I am so emotionally and physically DEAD after such an amazing event that I don't feel like I'm going to explain it well, BUT I know many of you want an update! So, I'm going to give a short and sweet update. :)
The event was very successful. We raised over $16,000! How exciting. We couldn't have done it without so many people. Thank you.
After the dust settles (and I unpack my car) we will have to put our thinking caps back on to raise a little more.
But we are so much closer.
As I sat down to write this I looked at the clock on the left side of my blog and saw that it is around 9PM Uganda time. And now I'm not thinking about money so much as those little babies that I can't wait to hold. I can't wait to see their first smiles. I pretty sure that isn't going to happen when we first walk up to them, but hopefully it won't be long after. Pray with us that we get to go soon.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Big Thank You!
Here is a list of our donations and the donors for the auction we are having on Sunday night at 6pm at Christ Church in Santa Fe. Thank you everyone! If you want to come to the dinner and auction, leave a comment and I can tell you more about it.
Chef Danny Hernandez for cooking our meal
Santa Fe Baking Co. 200 brownies & iced tea for our meal
Christ Church Santa Fe for the building
Kokopelli Properties, 3 night stay in Angel Fire
Santa Fe Baby Rentals $200 worth of baby rentals
Chocolate Maven for 50 brownies for our meal
Glen Stock - Painting
Roark Griffin - Painting
George Stumpff – Painting
Jim Gensheer - Painting
Laura Herndon – Painting and handmade soap
Deborah Robinson - Paintings
Tim Wiford - Sculpture
Santa Fe Web Programming 8 hours of web work
Di Gibbs singing at our event
Anthony Bianchini singing at our event
Laura Herndon & Jason Couillard for singing at our event
Derek Cunningham for Roadrunner Air Conditioning, Heating,
and Refrigeration 1 yr swamp cooler service
Mommy’s Market presale passes
Sunoak Partin – Art
Antigua – Collectables, Vintage, etc. for Mexican bracelet
High Desert Angler half day 2 person fly fishing trip
The Feed Bin for bird feeding basket
Jason Reid for 2 Dallas Cowboys Tickets
Jared Carse for hotel accommodations for Cowboys tickets
Carol Bernal for handmade pillow cases
Barb Ames for a print and a painting
Jason Couillard – Personal tax return
Donna Ware – Jewelry
Maggie Gensheer – Jewelry
Candyman Music Store for a guitar
Dirk and Carol Novosad - rug and lamps
Al and Melanie Dillard - purse, jewelry, silverware, and more
Starbucks for 3 bags of coffee
Chuck’s Nuts Confections for $65 gift certificate
Jinja Bar and Bistro for gift card
Jennifer Squires for pet sitting
Susan Hickok for fashion accessories
Jake Brenner for manual labor gift card
David and Pam Anderson for signed books
Alan Keohane for canvas photo
Bruce Silsby (Desert People) for Moroccan goods
Cynthia Bowers for painting
Linda Herndon for print
Andrew Grassmick for MadCap Coffee
MariAnne Ban for truffles
Maggie Gensheer for jewelry
Nancy Hooker for handmade baby blanket
Santa Fe Youth for serving us at the event
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Let's Here It For Santa Fe Baking Company!!!
I was told today that Santa Fe Baking Company donated 200 brownies for our Silent Auction!!!! And iced tea for 200 people!! Who does that? If you are in the area, you should go check them out. Their address is 504 W Cordova in Santa Fe. And you can look at their website here. You can mention that you appreciate their support of local adoptions!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Twisted, Ugly, Beautiful
I got a very exciting text from Heather at Adoptions Plus (our agency), today. She told me that Elsie and Ki's mom relinquished her parental rights yesterday! This means that she appeared before a judge and gave up her rights as a parent! And while I am really excited that we are moving in the right direction and that God is paving the way...I'm kind of sad too.
I'm sad for the mama. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think she is doing this because she loves those kids. Can you imagine getting to that point? Can you imagine contemplating at night while the kids sleep how you are going to provide enough food for everyone and then coming to the conclusion that if you want all of them to live, you have got to give some of them away. And after hugging them close, walking them to an orphanage you've heard will take good care of them? Then, as if that nightmare isn't enough, having to appear in court before a judge and give away all your power over those children? That is what Mama U had to do over the past weeks and days. I hurt for her. I hurt for the other children in the family who don't have their baby brother and sister anymore.
I'm sad for those two precious babies too. They don't know exactly how their lives are changing but they know they are. And it is not what they want. They haven't seen their mama U for weeks now. And while they are getting more food, they ache for home. They loved that floor they used to crawl on. They long for those familiar voices singing and talking around them. They are waiting for her to come walking in. But she is not coming.
