tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36156414516596779122024-03-12T22:42:14.912-07:00Here We GO GO .... on an AdventureThe Marvin Family's Adoption AdventureMarvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-32747474029228100422013-02-15T11:36:00.007-08:002013-02-15T11:37:55.619-08:00It's been 2 months... Crazy Right??? These past 2 months have flown by!!! I know there were days and weeks that were harder than others but all in all life is good. Both Kamble and Carson have had some sort of cold but luckily they were at different times and Aaron and I are hanging in there with sleep deprivation. <br />
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Somethings we've done over the past few weeks....</div>
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-We went to the Zoo with friends and had a great time (even with a little NW rain). </div>
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-Aaron took the boys to 2 of our local play places with huge structures and slides. And I took them to a gymnastics place which they loved. Kamble really loved them and I think they are helping with his muscle tone. </div>
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- I (April) went back to work 2 days a week and the boys are doing great with Grandma and Daddy while I'm gone. </div>
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-Kamble went through his first car wash... he was a little scared and it was hilarious to watch his facial expressions. And now he loves it!!</div>
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-Uncle Jon and Aunt Sarah got the kiddos a trampoline for Naunee and Papa's and they LOVE it! It's such a fun toy for all the grandkids to enjoy and gets out a ton of energy which we all love! </div>
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-Grandma spoiled them (and Us) for Valentines Day by taking them out to get presents, candy and dinner food. They made us dinner and desert and it was wonderful! </div>
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-Kamble went swimming for the first time and loved it! He especially loved the huge slide going down on Mommy and Daddy's laps. </div>
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-AND this kid loves Hat's (which I love)!!! He's pretty adorable in them too! </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">He loves his Addy girl (and Oakley too)!(It's a little blurry, but pretty much what he does to her all day long!)</span><br />
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Its really been an amazing 2 months home. Kamble is speaking in english sentences and pretty much understands everything we say. Kids are such amazing learners!!!! He's also finally trying new foods and even eating some vegetables! We are so thankful for our boys and our life. This has been such an emotional journey to get here, but so worth every moment! Now, if we could just get them both to sleep through the night we'd be golden! :)</div>
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Love, April</div>
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Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-28808893998883290122013-01-14T15:03:00.001-08:002013-01-14T15:03:26.935-08:00One month together.....with a life time to go!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGPSNXbXnDnRWYFiTjyoemwHxLH9wdhp7rIsi8rQlUJvjNl-7R5PyMwN2l6aWi5FxHsWOuyZzzZ6AKfJzL0u393rYJXHexI611DIUZ-ib5Qu8vd75jb-h0Mnghu_zP80qW5gWTTF1lHM/s1600/IMG_0717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGPSNXbXnDnRWYFiTjyoemwHxLH9wdhp7rIsi8rQlUJvjNl-7R5PyMwN2l6aWi5FxHsWOuyZzzZ6AKfJzL0u393rYJXHexI611DIUZ-ib5Qu8vd75jb-h0Mnghu_zP80qW5gWTTF1lHM/s320/IMG_0717.JPG" width="213" /></a>Wow, I can't believe we've been together for a whole month already! Time has flown by this past few weeks. We had a great (short) trip to DRC and have been home as a family of four for pretty much this whole time. We had a great Christmas and Kamble had a great 2nd birthday. I'm pretty sure he thinks that presents are an everyday occurrence now. He's going to be really disappointed over the next few months when he has nothing to open. :)<br />
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Life at home has been great so far. We didn't get to cocoon like we wanted to with the holidays, but we are still sticking close to home. We will continue to keep Kamble close for the next few months and still keep our activities to a minimum.<br />
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Here's a few notes about how things are going since we've been home ......<br />
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<li>Sleep is overrated! So neither of our children are sleeping well right now. Both kids are getting up in the middle of the night and joining us in our bed. Luckily we have a king size or we'd really be hating life! Hopefully this issue will resolve it's self SOON!!</li>
<li>The dogs were a non-issue after the first week! Kamble loves the dogs now (a little too much!). He chases them constantly and pets them all day long. He's even doing good with other dogs we see at families houses and on the streets. </li>
<li>Food is still an issue. He won't eat much of anything except chicken, bread, french fries, eggs and sometimes beans and rice. He refused beans and rice the first 3 weeks, but has started eating them again. Hoping to find more foods that he will eat soon, I feel like he's not really getting the nutrition he desperately needs. </li>
<li>Kamble is not great at sharing. Both boys want what the other one has at all times. Carson has been great about giving in to his brother. Thats not really the lesson we want to teach, but it helps while we have the language barrier issue. </li>
<li>Kamble is starting to use some English. He still talks constantly in Lingala (I think he thinks we know what he's saying). But he's beginning to use words such as chicken, Addy, Oakley, Carson, get down, Noah, daddy, and NO! </li>
<li>He has a wonder sense of humor. He loves to laugh all the time and his smile is looking brighter every day! </li>
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<li>The first few weeks clothes were a huge issue. He refused to wear anything but jeans, but now he is doing great. He'll wear jammies at night and will now let me pick out his clothes (well most of the time). </li>
<li>KAMBLE LOVES BATHS! He would take a bath multiple times a day if he could! Every time he goes into the bathroom he wants to take a bath or a shower. </li>
<li>Potty training has been an issue for both boys. Each has a different issue, but hopefully with each other they can master this whole potty training thing!!!</li>
<li>He loves to watch videos and see pictures of his friends from Congo. He laughs and screams at the computer trying to talk to them. It's so adorable. We definitely need to try to Skype with some of the other kiddos that have come home recently and that are coming home really soon! </li>
<li>He loves to go for walks in the stroller (and it helps put him to sleep)! Can't wait to take him to the zoo!</li>
<li>Kamble loves Cars and especially TowMater just like his brother! They can't get enough and we can't wait until to take them both to Cars Land (but it will be a while)! </li>
<li>Kamble is still a Daddies boy! He is letting me (April) do more for him, but Daddy still has to put him to bed and is the one he cries for when he's upset. </li>
<li>Kamble has gained a few pounds already, even with a horrible diet! We go back into the doctor this week and hopefully will get some more info. He's already being treated for a few things, nothing major though, just a skin issue and a parasite. We're hoping to have him healthy real soon!!</li>
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All in all life is great! Our boys have adjusted so well and are actually playing together more and more (and wrestling!!) Thank you so much for all your support during this! He's the best little man and we can't wait to show him off to everyone. </div>
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And just to show off my adorable boys.... (Thanks to my SIL @ Ashleymarvinphotography.com)</div>
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Love, April</div>
Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-6810062864163810832013-01-09T16:42:00.000-08:002013-01-09T16:42:31.630-08:00Okay where was I........Oh ya...... It's our first full day with our son and he now has Malaria (for at least the 3rd time in 6 months). Thanks to the wonderful missionaries who opened up their home to us Kamble had his medicine and was on the mend. In all of this chaos we had to continue packing so we could leave the following day. We left most everything we brought with us there, so it was pretty easy to pack our larger bags into each other so only had to check 2 bags on the way home.<br />
