or something. Hard to describe. It just feels so weird to NOT have ANY paperwork that is pulling at me! NONE! It is all packaged up and has gone BYE BYE!!!! We mailed it overnight to our agency, America World Adoption Association today! It will be in their hands TOMORROW (Wed)!

Our AWAA family coordinater totally ROCKS! She phoned me at 7:30 Tuesday morning, right before I left for work! We discussed last minute details so we could finalize everything and get it all sent off! THANK YOU, Caitlin! We went to Kinkos to make our color copies of photos and passports, and after checking and re-checking....we were finally ready to call it "GOOD!" and put it in the hands of the sweet, sweet mail lady!

Wanna hear a neat God story about our mailing? This local woman has a quaint little shop that she runs where you can do any kind of mailing, really. USPS, FED EX, UPS. You name it. GUESS WHAT SHE DID!?!?!?!? She was so excited when she found out all the documents were for adoption, that she said, "The charge for this shipment is on me (!). Consider this my donation to your baby fund! Just promise me that you will bring him or them in so I can meet him/them. I just can't wait to meet him/them!" Wasn't that SO NICE of her! My eyes welled with tears and I got so choked up that she would want to do that for us, I struggled to speak for a second! Yes, I am on the Paper Pregnancy rollercoaster of emotions! Ya gotta LOVE IT! {HUGE smile}

the sweet, sweet mail lady, I mention above!

(and my cute, cute husband!)

One last photo before the Dossier left our hands,

and we began our REAL wait for our child/ren!

Well, Jeff had to go back to work, but once he was done, we went to one of our favorite places for dinner. PF CHANG'S, anyone!??!?

We pedaled our cruiser bikes home from downtown, and as we came into the back yard, our adorable elephant outdoor garden decor was glowing its sweet serene blue. Night night our little prince......(or princes; or prince and princess).......

Wow, its kind of like when you graduate. You don't really feel different until it's time to go back to school, and you don't have to go. I imagine when I come home from work tomorrow, and there is NO adoption paperwork for me to tend to, it will seem more real to me! (nope, it is now Wed, and it still hasn't sunk in yet that we have NO paperwork to do!) big sigh.

Now for the waiting that really counts! We are hoping to be DTE next Friday, God willing! That means our 4 to 6 month wait to find out who God has chosen for us will begin! Every day of waiting will COUNT toward this duration! YAY! Not that we are guaranteed this timeline or anything, but at least we feel like any waiting after today moves us one day closer to our child/ren! GO GOD!!!!

I-171H IS HERE!!!!

The mailman can now rest easy! My stalking will now CEASE!!!!

Our I-171H arrived in the mail TODAY!!!

So, I had just come home ~ mailbox was empty ~ again. However, it was totally empty, which meant that the mailman had not come to our house yet today. "So there's still a chance" it will come today, I thought to myself.......

I was sitting at my desk in our home office when I heard the mailman put the mailbox lid down. I wanted to RUSH to the door like I did every day these last several weeks......but for some reason......this day......I told myself, "Debb, it is only Monday. Chill. You know it isn't there. Don't rush, just to feel let down again. Finish what you are doing first. THEN you can go look and see that it is not there." {okay, I publicly announced my flicker of negativity. BUT I really wasn't bummin' about it. I was okay with it not being in the mail today.)

I did just that. I finished what I was working on, which happened to be wrapping up some details for our Dossier.

Then, Jeff pops in to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch. As I get up to greet him, my heart skips a beat as I remember that I didn't check the mail! Talking myself into accepting that it is okay that it won't be there, I step outside, and I SEE IT!!!! The big white envelope from Homeland Security! I immediately let out a huge SQUEAL. One that confused our doodle bugs and was heard by neighbors, I am sure! This JOYOUS squeal brought Jeff and the doodles running.

The GREAT thing about this, is that JEFF WAS HOME to share in the excitement! God KNEW how special it would be to me to have him home when we received the I-171, and he orchestrated that small detail out for us! YAY, GOD!!! Yes, and Jeff even thought clearly enough to get the camera to capture the long-awaited moment!

Well, after much prancing and dancing around, we went immediately to the notary and then the Secretary of State (advantage of living in Boise ~ state capital!). We then marched over to Staples to make our Dossier Copies!

