Happy Father's Day Phil!!!!!!!

Well, it happened! We went from 75 puzzles pieces sold on Thursday night, to all 500 pieces sold and many extra donations beyond that, on Saturday afternoon.

I sat and watched the donations come. And I cried. Hard.

$5,600 raised. Amazing God!

There is nothing like being surrounded by a community who shares your love for a precious child. For Bella.

You all get it. You really do.

I thank God for each and every one of you.

We gave Phil the puzzle this morning.







It was hilarious because at first he thought the puzzle itself, was his gift.





And, in typical Phil fashion, he thought it was absolutely the neatest gift in the world that I had worked all day putting together that 500 piece puzzle, for a gift for him.

He. Was. Thrilled.

And THEN I told him to flip it over. (It was a two-sided frame) And he saw ALL YOUR NAMES and was confused.





And then I explained that each name represented a $10 donation.... and together you all had raised over $5,000 to help bring home his precious daughter.







And he smiled.




And he cried.




He literally could NOT believe it.

And he said, "This is the BEST gift EVER!!!"

Mission accomplished.

Again, THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! I hope to personally thank everyone this week but for now, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

I am pretty sure this is the absolute most wonderful gift I will ever give. And you all made it possible.

The Best Father's Day Gift Ever

I am married to an amazing man. Here he is, becoming a father for the fourth time. Meeting our Jocelyn when I brought her home from Korea.




He is wonderful. A great Christian man. A sweet, gentle, kind, compassionate person. An incredible father. He left his home in Canada, married this crazy girl from Ohio who shared his passion for adoption and.....
The rest is history.




Five adoptions.

6 years.

We were done. And then came April of 2012. And we fell in love. And he fell hard. For this beautiful, precious little girl. Waiting in China.
Bella




We read some scary words.

Spina bifida

Hydrocephalus

Paralysis

But her spirit, and her smile, and her ability to overcome so very much captured our hearts.

Our hearts said yes but our heads said we were crazy, and we didn't proceed and after four months of wresting with ourselves and with God, we gave it all to Him.....

And less than a week later, there she was.

Bella




Waiting on an agency specific list. With a grant.

Phil wasn't home. I knew how I felt in my heart, yet I was nervous to see what he would say.

He came home. It was 9pm.

I told him.

He literally lept off the couch and started screaming,

"YOU HAVE TO CALL THEM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!"

Dude, it's 9pm!

So I emailed. And the next day I called.

And today we are within months of holding her in our arms.

My husband works so very hard for us. With five kids, my job won't pay for daycare. So he has been working 65 hour weeks. Week after week after week.

Never complaining.

Never saying he is tired.

Never saying his feet hurt.

He works in a machine shop. 60 pound parts. 14 hour days. Cement floors.

Never. Ever. Ever. Complains.

So, it's Father's Day on Sunday. And we are saving every penny and I have nothing to give him.

But I started this Puzzle Piece fundraiser awhile back.

http://bringinghomebellaelise.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-puzzle-piece-fundraiser-with-twist.html

We had 75 pieces sold and then all of a sudden, 24 hours ago my friends got fired up, and this thing took off and 75 became 145 then 145 became 207 and then someone offered a matching grant and before we knew it, we were at 303 pieces!

From 75 to 303 in just over 24 hours, people!!!!!!

And then my friend had a crazy idea......

What if we can get to 500...... And complete the ENTIRE puzzle......

And I stay up all night putting it together tomorrow and give it to Phil as a Father's Day gift?!?!?!?

He has NO IDEA I am doing this fundraiser.

Not. A. Clue.

I am doing this as a surprise for him. I didn't have an end date goal, but now.....

Well, after selling 228 pieces in 26 hours..... I am thinking we can sell 197 in 24 hours!!!!!!!!

I know God can do this, working through whoever wants to be part of the puzzle to Bring Home Bella!

Pieces are $10 each. I will write your name or the name of your choice of the back of each piece you purchase.

Here's how to donate:

1. Send a Paypal gift (money to friends and family) to elflikesmusic@hotmail.com

Or

2. Email me at elflikesmusic@hotmail.com for our mailing address.
Your name will be written on your puzzle piece(s) and will be entered into a Kindle Fire giveaway!

197 pieces. That's 197 people buying 1.... 100 people buying 2..... 50 buying 4......

Please consider helping us Bring Home Bella. And/or share our story on any social media you would like. I am doing a special drawing for all the sharers for a little something I will purchase in China!

Love to you all, and may you be blessed!

Family Fun

Enjoying a hike in the woods on a Sunday afternoon. Making one last summer of memories as a family of 7 before we become 8!

A Puzzle Piece Fundraiser with a Twist!

We are now kicking off our new fundraiser to help Bring Home Bella. It is a puzzle piece fundraiser, with a twist.

We have this puzzle. There are 500 pieces. 500 seems like a lot doesn't it?




We thought we would like to offer these pieces for a donation. But then realized..... There are a lot of pieces to sell.... And we really, really need to sell them all so that we can buy plane tickets in as soon as 4 months....We need to up the ante.

So, we present to you all........

Incentive!!!!!!!




For every 100 pieces we sell, we will hold a giveaway for 1 Kindle Fire! A $159 value.

How will this work, you ask? For each $10 donation you give to help Bring Home Bella, your name will be written on the back of me of the puzzle pieces. Once there are 100 pieces with names on them, we will draw a winner. Once there are 200 pieces with names, we will draw again. And so on and so forth.

We still have some of our program fees and all of our travel expenses to raise to bring our sweet daughter home. But selling these pieces will bring us a lot closer to that goal!




Would you like to be a Piece of the Puzzle and help Bring Home Bella?
You can do one of two things!

1. Send your donation to my PayPal account, elflikesmusic@hotmail.com

Or

2. Email that same address to obtain our mailing address.

Our goal is to do the fist drawing 6/15/13 or sooner!

You can buy as many pieces as your would like! Just make sure your donation is a multiple of $10 so there isn't any confusion.

Also, if you do not want to participate in the giveaway aspect, but want to purchase a puzzle piece, you can still donate and let me know not to include your piece(s) in the drawings.

If you would like to share this on Facebook or your blog, we would greatly appreciate that as well!

There is no cutoff date, this will be ongoing until we reach 500 pieces!
Thank you, as always, for your love and support as we get ready to Bring Home Bella!

DTC!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what a journey we have been in these last few weeks, but we are finally DTC! This means our dossier has been sent to China. The paper chase is over. And now, we wait. We are hoping that I will be in China in October!

We were DTC on 5/15. Which just happens to be Kiara's gotcha day and the anniversary of receiving our travel call for Jocelyn! All three girls share this special day!

On Mother's Day we were blessed with an update and pictures of our sweet Bella. She is doing well. She is healthy and happy and loves attention. Here she is!

Our Dossier is Finished!

After a 9 month long"paper pregnancy" I just FedExed our dossier documents to our courier in New York City, who will deliver them to the Chinese consulate tomorrow!

We hope to be DTC, or "Dossier to China" by the end of next week!

Hang on Bella. We will be there soon!

Having Fun in PT

Here is our strong girl having fun with her amazing physical therapist. Strengthening those stomach muscles in hopes of sitting independently someday!

That's her wheelchair in the background. So thankful she is still spending lots of time in it, sitting near the other children at her orphanage and being a part of the action!

Doesn't she just make you want to smile?