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The next day Kamble was feeling much better and we were just hanging out while daddy went to do some errands. He had to go with our translator and driver to pick up some medicine and test kits to replenish what we used from the missionaries and they were going to try to get some more fabric but the store was closed. They returned from their first outing and grabbed our luggage that needed checked and headed out again. Everyone kept telling us that we couldn't be flying out from DRC on Brussels on a Saturday. It was funny the translator, the driver, the missionaries, and anyone else around told us we had to be wrong. But we went anyway and sure enough there was a special flight out on a Saturday because of the holidays. It was definitely a God thing because that was the only flight that was going to get all three of us on the same flight home before Christmas! </div>
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The airport check-in happens early in the day and at an office in the city not at the airport. This proved to be a little more difficult than we thought. They showed up at the Brussels air building and then were told they had to drive to another place to get a ticket for Kamble (you have to pay for a lap child ticket on international flights) and then drive back to the first place where he finally went through a check-in process. Then you just leave your bags there and they somehow amazingly make it to the airport and on to the right plane!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgkJRGNyhd3k8DfiS6dghEzsOOI_eiBdetHEnHx0zt5eTS_d4FKA6WSeao9kv7TyEWBHqd0aYIdUHqRC89QZlJCL14Ph_qcRLZmtfpLb_ycnYNAWM_qPkUbQXQITa3ZJ8cXxHqD9WFHc/s1600/P1010157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgkJRGNyhd3k8DfiS6dghEzsOOI_eiBdetHEnHx0zt5eTS_d4FKA6WSeao9kv7TyEWBHqd0aYIdUHqRC89QZlJCL14Ph_qcRLZmtfpLb_ycnYNAWM_qPkUbQXQITa3ZJ8cXxHqD9WFHc/s320/P1010157.JPG" width="320" /></a>Aaron came back to the house and we said our good byes to the missionaries and got our stuff into the car to head to the airport. We left about 6 hours before our flight for a few reasons but the first reason is the traffic! The traffic there is crazy, I'm talking pray for life type crazy! I couldn't even tell you the distance from the house to the airport but it takes forever to drive between the two. There aren't really any traffic laws as far as I could tell, however I did see a police man stop a man on a motorcycle and give him some sort of ticket. Cars, vans, and buses were packed so full of people and were so beat up that they looked like they shouldn't even be on the road as it was. It was so hot in the cab Kamble was loosing it and we just couldn't move anywhere. We were stuck on an hill/dirt embankment between the two ways of traffic just trying to get through. I saw 15 passenger vans loaded with at least 30 people (and two hanging off the back) drive up over the center dirt/hill section and into the other side of traffic and just start weaving through traffic and going the opposite direction. With all that said our driver was amazing. He did some crazy things, but I could tell he really valued us and our safety. He got us there in one piece and we were ready to get on that plane and begin our trip home to America!<br />
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Once we arrived at the airport we met our helper. He was the same person who helped get out of the airport when we arrived. He was wonderful! We heard how challenging it can be to get through the airport with an adopted child but we had no problems at all. It was a quick and painless process and we made it to the waiting area with like 4 hours to spare! :) So there we sat and waited for our plane. Kamble was not happy with our food options and was having a really hard time while we waited. It was also getting late and he hadn't napped so we were struggling keeping him calm. While at the airport we met a friend of our directors who lives there so that was a fun connection to make during our wait. After hours it was finally time to board the bus to drive us 50 ft to the plane. We got our carry on luggage checked (again) and then were able to finally get on the plane and settled. All the plane rides have become a blur in my mind but Kamble did great. He cried only a few short times and people continued to tell us how well he had done. We left at 9:50 pm and arrived in Brussels at 5 something the next morning. We were all exhausted, we found a couch in a dark area to sleep for a little while. The next flight left about 5 hours later and we were lucky enough to get a row with an extra seat (Thanks to the nice lady at the help desk). This helped make our journey a little easier. We still had a hard time getting Kamble to eat anything, so you could tell he was hungry on top of being extremely tired. We (aka Aaron) also left the lingala words cheat sheets on the airplane so that made things The next flight went well but it made our internal clocks all messed up! Poor Kamble didn't know which way was up!<br />
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Customs was our next stop on our adventure. We heard this could take us a little while but we hoped for the best, because we wanted to get Kamble some chicken and rice. We waited in a short line and made our way up to the officer. He then said we had to go with another guy to another place. So we followed the officer to the downstairs and sat down while he took our packet to another officer. I think we barely sat down and they told us we were free to go! What?!?! Another place we thought we would have to wait and deal with crazy things and we didn't. It was smooth sailing! So went went and got our bags to re-check them and headed to find some chicken and rice for our son! While we were eating our huge burgers ( yeah, something other than top-ramen) and Kamble was eating his food plus some of our sweet potato fries Aaron ran and bough Kamble a Statue of Liberty. Can't wait to take some pics of him holding it (once he's ready too, of course)! We had another 5 hour layover so we just hung out and walked around. It was so nice being back in the US. We had familiar foods, pricing, and people speaking the same language as us (well not Kamble, but he will soon enough). <br />
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This last flight was the worst out of all of them. First is loaded about an hour later than it was supposed to and then we sat at the gate for another hour while we waited for a place broken down behind us to get towed. We were so excited to see family and friends at the airport but by the time we got there we were even more exhausted than we would have been. Kamble slept pretty much the entire flight from Newark to Portland on Aaron which made his flight really uncomfortable. Thankfully a nice older couple who requested aisle seats across from each other were our row mates, because they switched us one of our middle seats (we were originally separated across the row from each other both in middle seats) and allowed us to sit together. Other awesome thing was we were in the economy plus section where there was more leg room! We finally made it to Portland around 10 pm and were welcomed by a lovely group of friends and family! Thank you everyone for who came to support us that night and through this whole journey! We are so in love with our little buddy and couldn't be more grateful to everyone who helped us bring home this little treasure! <br />
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One theme I hope I was able to convey in the past few posts, is that God's hand was on us through this entire process. For some reason everything seemed to go very smoothly for us. We had great helpers along the way and they were all followers of Christ. We know we were being lifted up by God while in country and through the whole trip back home. Kamble was meant for our family and we believe that this process has been a blessing to our family. We learned so much about ourselves and our relationship with God has benefited greatly from this process. There were many ups and downs but we learned a lot about our selves and strengthened many relationships along the way. I'm not saying this process wasn't extremely hard and frustrating at times, but in the end every step was worth having our precious son in our arms. I will always wish we were able to get him home sooner, but with all adoptions it's a process. And in the end it really only took 6 months from referral to his Gotcha Day (But during the process these 6 months felt like an eternity)!!<br />
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Next post I hope to talk a little bit about our transition and time at home so far!<br />
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Thanks for stopping by the blog! <span style="text-align: center;">Love, April </span></div>
Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-52454563608575221462013-01-02T13:00:00.001-08:002013-01-02T13:00:20.596-08:00Gotcha Day!!!We made it! We finally have our son home with us (and before Christmas)!<br />
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Things have been crazy the past few weeks, but I will try to give you a quick review of what we've been doing. </div>
