Fundraising Update....

I just took 3 dozen strawberry cupcakes out of the oven and decided I would post a blog on my newly fixed computer while they are cooling!
I am so thankful to have a working computer again. I seriously went crazy not being able to blog the past couple of days and the one time I did try to blog on my phone I went completely cross eyed.
This morning I checked some updated blogs and just bawled my eyes out when I read Shannon's post here.
When I delivered cupcakes to her this week we talked about how it sometimes feels like I'll never get my babies home. (Do you like how I'm using the plural form? I really think we're gonna get two!)
Shannon said there was a time when she never thought toys would take over her house but now they do and they belong to precious little Tate. Just seeing his cute face makes me so excited to become a mommy to Ethiopian babes.
I wanted to give a few updates on our fundraising. We have sold about 20 dozen cupcakes and let me just tell you that they are MUCH easier than cookies. As of today, we have raised $17,500. Seeing that total just blows me away! If you would have asked me in July how we were going to come up with the money we needed for our adoption I would have been completely overwhelmed and unsure. But Glory to God! He has provided in ways that John and I never could have dreamed of. It is only because of Him that we have ENOUGH money to cover all of our adoption fees! Thank you Jesus!!!  When and if God calls you to adopt, you can be sure that He WILL provide the finances to do it.
So....with that being said, we are now focusing on raising a bit of money to put towards our travel. We have to take two trips to Ethiopia and the total cost for those trips will be about $10,000. John and I will be putting our tax refund and his teaching checks towards our travel costs, but we will still need to raise some of the funds. The good news is we probably have about a year to do this....
We will continue our cupcake fundraiser through Valentine's Day. We still need to sale about 30 pieces of our puzzle and we are planning another garage sale for the spring. We are also in the process of planning a great fundraising event with two of our favorite couples - The Habuda's and the Ellis'.
Stay tuned for more details on the event that we will be hosting in April.
John and I will also host our golf tournament again in October and the proceeds will benefit the Habuda's and the Ellis'. We plan to keep praying, fundraising and working hard until all of our babies are home.
Thank you just doesn't seem adequate as I try to express how much I appreciate all of the prayers, encouragement and financial support we have received through this adoption process. I pray that each of you has been touched and has seen God's hand through our journey.