Oh yeah, another miracle of the day: I also discovered last Friday that our Police Reports given to us by our caseworker was not notarized. I immediately contacted a dear AWAA momma and friend, whom we've come to know since starting our adoption process (Cacey and her family have been DTE for a month or two now). Cacey gave me the info of who she contacted with Health and Welfare, to have the police reports notarized. This lady was so nice, she typed up the letters within ONE HOUR of our conversation and I was able to go pick them up today before getting our Dossier cover letter notarized and certified!

AAAHHHHHHH........God's blessings are raining on us today! LET IT RAIN!!!!! THANK YOU, GOD!

Well, we are almost there! We saw one glitch where the notary for the post placement commitment form expires this October (they are s'pose to be good for at least one year). Yes, its a bummer that our caseworker didn't ask the notary when it expired, and we didn't catch it until Friday night when we were getting all our dossier together.....to be ready! Little did we know God was prompting us to get it all ready because MONDAY would be our I-171H day!

Well, it is HERE! We will finalize our last photo page (house pics) tonight and we should be able to mail out the Dossier tomorrow, God willing! I hate to count on dates anymore, as you never know what is going to hold you up. But, with much excitement and with bold expectancy, we claim that we plan to mail it all off to AWAA TOMORROW!!!!!!!! Will let you know how it goes! {smile. smile. BIG SMILE!}

THANK YOU! To ALL of you who have agonized with us in our waiting for this one important paper! Your prayers have helped MOVE this MOUNTAIN! We so appreciate each and every one of you!

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

IT IS........T-SHIRT TIME!!!

First, I will share the story behind our t-shirts and the designs. THEN, I will share how you can WIN a FREE T-shirt! We are having a ONE WEEK ONLY T-shirt giveaway! (Don't worry, if you do not win one, you will be able to pre-order one for purchase of $25 after the contest!)

Jeff and I have been working hard on creating our own t-shirt designs, and we are excited with how they have turned out! We hope that you are too! We cannot introduce these without extending a big THANK YOU to Kari Gibson for all of her information and encouragement, as well as helping us find quality t-shirts! We also want to thank Jeremy and Amber, for their help in picking t-shirts and getting our designs on them!

We want to shine a positive light on adoption and have chosen the following anonymous quote for both designs:

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life,

but those who make their journey home

across time and miles,

growing within the hearts of those who love them,

are carried on the wings of destiny and

placed among us by God's very own hands."

AFRICA is the continent of choice, as that is where our son/children are going to be born. We like the idea of having the safari animals making a journey across ~ or over the top of ~ Africa to represent the journey we and our son/children are making, half-way across the world, to each other! The ringer t-shirt design highlights the little lion cub, as that is what this journey is all about......the blessing of our son/children!

We tried to capture our own personal story, while allowing the design to also speak to many other families who are ~ will be ~ or have ~ taken a similar journey to Africa to complete their family! We hope these shirts bless you in your own family story, while allowing ALL of us (adoptive families or adoptive family supporters) to shine a bright light on the joy and blessing of adoption!

We have TWO t-shirt designs and are offering them on high quality shirts!

The Women's SLIM FIT t-shirts are super soft with a stretchy fitted look and feel! THEY ROCK!!! Yes, you will feel as if you are wearing a shirt specially made for your body! These are the very same shirts with the same awesome fit and feel as the Simply Love women's tees! 100% Combed Ringspun Cotton. Tapered waist. These do run smaller than normal and it is recommended that you order one size larger than you would normally order, due to the slimmer cut. Sizes range from: S, M, L, XL. You pick, black or espresso (richer darker brown than picture portrays)!

The same design is offered on a UNISEX NON-FITTED T-SHIRT as well. These will fit true to size and are 4.5 oz, 100% Preshrunk Combed Ringspun Cotton. As you can see, these are also offered in black or brown. The following sizes are available: S, M, L, XL, 2Xl, 3XL, 4XL

Our other design is on the UNISEX RINGER T-SHIRT. These come in 3 great heather color combinations (green, blue, tan). They are pre-shrunk 50/50 Combed Ringspun Cotton/Polyester. Sizes include: S, M, L, XL, 2XL. The color of Africa and the animals will match the color of the ringer around the neck and sleeves. A fun contemporary design with a very soft and comfortable feel! Fits true to size.