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Aaron went to Congo on November 26 and finally met our son on Wednesday the 28th. He said it was one of the best moments of his life. He said that he went to the orphanage that day and expected to see all the kiddos playing, but as they got out of the car he could hear them all being shushed. As they opened the gate he saw all 20+ of them sitting in rows in chairs. Then a little guy came running out of the crowd and into his arms. They both had tears in their eyes as they hugged for the first time. Kamble didn't want his daddy to let him go. He then followed him around after he put him down. He was so sad to see his daddy go, but they were able to see each other again on Friday at our embassy appointment. Kamble was terrified to go to the embassy appointment because he thought it was a hospital. But once he saw daddy he was feeling much better. He even took a little nap on his shoulder during their few hours together. Aaron loved being in Africa with our son and hated to leave him, but he knew that he was leaving him in great hands. The Momma's are amazing with the kids and Kamble was going to be okay until we could return. Aaron returned from Africa with great stories and a little travelers illness (probably from the sandwich he ate at the airport, which was the only food he ate that he didn't bring himself!) It took him about a week to recover at home, but he luckily was well enough to get back on a plane on Dec 11! </div>
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Everything went pretty smoothly and Kamble's visa was issued on Dec 10, 2012! We then called the travel agent and book tickets to leave that next morning. Carson was at a sleep over with his cousins so we were able to get packed up that morning with no distractions and then spent a few hours with him as a family. My mom then came and picked him up so we could say our good byes like it was a normal fun evening. Aaron and I then tried to sleep so we could get on a plane at 6 am the next morning. All of our flights actually went really well, everything was on-time or early making it a very stress free experience! We took a ton of solar panel equipment with us, so the most stressful part was waiting to see if all our bags made it there with us! They did and after a hour or so we were ready to leave the airport. We then walked with our escort out to our taxi where we met the translator and driver. They are all such nice people and seemed genuinely excited for us (I know we are paying them for their service, but still they just seemed so happy we were going to be getting our son!) </div>
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After a long and crazy drive (okay only about an hour, and they tell me it was an easy night) we stopped by a market to get some waters and then made our way to the hotel. The hotel was really quite nice and the staff was great. We made plans to go to the orphanage first thing in the morning and then went to bed. We had carried some documents for another family so those were picked up by our in country representative first thing in the morning and then we went down to eat breakfast before our translator and drive came to pick us up. Hotel had a great little breakfast of eggs, toast and tea that came with our stay. I can't eat eggs so I shared with Aaron, but they did have Nutella (which I normally don't like, but it tasted really good there) for the bread so I was good! </div>
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A little while later they showed up to take us to the orphanage. It was a long crazy drive. I couldn't even tell you where it was if I tried. We drove on paved roads for a while and then on some crazy dirt/rock/water roads. The craziest part was the hill we had to climb that was so covered in pot-holes that we bottomed out many times and I was sure we were going to have to push ourselves out of the tiny streams we had to cross (it's the rainy season so their were quite a few). I felt very insecure in the tiny car we were in and was terrified being behind (and next to as we passed them) huge trucks filled to the brim and tipping over on the same road. I just knew one was going to fall over, but none did (at least when I was there). There were also so many people on this tiny dirt road walking and riding on the back of motorcycle taxis. (The motorcycle's are actually the way most people travel up and down that road.) I was scared we would hit someone or someone would hit us, but our driver was great and he kept us (and them) safe. We finally made it up to the top of the hill where the orphanage sits. We opened the gate and all the kids were running around. I think they had all just gotten dressed or something because they were a little flustered and were trying to hurry and get the chairs out. Kamble came running out through the crowd and into his daddy's arms. We passed out squeezers (those pouches of fruit and vegetable's) for the kids to enjoy. We brought them with us figuring they would be a healthy snack to share. The kids loved them and they had a lot of fun trying to get every last drop out of them. After a little while Aaron handed me Kamble! I was so excited to hold him for the first time. I made sure I didn't cry because I didn't want to scare him, but in that moment I knew I loved him already! He was so tiny and just seemed to melt into my arms. I held him for a long time, until it was time for them to eat. He then sat down for a meal with his friends while we took pictures and measurements of the orphanage and also put together another wire shelf we brought for them to store clothes in. </div>
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Almost as soon as we got there it was time to go, we had to go surrender our passport to get our exit letter. We had to leave Kamble at the orphanage to be brought to us later by one of the Momma's for security reasons, which we hated but completely understood. We didn't want him to think we were leaving him again, but the Momma's were great and let him know he would be coming to us later in the day. We went back into the city and dropped off what we needed to before heading back to the hotel. We went back and tried to take a short nap to pass the time. The power went out almost immediately after we returned (a daily occurrence) so it got pretty miserable in our room. We then went down to the bar and ordered a few Fanta's and just hung out down there. </div>
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A few hours later we were back in our room when we heard a knock on the door. It was one of the Momma's with our son!!! We were so excited but with the language barrier the moment was less than perfect. She handed him to us and asked for money for the taxi and then just left. I don't think I really had an expectation of that moment, but looking back I guess I just wanted to hug her and tell her thank you for everything! So there we were in our hotel room with our son in our arms ready to start the rest of our lives. The power was back on and we were watching some soccer so we just sat in silence for a while together before we made some dinner. </div>
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Kamble was pretty good that first night. He cried a little but really I expected it to be a lot more difficult. The language barrier is hard, but we had a list of words provided by our agency and we were able to communicate pretty well. He hated his first bath but loved pepperoni sticks. I'm pretty sure he had one in his hands at all times until we stepped foot on that first plane. That next day was a little crazy. We just hung out at the hotel and tried to keep ourselves busy with the small amount of toys we brought. In the afternoon we had another knock on our door. This time it was one of the workers saying we had a visitor. We weren't really sure what was going on so Aaron went down to check it out. It turns out it was a missionary who our agency had contacted about us staying with them in their guest house. They literally live like 1/2 a mile from the hotel so instead of playing email tag with the people in the states to get info to us he just came by. Aaron went with him to check out their place. He came back about 20 minutes later and said pack! So we quickly packed up all our stuff and headed over to their house. </div>
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Let me just say that they were AMAZING!!!! They live in a compound with a house and a smaller house they rent out. For half the price of the hotel we were able to be in a walled compound with an entire house with a kitchen to live in. They even had a grass yard so we could go outside to play. After settling in we visited with them and some other missionaries next door. The work they are all doing is so wonderful and it was an honor to meet all of them. </div>
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Later that day we got the CALL! Our exit letter was completed! What?????????? We had just surrendered our passports the day before. This was a true act of God! We immediately got on the phone with our agency and let them know it was complete and to try to help us get home as soon as possible. With the holidays we knew flights were going to be hard to come by, so we were prepared to stay the entire duration of our trip, but we had to try to get home sooner. A little while later we got an email saying the only flight that would get us all home together was the next day! We had so much we wanted to do in Congo still, but decided this was the best thing for our family. </div>