And the only good news in this whole deal is that we are coming. We all know I'm not going to look like mama U. And I'm not going to cook like mama U, or smell like mama U, or sound like her either. But, I'm coming. And I'm going to scoop those babies up and love them with all my heart. And I'm going to teach them all I know, and wipe away their tears, and give them my eyes, and provide for them the best I can. And they will get our name too. They are going to be Grassmicks very soon. The youngest of our clan. And not only do they get me and the best daddy in the universe, they will get big-sister-second-mommy Emma, and teach-them-the-rules Johnny, and I'll-make-you-smile Annie, and ya-wanna-save-the-world-with-me? Anderson. And we are going to be a family. A family that looks to Jesus to provide what we need and even what we want sometimes too.
I know a new family isn't what Elsie and Ki want right now. But it is what they need.
And at the end of a sad day for mama U, God is answering her selfless prayer. That there would be a family to take these beauties home and do with them what she can't. And I get to be apart of this twisted, ugly, beautiful story.
I'm sad for the mama. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think she is doing this because she loves those kids. Can you imagine getting to that point? Can you imagine contemplating at night while the kids sleep how you are going to provide enough food for everyone and then coming to the conclusion that if you want all of them to live, you have got to give some of them away. And after hugging them close, walking them to an orphanage you've heard will take good care of them? Then, as if that nightmare isn't enough, having to appear in court before a judge and give away all your power over those children? That is what Mama U had to do over the past weeks and days. I hurt for her. I hurt for the other children in the family who don't have their baby brother and sister anymore.
I'm sad for those two precious babies too. They don't know exactly how their lives are changing but they know they are. And it is not what they want. They haven't seen their mama U for weeks now. And while they are getting more food, they ache for home. They loved that floor they used to crawl on. They long for those familiar voices singing and talking around them. They are waiting for her to come walking in. But she is not coming.
And the only good news in this whole deal is that we are coming. We all know I'm not going to look like mama U. And I'm not going to cook like mama U, or smell like mama U, or sound like her either. But, I'm coming. And I'm going to scoop those babies up and love them with all my heart. And I'm going to teach them all I know, and wipe away their tears, and give them my eyes, and provide for them the best I can. And they will get our name too. They are going to be Grassmicks very soon. The youngest of our clan. And not only do they get me and the best daddy in the universe, they will get big-sister-second-mommy Emma, and teach-them-the-rules Johnny, and I'll-make-you-smile Annie, and ya-wanna-save-the-world-with-me? Anderson. And we are going to be a family. A family that looks to Jesus to provide what we need and even what we want sometimes too.
I know a new family isn't what Elsie and Ki want right now. But it is what they need.
And at the end of a sad day for mama U, God is answering her selfless prayer. That there would be a family to take these beauties home and do with them what she can't. And I get to be apart of this twisted, ugly, beautiful story.
African Nation: No Kissing
I was doing my nightly check of Yahoo! tonight while we were watching the Olympics. I came across this news article. The title grabbed my attention: African Nation: No Kissing. When I clicked on it, I saw the name Uganda almost immediately. The next word I saw was Ebola. My stomach sank.
14 people have died from Ebola in Uganda over the past several weeks. They are getting it by basic human contact: handshaking, kissing, or in my mind: being held by someone and then sucking your thumb. My babies are in an orphanage in the capital city of Kampala. One victim of the disease was taken to a major hospital in Kampala. They are trying to control this. They have 24 workers that are in "isolation" because they may have come in contact with the virus. Please pray that this would not spread and that it won't take any more lives. And you know what I'm thinking...pray that it will stay far away from Elsie and Ki.
Lord, keep our babies safe tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after that...until we bring them home. Protect them. Hide them in You. Kill this virus, I know it is not of You. Bless Elsie and Ki with health and love and hope. Thank You for loving them more than I do.
14 people have died from Ebola in Uganda over the past several weeks. They are getting it by basic human contact: handshaking, kissing, or in my mind: being held by someone and then sucking your thumb. My babies are in an orphanage in the capital city of Kampala. One victim of the disease was taken to a major hospital in Kampala. They are trying to control this. They have 24 workers that are in "isolation" because they may have come in contact with the virus. Please pray that this would not spread and that it won't take any more lives. And you know what I'm thinking...pray that it will stay far away from Elsie and Ki.
Lord, keep our babies safe tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after that...until we bring them home. Protect them. Hide them in You. Kill this virus, I know it is not of You. Bless Elsie and Ki with health and love and hope. Thank You for loving them more than I do.
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