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NOW FOR........OUR T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY!!!!!

(Not an original idea, but morphed from several other adoptive family's giveaways)

WHAT? A FREE T-SHIRT! (either style, any color, any size)

WHEN? The Giveaway will run Saturday July 17th through midnight Friday, July 23rd (random drawing will be the next morning)

WHY? To shine happy light on the blessing of adoption, while helping us raise funds to bring our child/ren HOME!

HOW?............

FIRST, YOU MUST BECOME A FOLLOWER OF OUR BLOG TO PARTICIPATE.

* If you already are a follower, that counts!......include in your comment that you already follow!
* If not yet a follower: Scroll down our blog until you see "FOLLOWERS" on the right side; Click "Follow" button; and follow us on our journey. Don't worry if it prompts you to join Blogger or Google. Doing so will not give you junk mail. It is just to allow you to follow us (and create your own free blog should you ever decide to!). We're excited to share our journey with you ~ and follow your blog too, if you have one!

NOW, YOU ARE READY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY. HERE IS HOW....

1. POST A LINK TO OUR GIVEAWAY ON YOUR BLOG.

2. PLACE A LINK TO OUR GIVEAWAY ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE.(Please remember that I will need to be a Facebook friend of yours to see it....search for Debbie Cunningham Marquez)

3. COMMENT HERE STATING WHAT YOU DID, AND I WILL ENTER YOU INTO THE RANDOM DRAWING. (I cannot enter you if you do not comment telling me what you did)

You will receive ONE entry EACH DAY you post on your blog OR Facebook. OR........You can receive TWO entries EACH DAY you post on BOTH your blog and FB! Up to you! (Two entries/day max, please)

Don't forget to leave me a comment stating what you did (Blog, FB or both) to complete your entry EACH day. This is the only way that I can add your name to the random drawing!

The winners will be announced the morning of SUNDAY, JULY 24th! We will give away one shirt for every 15 comments/entries throughout the contest!

GOOD LUCK and THANKS for sharing the fun!

REQUEST UPDATE

Well, as all of you know, we have been pursuing adoption of an infant boy 0 to 6 months of age. What we have shared with a few of you, is that we also put in a request for siblings ~ twins, or a second sibling 2 yrs or younger. Our family coordinator was willing to let us put this as our request, as long as we understood the very LOW chance we had of getting siblings of such a young age.

With this understanding, we went ahead and put our heart's desire in our Application Letter, figuring we would let God have His way in our lives. One son, or two children. We know that we would be MORE than EXSTATIC, either way.

Well, as time ticks away and we continue to wait for our I-171H, we feel that one good thing that has come from our extra waiting period is this. We have decided to change our request by increasing the age range of our second child to 0 to 3 years old.

We are not sure if increasing one more year will make a difference in God's plan for our family, but we have been excited to think of the possibility of TWO children coming HOME. FOREVER! We go back and forth as to what to picture ~ will GOD bless us with one child? or two children? Although we are not sure what God is planning, we DO know this!


GOD ALREADY KNOW WHO HE PLANS TO BRING INTO OUR FAMILY! AND WE WILL BE BLESSED BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS, EITHER WAY!


It is up to us to just follow His lead. That is what we feel we are doing. With such an EXCITEMENT, in fact, that it makes this waiting very HARD at times. We know that in the end, when we hold our child or our children in our arms, kiss his or their face/s, all this waiting will be MORE than worth it!!! {sigh........with a HUGE smile}

HOME FROM VAIL!

Well, we are now home from our precious trip to Vail! We had a fabulous trip! Awesome mountain playtime, quality family time, and even some rest and relaxation snuck in between! Jeff and I truly did not know how MUCH we needed the getaway! Amazing how time away from reality and life can refresh your soul! I am hoping to post a few pics of the trip soon. Just wanted to say hi and let you know that we arrived home safe and sound. Now.......its back to reality.......still a bit on vacation mode..... getting there, though! {smile} Ahhhhhh the life of no responsibility or stress! Ya gotta love it!

THE FORM IS OFF!!!