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Our translator had just returned from the store, about 10 minutes before we got the call, with a ton of groceries for us for our stay now that we had a kitchen. The great news though is that we were able to give it and all the other food we brought to the missionaries to have and share with the people around them. I know it doesn't seem like much, but we brought things they cant get in Congo, so it was an added treat for them and we were so happy to share!!!</div>
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Later that afternoon Kamble was taking a nap. I went in and checked on him and he was burning up! I didn't have a thermometer (in our haste to pack so quick we forgot a lot of things), so I went over to the house to ask the missionaries to borrow one. Luckily they are so knowledgeable that they set us up right away with a Malaria test kit and thermometer. They told us Malaria fevers usually strike at night and these little $5 test kits can tell us if that's what it is. So after Kamble screamed while we took his temperature and then pricked his finger for the test kit, we had a kiddo with another bout of malaria. The missionaries were leaving for a funeral that night so they sent out a worker to get us the medicine and gave us some Tylenol for his fever. We are so extremely grateful for their knowledge and generosity. We would have been sitting at the hotel in fear on our own, had we not moved to their guest house (another act of God I'm sure!!). (Heres a pic of the $5 test and the $10 medicine. Crazy how inexpensive in our world this is, but there it would be extremely expensive for the locals to get). </div>
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To Be continued.....<br />
Love, AprilMarvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-39269569887290314102012-12-20T12:16:00.000-08:002012-12-20T12:16:29.608-08:00What a difference a year makes..... Our adoption journey started about a year and a half ago. Some days it seems like it was forever ago and others I feel like it wasn't too bad of a wait (although I think I can only say that now that we are so close to bringing our son home). Looking back at our timeline I am so in awe of our journey, it wasn't easy, but we are almost to our "Gotcha Day"!<br />
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On November 28, 2011 we send our i600a paperwork in to the US. This paper was asking the US government if we could adopt a child and bring him home to become a US citizen. Now this year on November 28, 2012 Aaron met our son for the first time! The son we have been praying and planning for the last year. I am a little sad that I wasn't able to go on this trip too, but in the end it won't matter. (And Carson got his first flu ever and I was sick with a cold. So I guess in the end it was good for me to still be at home). We will soon have our son and bring him home to meet the rest of his family and all his new friends!<br />
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So what happens next:<br />
Aaron will be returning home this weekend and we will wait for our sons visa to be issued. Our embassy interview was on Friday Nov. 30th and were praying the visa is issued some time in the first week of December. As soon as it is issued Aaron and I will travel to DRC to get our Son. He will then be ours! We will then apply and wait for our exit letter. This will allow us to leave the country with him. That could take from 1-2 weeks. Once that letter is issued we will return home and start our new lives!<br />
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I am so excited to begin this next step in our adoption adventure. I am very realistic when it comes to knowing the challenges we will face , but also know that we will do everything for our kids well being. Our two boys are the most important things in our lives and they will be our first priorities especially right after we come home. There will be a big change in our everyday workings, we will spend more time at home than we ever have in our almost 7 years of marriage. Please take a look at the previous post for more information on our "Cocooning" plan and if you have any question please talk to us!<br />
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Thank you all for your love and support! This journey has been apart of your lives as well and we can't wait to show your family of four!<br />
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Love, April<br />
<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-21621377709287930822012-12-07T23:29:00.001-08:002012-12-07T23:29:09.395-08:00Waiting again....Aaron was able to meet our son last week and it was the best story I've ever heard! Can't wait to share everything on the blog once we are back home with our son for good!. We're praying his visa is issued Monday so we can book a flight to go get him and bring him home! <br />
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We're so close.... And waiting again.<br />
Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-61673922573642880052012-11-28T10:41:00.001-08:002012-11-28T10:41:21.422-08:00Letter to our family and friends<br />
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Dear Friends and Family-<br />
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Our "Gotcha" day is almost here. As I write this I'm waiting for a call from Aaron hoping he got to meet our boy today. We wanted to take a minute to share with you "our plan" for transitioning into a family of four.<br />
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In a perfect world, babies would be raised by their birth moms and never have to experience the trauma of separation from them. They would be given the gift of knowing their mom's hearbeat, voice, and birth language. With adoption, this is interrupted, or lost for a variety of reasons.....and trust is broken.<br />
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Thankfully, there is a window of time where healing can take place for adopted children. In the adoption community this is referred to as "cocooning." <br />
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Cocooning will look different for every family. During our time of cocooning, we will be going above and beyond to help Kamble attach to our family and to heal....<br />
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Soon he will be saying goodbye to the familiar surroundings he has grown accustomed to. We are very confident that he has grown attached to the caregivers at her orphanage. But, when we start parenting Kamble, trauma will again happen in his life as he leaves another caretaker's arms. There will be grieving even from leaving the orphanage he has grown familiar with.<br />
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We want to be very sensitive to our little guy. We want to remember the realities of his transitions in life thus far:<br />
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-The first part of his life he heard one language and connected to one caregiver, his mother.<br />
-And now, he has has spent 6 months hearing a new language, and bonded again with another (or multiple) caregivers.<br />
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In the coming weeks, he will meet his new parents (us!) and be introduced to yet another language, environment, and family. It is very important that our son gets to know me as Mommy and Aaron as Daddy. He needs to see us as his caregivers and establish a strong, healthy bond with us-which will enable him to establish healthy bonds in the future with other members of our family, and our friends. It will also help him to establish healthy boundaries, and solid relationships in his future.<br />
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We know you have walked alongside of us through our adoption for nearly 1.5 years. When we announced our joyous news, you were there with us. When our path began taking many twists, and turns, delays, and more delays, you offered your encouragement, support, prayers, and finances. We are forever grateful for each of you. We know that you, just like us, want Kamble home to his family, and you want your chance to meet him, hold him, play with him, and love him. We know that just like us, however, you want his transition to his forever family to be as positive as it can be. Kamble needs to learn to trust us. And we need your help in doing that.<br />
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Through careful consideration we have considered a cocooning plan for our son. We want to take into consideration that adoption professionals recommend cocooning for a duration of 3 months. Our plan may change as we see possible new needs arise, or if we feel he is bonding/attaching to us better than expected.<br />
