You're Invited!!! May 16!

Hello friends!  We're in the finally weeks before we travel to go get our sweet daughter and everything at this point seems to be moving along fairly well!  We have 1 more form to complete and get filed and then we will just be waiting for our Travel approval!

We have one month left to finish up our fundraising and be fully funded!  We would like to invite you to join us for a Family Fundraising Dinner on May 26,2015 at 5 pm. We are still finalizing the details for the location but it will be somewhere in our area. We would be so thrilled to see all our local friends there!  There will be three different pasta dishes to choose from, salad, bread and dessert. There will not be a set cost to attend but rather it will be an open donation and all monies made will go straight to our adoption fund!!

We will also have a Silent Auction going on during the dinner. We are collecting some wonderful products locally and from contributors online and expect to have a pretty nice array of products for you to bid on! If you or someone you know would be willing to donate something to this auction, please let me know.

Please make plans to join us for a wonderful evening!  We are looking forward to seeing you and sharing this final stage of our adoption journey!  Thank you so much for your heart for our Lila!!

NEW - Get your new Summer water bottle HERE!

Happy Friday!! As I mentioned in my last post, we are working hard to raise the final amount we need for Lila's adoption!!  We have always had what we needed at each critical step along the way and we are praying that we will be fully funded in the next 6 weeks so that we will not need to delay travel!  We would get on that plane TODAY if we could!  :)

So, here's our latest and greatest fundraising effort!  

Beautiful, 24 oz. Nalgene water bottles, made right here in the USA!! Each bottle is BPA free, will fit in most cupholders and is the perfect size for travel!  These bottles are perfect to share your heart for orphans,and  your support for our adoption!!  EVERYONE needs a new water bottle for Summer - think about your children going off to camp - they need a water bottle! Summer trips - need a water bottle!  Summer sports, bicycling, running, trips to the beach, trips to the park - need a water bottle!  Flying to China, or Africa, or South America, or Eastern Europe to bring home your new child through adoption - NEED a water bottle!  We'd be so thrilled, honored and grateful if you'd chose ours!!  Each bottle is just $18.50!

Here is what the whole graphic looks like.

The top of the bottle looks like this.

If you would like to order one (or several) bottles, please just send me an email (jjmasse @ sacoriver . net).  The shipping one each bottle will mostly like be around $4 and for multiples I will simply charge you the actual shipping cost (it weighs about 4 oz.).

PLEASE feel free to share this post (or our FB post) with your friends and family!! The more orders we receive, the closer we are to bringing Lila home FOREVER!!!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Monday, Monday! 4/13/15 Update

It's Monday!  Monday's are happy days in our China adoption circles as they are typically "family" days - the days when families are united with their children in China!! Every Monday morning I eagerly look forward to seeing the pictures of families meeting their beautiful sons and daughters who, praise God, are orphans no longer!! What a blessing and an encouragement to watch these stories, share these journeys and then to finally see that first family photo!  We gaze longingly, knowing that someday it will be us holding Lila and shedding tears of joy to have her finally with us.

Latest pic from her BFF's
birthday party

It's hard to believe, but that day for us could be in just 8 or 9 Mondays!  Over a year of planning, working, fundraising, waiting (and waiting and waiting) will all be over soon and we can begin the work of bonding and attaching that is all a part of this adoption marathon. Please pray with us for Lila's heart!  We have read books, attending trainings and generally "know" what things we can expect, but really we have no idea. Each child is unique, with their own temperament, emotions, experiences, memories, fears, etc. We must learn how to love Lila in ways that she specifically needs.  We will learn what scares her, what soothes her, what makes her happy, what foods she doesn't like, what things she likes to play with, how she sleeps, how to make her laugh, and so much more!  We look forward to these lessons but also know that it will be hard work, there will be tears, frustrations, possible even temper tantrums (after all she is our daughter and 2!).  Please pray specifically we will have wisdom and patience as we love her and woo her heart.

As I mentioned we are in the final stages now with travel coming soon.  We are currently waiting for our I800 (permission from US Immigration to bring Lila home) approval.  Once we have that there are just 2-3 additional short steps until we will be waiting for travel approval (TA) from China. When that arrives we  will mostly travel within 1-2 weeks - fast!!! Please pray all these steps go smoothly.   It's a very exciting time!

The last piece is finances.  We have come such a long way and are so thankful for each and every source of funding - grants, personal donations, sales of bracelets, hats, tshirts, and baked goods.
In order for us to travel though we need to raise the last $6000. Its a lot yes, but not compared to how far we've come!!  I posted on our fb page today if just 100 people donated $60 each we'd be there - fully funded!!!  It sounds so doable to me and in fact, we already have our first $60!!!! Yea!  God has been so good to us, proving everything we have needed along the way and we are trusting that He knows exactly where this final amount will come from.  Would you please pray that God will bring in this last $6000. Please pray and consider helping us - any amount is greatly appreciated!!