WHEW! We have SO been enjoying our vacation in Colorado! I had a great birthday ~ THANK YOU for all my wonderful b-day wishes! We are having a wonderful times with family and friends, and are enjoying playing in the gorgeous mountains. An overall GREAT soul revival! {sigh} We are remembering what the definition of RELAXATION truly is. I LOVE COLORADO!!!!!

So, get this. We were sitting outside on the deck, sipping our morning coffee today, when I received a phone call on my cell. It was from Immigration Services! Our officer was giving our case PERSONAL attention! {smile} She was calling to follow up on the letter that we have been trying to get from Colorado. I explained that we had not yet received it, and thanked her for the personal care and attention. She assured me that all looked fabulous in our case and once she received the letter from Colorado, she promised to immediately mail us our I-171H!

I called the Colorado office for a third time in just over a week.......hey, squeaky wheels get what they need sometimes....right!? RIGHT!!!! This office had just received what they needed to proceed with their letter! To summarize the rest of the story, Saytee (Jeff's mom) was traveling to Denver and was able to PICK UP the letter TODAY!!!! She immediately went across the street to the post office there, and mailed the letter to USCIS overnight! Immigration Services will receive what they need TOMORROW by NOON!!!!! Saytee saves the day!

Amazing that we can be relaxing and enjoying our getaway, while God continues to move the right hands to complete yet another step in our process of adoption! It is all mailed and we just have to wait for the I-171H form to come to our mailbox! Watch out Mr. Postman, my stalking resumes! {giggle}

THANK YOU to all who have offered up prayers on our behalf with this hiccup in obtaining our I-171H. God hears our prayers, and each one that you have said has contributed to the movement that we are now experiencing again in our journey. I SO NEEDED TO SEE FORWARD MOVEMENT IN OUR JOURNEY!!!!!

Most importantly, Lord, I thank You..........for refreshing my soul when it was desert dry, and for blessing us with this forward movement. You are doing awesome things with all of the families in our agency, and we thank you for the amazing ways you are answering all of our prayers for one another! I must admit, it is exciting to see some of that forward movement in our own story again too! We all know your love and your desire to bless each family. I thank you for showering your unconditional love upon each one of us, as we walk out our steps toward our children!

We're coming baby, we're coming!!!!

VAIL, COLORADO, HERE WE COME!

I have been FLYING HIGH all day, knowing that we are LEAVING FOR VACATION TOMORROW! For TEN whole days! I have not had a vacation ~ or even left town ~ for SIX months! I AM READY! MORE ready than I even realized! My soul has been light ever since we decided to continue our annual visit to Vail (Jeff's parents still live there and his sis will be there too!) ~ awesome fireworks, sharing my birthday with his family, mountain biking, hiking (we're gonna climb my first 14er!)........NOTHIN' BUT FUN!!!!!!!!!

I was hoping to have received our letter from Colorado before leaving, but our mailbox is empty. I called the Colorado people and they still have not done the letter we need! WHAT!? A week after our request, and they have not received what they need to do the letter! Can you say AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! with me!?

This news was like getting hit in the gut unexpectedly. HARD.

Then my mind spirals to my upcoming birthday. Another birthday WAITING to be a mom. But not one. Yet.

Jeff just came home and did a good job of reminding me that God IS in this ~ even when we do not see Him. The enemy is just trying to steal my joy. I cannot lose the joy and excitement I have carried toward this MUCH needed reprieve away from work, adoption stuff, house stuff, etc. I NEED TO LEAVE TOWN and JUST ENJOY MY LIFE!!!!!

So, with a huge sigh and LOTS of prayer, I am going to do my best to do just that. ENJOY MY LIFE. No matter what the enemy tries to throw at me. Even though I have no idea when we will get this Colorado letter so that we can send it off to USCIS. Again.

Oops......there I go.......starting down that negative slide again. Such a slippery slide it is! I just need to walk away and not think about it. Can I really do that?!? I need to give it an honest try.

Hhhhhmmmmmmm......where oh where is a positive slide! I am SO in need of one of those! {smile} May our vacation be filled with lots of positive slides and rides!

Prayers for this last hurdle to get us into the real 4 to 6 month waiting would be so much appreciated!

Wishing all you a FUN and safe 4th of July!