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It is important to keep Kamble's world as small as possible. For the first month we will be establishing structure, and we will be staying home a lot during this time. We hope to not ever leave his eyesight. You are welcome to text, email, and send cards. I will likely be limiting my phone conversations though, so I can devote more time with the kids.<br />
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We want him to know that he will never again have to change his environment, or loved ones. When we feel he is ready, we will gradually go out and about for short times so he doesn't feel overwhelmed. For a time, we will ask you not to hold, kiss, or hug him as he learns that we are his primary caregivers. We would love for you to talk with him, wave, blow kisses, and high five. Our desire is for Kamble to learn that we, his parents, will meet his physical and emotional needs.<br />
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We also want to share some of what we have learned. Research has shown the benefits of parenting an adopted child according to their "family age" not their biological age. This means he will be rocked, cuddled, fed and soothed much like babies are. We will carry him around with us as much as he likes (and our backs will allow!). Only Aaron and myself will provide food, drink, bathing, dressing, etc. All caregiving will be done by us.<br />
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As you can imagine all of this will not be easy. But we are certain that our investment will be worth it! Our little Man is worth all of the hard days ahead. We truly can't wait to get started!<br />
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Please let us know if you have any questions. We're happy to discuss our plan with everyone. We will also invite people to visit us at the airport when we come home. You will be able to say hi and snuggle him if he will allow it. Please remember even though this is a joyous occasion for us, this will most likely be very traumatic for him. He may not want others to touch him and will will respect that. After that night our time In as a family will begin. <br />
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Thanks for all you love and support during this adoption adventure. We are so close to the end of the waiting and can't wait to share him with all of you. Special thanks to my friend and fellow adoptive mom, Kerri, who let me use her letter she wrote to her family and friends. It was so perfect and really said what we wanted to say! <br />
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Love, <br />
The Marvin's <br />
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Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-70448914193846521482012-11-16T14:52:00.000-08:002012-11-16T14:52:34.888-08:00We're so close........My emotions are everywhere!!!! These days I go from being excited, scared, mad, and joyous all in the same hour. The adoption process is an emotional roller coaster; not the tiny roller coasters in the parking lots, I'm talking about the huge ones with double loops and blazing fast speeds. <br />
I can't even describe the amount of times my emotions change in a day, or how it feels to be dealing with them. I'm not really a crier but I feel like I'm on the verge of tears pretty much everyday. And I have cried a few times, usually when I'm driving somewhere on my own, and it doesn't seem to help the sadness. <br />
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We thought we would be leaving in a few weeks to get our son, but we've had a slight change in plans. I found a typo on his passport yesterday, so now we have to have a new one issued. I sent money today for the new passport and pray it will get done in a timely manner. This slight hold up will for sure effect our ability to have our son home for Christmas, but it's okay. We have to look at the bigger picture and realize that we will have a life time with him. There will be more Christmas' and birthdays (which we may also miss) to celebrate in his life and at this point he doesn't even now he's missing something here. It's more about us missing him.<br />
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Aaron is going to travel to Africa and attend our appointment. I am super excited and sad all at the same time. I wanted to be there and meet Kamble (his name once he comes home to our family!) for the first time together. I also wanted to stay and care for him while we waited for his visa and exit letter. I was looking forward to our bonding time in country, no matter how hard it was going to be. <br />
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But it will be okay! As I said before this adoption journey has been hard to say the least. So many times you get your hopes up, and things don't work out the way you thought they would. What I am grateful for is how hard everyone around us are working on our case. We have multiple people who are supporting us through this journey and we couldn't be more grateful.<br />
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This change in plans has effected us in many ways, but financially is the hardest. We are having to pay for a third round trip ticket at one of the most expensive times to fly. We are so grateful for all the donations we have received for the puzzle! I'm going to pull it out again and get it framed soon! So excited to show you all the finished product. There are still pieces left for names, let me now if you'd like to donate to our adoption fund!<br />
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We are so thankful for our adoption journey and our son, can't wait to show you all a picture of us together!!!<br />
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Love, April<br />
<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-17058198055243201542012-11-09T10:17:00.002-08:002012-11-09T10:17:20.138-08:00Family TimeLast week Aaron and I were lucky enough to receive some standby tickets and took a short trip to California. We really wanted to do something with Carson away from work, paperwork, and our everyday chaos at home. We were so excited to take Carson to Disneyland and California Adventure. We had an amazing time and loved getting to watch the excitement in Carson's face. <div>
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We also love getting the opportunity to visit family and friends when we are in California and can't wait to travel there as a family of four. We had such as wonderful time with Nan's and Pop's and are so thankful for them and their hospitality! </div>
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In adoption news, we are still waiting for a few things to come our way. We did get our sons passport but are still waiting to get our embassy appt. scheduled. We did work really hard the past two days and got our binder ready to send with a family traveling this weekend. We are going a little crazy with all this waiting, but we know it will be worth it once we hug our son for the first time. </div>
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Here's a few pics of our Family Vacation for you to enjoy.</div>
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Love, April<br /><div>
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Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-53838154004658416692012-10-27T20:06:00.001-07:002012-10-27T20:06:14.554-07:00We're getting so close!!!!!Even though most days don't feel like it, we are getting so close to bringing our son home. We have a few more papers to get, get our embassy appointment scheduled, and get his passport before we can book our tickets; but really that's not many steps to go. We are getting so excited to travel! We can't wait to meet our boy, thank all the people who have cared for him these past few months, and love on all the other kiddos waiting to come home to their forever families. We know its not going to be easy, but we are ready for this challenge.<br />
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There are so many fears we have about traveling to Africa. Most of them have to do with the unknowns. We know Gods plan is so much bigger than our own and we believe that even our trip is orchestrated by him. I will admit though, one of our biggest fears is that our son will be scared of us. We know it's a real possibility and are preparing ourselves for this, but we are praying he's sees our love and attention as a positive thing and will trust us. Attachment and bonding is such a long process that happens differently with every child. We know this this and just pray that we can begin developing a positive relationship while in Africa that we can build on once we get home. <br />
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On another note, Our Son was quite sick this past week and was well taken care of by the men and women from the orphanage. We are so thankful to all of them for recognizing the signs of Malaria and getting him medical attention right away. We are also so grateful for all of our friends and family for your prayers during this time. We appreciate all of your love and support during this entire process and for your love of our son who we haven't even met yet!<br />
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God Bless, AprilMarvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-71965153549899640892012-10-16T15:35:00.002-07:002012-10-16T15:35:39.073-07:00Still waiting.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I had typed a really nice letter to everyone about our waiting and our excitement to bring home our son. I talked about how lucky we are that we have such a wonderful family that all be taking care of Carson while we are away. I also talked about how we are still waiting for some papers to come in, translations to be done, and his passport. </div>
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But I lost it!!</div>
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I tried for a while to get it back and then just gave up. So here is an adorable pic of our little 3 year old and I will attempt a longer post another day this week. </div>
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Have a great day!!!</div>
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April</div>
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<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-58040387655175582452012-10-10T17:35:00.001-07:002012-10-10T17:47:55.252-07:00Oh Halloween.....I have to admit, even before having a child I really was not that into Halloween. I know I loved getting candy, so I had to dress up. But I never really got that into the scary aspect of it. <br />
I now really enjoy Carson getting to dress up and enjoy the fun of trick-or treating, but I hate what Halloween has become. Maybe it has always been this way and I was just ignoring it all this time. <br />
What I am talking about is the super scary grim reapers hanging all over the ceiling at various stores, scary masks everywhere, bloody/gory costumes, and scary home decorations all over the streets. Carson is afraid of all of them. He gets really nervous, asks a ton of questions and just won't let go of me when we go past any of these things. (Don't even get me started on all the women's costumes that are basically lingerie). <br />
I really want him to enjoy the fun childlike Halloween that I remember. I hope my explanations of the pretend stuff are sufficient enough to calm his nerves. <br />
As I think about this for Carson I'm actually thankful our son in Africa doesn't have to endure this right now. Can you imagine being new to a place, with a new family, and very little language skills and seeing a ginormous scary creature hanging above your head? That would be terrifying! If he were home we probably wouldn't be venturing out anyway, but still i think it's scary for any little kid. <br />
Sorry if your the type who likes the haunted house and scary men, I'm not judging you. I'm just saying we will have none of that at our house this year (or probably ever!)<br />
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Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-3321122601631030522012-10-07T23:11:00.001-07:002012-10-07T23:12:10.325-07:00Today was a Great Day!Carson turned 3 years old today!!! It was a wonderful day here in the Pacific Northwest and we loved every minute of sunshine. We invited over 50 people to our little house. So it was also nice to utilize our back yard a little while longer. <br />
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We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party. Carson was so excited to see all of his friends and family. He had a great time and was spoiled rotten. Thanks everyone for your time and gifts. <br />
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We got some other great news today. We are getting closer to traveling to pick up our son. No official details yet. But paperwork is starting to come in and were beginning to prepare for the next part of this adventure. <br />
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:) April<br />
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But with all the excitement this week I've been feeling really sad. Sad because we have a son across the world who is missing all of this; sad we can't just go pick him up to bring him home so his body and mind can start healing; sad we have no idea when we can actually go get him; sad that he has never had a chance to have a party like this or possibly any type of time focused just for him; sad we don't know his past; sad we've never seen him smile; and I'm just sad that our family is not complete. I don't like this one bit. Please pray for our paperwork to come through and for us to be planning our trip very soon!<br />
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We love our Son so much, even though we've never met him. We can't wait to get to him and become his parents (and protectors) and help him begin to heal. We believe that God has planned this for our family and we know that the plan is not our own. We knew the adoption process was a long crazy one, however we hope we're nearing the end of the waiting.<br />
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We are so excited to celebrate Carson's birthday this weekend. This weekend is about him and the wonderful little man he is becoming. We laugh everyday at the hilarious comments and statements he makes. I love this age and am completely enjoying watching him grow-up. Some days I'm sad he won't stay this way forever, but every stage of his life has been more and more fun. I know we have a lot more laughter to come!<br />
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I'm equally excited to see him become a big brother. He talks about his brother constantly. Just the other day he brought me the iPad and asked to watch videos of brother. It was so sweet! A funny story from a few months ago I have to share is......<br />
Question: Carson what should we name brother?<br />
Carson: "Tow Mater" (Cars is his all time favorite movie and he loves Mater!)<br />
Q: How come we should name him Tow Mater?<br />
Carson: Because he's brown. (Yep, he was pretty matter of fact. He is a very concrete thinker. So this really doesn't surprise me at all.)<br />
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We got a good laugh out of that one, and can't wait to share it with his brother someday. I know Carson will teach his brother all about Cars and we already have started him his own set of the die-cast cars. Since I know sharing those magnificent treasures may be a challenge. :)<br />
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So excited to see everyone who can make it this weekend to celebrate Carson. We are so blessed with amazing family and friends and we wouldn't be functioning with out you! So even though I have said this a million times, THANK YOU!!! (I hope it never loses its meaning.)<br />
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Love, April<br />
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PS. a sneak peak of a party craft!!!<br />
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<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-63654096066619857342012-09-25T14:57:00.000-07:002012-09-25T14:57:49.592-07:00Last Weekend Garage Sale = Complete!WooooHooooo! I am so happy to say that we are finished with Garage Sales! Aaron even made up a breakup song about garage sales (I'm pretty sure he borrowed most of the lyrics from Taylor Swift). I am also happy to announce that we added another $836.28 to our adoption account!! Praise the Lord!<br />
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<b>Our thermometer over to the left of our blog is now up to $14,982!!!!!!!!!!</b> I know I have said this a million times, but we are so greatful to all the people who have donated their stuff, time, and money to help us bring our son home. We are also extreamely greatful for all the prayers and support we have recieved during the past year. Garage sales have been the best fundraiser. We have raised over $10,000 just by working four long weekends this summer.<br />
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Although, I think the best part of having garage sales was sharing our story with everyone that came to score a deal. After trying to sell a nice man some items, I'm sure he didn't really need, we got to talking and told him our story and what we were doing this for. He right there gave us a $20 bill. He was so generous! Then as he walked away he found a small cooler that had a $3 tag on it. I told him just to take it, but he refused and handed me a $5 bill. I went to get him change and he just left. He yelled from his truck that he hoped our day was great and he was glad he could do a small thing to help us bring our son home! I'm am so in awe of people's generosity. I love having these stories to share with our son someday. He wont have a baby book, but he will have a Life Book and these stories of generous people will fill the pages!<br />
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Hopefully soon we will have some news to share about possible travel dates. I think the waiting and not knowing anything is killing me! But it's all going to happen in God's perfect timing! I just hope that's sooner than later.<br />
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Love, April & Aaron<br />
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<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-49911054312957292542012-09-17T22:22:00.001-07:002012-09-18T11:07:36.129-07:00Another Awesome Garage Sale!At the last minute we decided to have our Garage Sale in our Yard. It was crazy! Our house is quite small and our neighbors thought we were selling everything and moving out. Our yard is small and it was packed full of stuff. We took over parts of our neighbors yards as well. But in all reality it was great to have it at home. We were able to share our story and meet all kinds of neighbors we hadn't met before. <br />
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Our grand total for the weekend is $1998.19!!!!!!!!! I have already added it to our thermometer on the main blog page. We have raised over $14,000. Wooohooo!!!! Thank you everyone! We are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends! <br />
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We are so thankful for all of our family and friends who came to help us out and who donated to our sale. We continued to get items all weekend and actually ended up still having about as much as we started with. Crazy Right???? We couldn't fathom just donating all of the stuff left, so we packed it up and were going to another 2 day sale this weekend. I know we said this would be our last sale, but with everything that was donated to us we knew we had to try to earn a little more money. We're going to set up our sale on Thursday and do it Friday and Saturday at my sisters.<br />
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Hopefully we can make another $1,000 or more towards our goal. After this one we are really done with garage sales, we are exhausted!<br />
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Love, The Marvin's <br />
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(The entire side of our yard is full of stuff, plus stuff in our basement and more to come from friends! )<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gW6gLwb6CvRuB9Xv2Pmm4GK3tUeexMHYeMvpOD69Qf4YtXyeOdc47bg1PdF6rm-sn6AGHmWL3b8WxYAijtu1LFxSzD66i8GywQ2PsBVfw56oRacZKEhMzLTuKy2UaJ0rGSKTKu3N_uo/s640/blogger-image--1809739058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8gW6gLwb6CvRuB9Xv2Pmm4GK3tUeexMHYeMvpOD69Qf4YtXyeOdc47bg1PdF6rm-sn6AGHmWL3b8WxYAijtu1LFxSzD66i8GywQ2PsBVfw56oRacZKEhMzLTuKy2UaJ0rGSKTKu3N_uo/s640/blogger-image--1809739058.jpg" /></a></div>Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-39912479136980501512012-09-13T22:56:00.001-07:002012-09-13T22:56:36.449-07:00A little something to get to know us....This week some time (and may our small care package should be getting to our son in Africa. Another family was gracious and took our ziplock bag full of treasures on her trip to get her child. One of my favorite things we sent was a little t-shirt that was Carson's not very long ago. I'm hoping to get a picture of our son in his new shirt to judge his size a little better. I know the shirt won't stay his and that's okay, but I hope that he enjoys getting something for just him for a day. I also sent stickers, bracelets, cars, balls, a small book and a photo album of our family. I hope he enjoys sharing his treasures with his friends. I tried to send enough stickers and bracelets for him to share with all of the older kids.<br />
I'm so excited that he will see photos of our family. I hope he enjoys seeing Carson playing and our extended family's photos. But in reality I know this is a very scary thing for him. The initial excitement (if he has any) will wear off and he will be left with so many questions and concerns about his life. In his little world we are going to be strange people coming to take him away from the place he has called home, from his "family" at the orphanage and his friends. I pray for all the strength, patience, and compassion in the world to help him heal from the trauma he has already faced in his little lifetime. I so am looking forward to our time in country to bond as a family. During that time I am sure I will be missing Carson like crazy, but I know how powerful the time will be spent focusing completely on our youngest son. Carson will be in the best hands while we are gone (Thanks to our Family!) and Aaron will come home to him after a few weeks and I'll stay in country until the adoption is complete. I'm pretty scared to be in country without Aaron and to travel back on my own, but I know God is in control. Please pray for us as we begin planning our adventure to Africa. We received some excellent news this week about our vaccinations. We thought they would cost about $2000 and with our new insurance most of the vaccines are covered!! Woohooo!! Also, we're having our last Fundraising Garage Sale this weekend. We are having it at our house and it's a crazy out there! Hopefully we can bring lots of people in to our sale, even though our house is not in the best location for a sale.<br />
Thanks to everyone who have donated to our adoption fundraisers! We really couldn't be doing this without you.Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-892830925066878622012-08-23T14:39:00.002-07:002012-08-23T14:39:50.109-07:00Reminding myself to live life to the fullest.......Yesterday Carson and I had the privilege to go down to see my baby sister (yes she's almost 19, but she's 11 years younger than me so I still see her as a baby) play soccer at her university. They won their game and she played quite a bit of it, so it was awesome to be there. She's been away at college a few weeks now, since she is a fall athlete, but all the other students are finally moving in tomorrow. I look back to my college experience and think about the fun we had. I pray that she is able to make lasting friendships and find a career that she is passionate about.<br />
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My college experience was a little unconventional. I started at a community college and played soccer. Then I went to another community college to take some of my classes because it was closer to my house. I then played another year of soccer at community college before deciding in my final semester that second year to go down to a state school where all my friends were. After applying and getting in to the state school I was asked to play soccer at Warner Pacific College the following year. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I decided to go try out the state school before committing. I actually had a ton of fun, but really didn't go outside of my comfort zone to meet any new people (I also don't drink or "party" so I didn't have many opportunities to do so). In the end, I decided a small Christian College was going to be a better fit for me.<br />
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I can say now that was the best decision of my life. Aaron was already at WPC playing mens soccer, so we met the first day of tryouts. I was in a relationship with someone else at the time, but we did become good friends. Eventually after many life changes we fell in love and became the family we are today. God definitely had a hand in my journey. The experiences I had shaped the person I have become, and Aaron and I would have never met had my story not unfolded the way it did.<br />
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I guess the reason for this story is this.... God has a plan. He is helping our story unfold every step of the way. We may not always know in the moment why things are happening the way they do, but God is in control.<br />
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I needed to be reminded of my own story this week. I have been stressing myself out worrying and wondering about our adoption. I have so many questions floating around my head about paperwork, vaccines, visas, plane tickets, travel itinerary, timelines, money, how our son is doing (we just want him home), food in country, etc. the list could go on and on! <br />
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I needed this reminder to help me remember to surrender my fears and worries to God. I need to remember that God has brought us to this place, He called us to adopt, He has provided for our needs. He has given us a child, He will calm our fears, and He will be there with us every step of the way. His timing is the perfect timing, even if it doesn't match my own.<br />
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Adoption is a journey that takes time and lots of patience. This is all a part of my story and someday I will look back on this time as a gift. I will have learned a great deal and will hopefully get to share our journey with other adopting families to help them get through. I'm so thankful for all the adoptive/ing families I've met online and in person. This whole process would be soooo much harder if it weren't for them!<br />
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As I think of all the unknowns in our lifetime, I am worried about what's to come. I just can't let those fears hold me back from the life I am supposed to lead or keep me from living in the moment.<br />
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For we live by faith, not by sight. (2nd Corinthians 5:7)<br />
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God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear.. (Psalm 46:1-2)<br />
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Hope your all having a wonderful day with the ones you love!<br />
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Love, AprilMarvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-22379258617388638142012-08-11T18:50:00.001-07:002012-08-11T18:50:07.807-07:00Hanging out at the fair!I'm sitting here at the fair in our booth for our business while Aaron and Carson are out watching the Monster Trucks. It's all they've talked about all week. Aaron got Carson so pumped up about going that we came even though he's not been feeling so good. And he's been missing daddy like crazy. So I decided he needed some daddy time! <br />
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Aaron has spent pretty much all of the last 10 days at the fair trying to get new business. Hopefully we get some jobs for all his hard work! The Fair was really great 2 years ago, but last year he only got a few small jobs out of it. That's how running your own business goes though. Some months are crazy and others your searching for work! While the fairs been going on my father in law, who is Aaron's business partner, has been working long hours trying to get a remodel job done in 4 days! These men are so talented and wonderful examples of hard work and dedication! <br />
I'm proud to be a part of our business and I love talking with clients after jobs are done because they always love these two awesome men! <br />
-April <br />
<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5-b3TT2cCrd5Zk6NiqGR93ZoZAtGXsb7Ei0UFDUsQZk2YMGCVN68FzePVlduaZOheG8AeBwBc8eC6HMpdH_4qFSdStWhToFov5e6pRv5NdfAp631zH3grRxaYqQM_hs5OVC5yDSeykg/s640/blogger-image-781729081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5-b3TT2cCrd5Zk6NiqGR93ZoZAtGXsb7Ei0UFDUsQZk2YMGCVN68FzePVlduaZOheG8AeBwBc8eC6HMpdH_4qFSdStWhToFov5e6pRv5NdfAp631zH3grRxaYqQM_hs5OVC5yDSeykg/s640/blogger-image-781729081.jpg" /></a></div>Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-67998268808789052472012-08-07T17:31:00.000-07:002012-08-07T17:31:57.674-07:00Great things happening....We had such a wonderful opportunity this weekend to get together with a few families from our agency. We feel so lucky to be with a new agency and to have our new son's case moving along. We really don't know what's happening with our paperwork, but we know it is in good hands!<br />
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If you take a look on the left side of the blog you see a few things:<br />
1. There is a ticker showing how long we've been in this process. Today we are just over the 1 year mark. I can't believe how much we've been through since the start of this process. If you would have asked me a year ago where we would be at at this point I'd say we were getting ready to travel. If we had stayed with our original agency that would not be even close to true, but now I can say it is true! We hope to travel in the next few months! We can't wait to meet our son in person. God has really brought our family to this place, and we are so thankful for his grace and love.<br />
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2. Our fundraising thermometer! I was able to make another change to the thermometer today. I also changed the final goal to $20,000. We have 12,078.92 right now, AMAZING RIGHT??? I changed it to reflect the total amount we need before we travel, counting our plane tickets, visas, vaccines, lodging, lawyer fees, in country fees, taxi fares, salary for everyone who will help us there, and much more. That estimate could change depending on when we travel, how long we are there, etc., but hopefully everything works out in our favor and we need no more that that! We have sold a bunch of puzzle pieces recently, but still have lots more to sell. Let us know if you would like to buy one!<br />
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We are doing everything we can to save money and to fundraise. We are so thankful for everyone who have donated so far. With the way this new agency works we are going to paying out almost all our money right before we travel. This is a good thing since it's allowing us more time to save, but it's a bad thing because we don't want to fall short right as were getting ready to travel. <br />
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So again, Thank you everyone for your love and support. I know I say this a lot, but we can't do this without you! We are so in love already with our little man, we can't wait to share him with you!<br />
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Love, April<br />
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P.S. Yes, we are still taking donations for our final garage sale of the summer. We are planning it for the end of August or the beginning of September. Let me know if you want us to come pick something up.<br />
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<br /></div>Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-53288470329354634272012-07-27T12:20:00.000-07:002012-07-27T13:48:53.708-07:00Pictures are worth a 1000 words!<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">We were able to get some pictures and a short video of our Son this week! We are still unable to share anything on the web, but just know we think our Son is amazing! We can't wait for him and Carson to be together at home playing the day away! All of this waiting is hard. I keep myself busy by learning as much as I can about the adoption process, reading about attachment and bonding, and fundraising. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Bringing a toddler home around the same age as Carson seems a little crazy, but we're so excited for them to be close in age. We talk with Carson constantly about his brother and he wants him home now! He talks about playing cars, trains and playing soccer with him. I know Carson is going to be an awesome big brother and I can't wait to share memories about what the two of them do together with all of our family and friends! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;"> It was so great to get pictures, but it still makes me sad to see him and not be able to hold him and tell him everything will be okay. I know that attaching isn't easy but I can't wait to have the opportunity to show him our love and that we will be there for him for the rest of his life. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">We have a few more months before we will travel, but that's okay because we still need to continue fundraising and saving money for our trip. We are currently selling puzzle pieces (see the picture below for a sneak peak of how it's coming along. I don't have all the names on there yet, but there are plenty of spaces left) and we are preparing for another garage sale at the end of August. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Please contact us personally if you have any questions about our adoption or our current fundraisers. We are currently accepting donations for our next garage sale, let us know if you would like us to come by and pick up your stuff!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;">Love, April</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #20124d;"> **We were also able to make another change to our thermometer. Take a look at the left side of our blog! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSe8hKFRIeyatZ0nzPXCRI3kRqAdQycZrFrYQYAa4v9IQxBo9hFNKzdoUuATmgDc76YvErCihFJ2c4j-C9-BSogqNhDVuHECMUfunhLrdfT40EjWN0dKJOncmrmE9Y6f8uYbT1-l_w4c/s640/blogger-image--710369755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpSe8hKFRIeyatZ0nzPXCRI3kRqAdQycZrFrYQYAa4v9IQxBo9hFNKzdoUuATmgDc76YvErCihFJ2c4j-C9-BSogqNhDVuHECMUfunhLrdfT40EjWN0dKJOncmrmE9Y6f8uYbT1-l_w4c/s400/blogger-image--710369755.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-48128951825531843432012-07-12T22:25:00.000-07:002012-07-12T22:25:26.161-07:00A Small Change in our Thermometer!!!!We just wanted to let everyone know we have been able to update our thermometer again! Woohoo!!!! Thanks to everyone who have donated to our puzzle fundraiser so far.
***We are still selling puzzle pieces to help fund our adoption fees.****
Please let us know if you have any questions.
We're hoping to get a little more information soon about our little guy, this part of the process we're in, and more about our possible departure month.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support! We can't wait to bring our little guy home and share him with you all!
Love, April & AaronMarvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-6586065869730714432012-07-08T21:39:00.001-07:002012-07-08T22:18:57.199-07:00Another Successful Garage SaleHere we are at the end of day 4 of our second Adoption Fundraiser Garage Sale this summer. We had an amazing turnout again and couldn't be happier with the results. A big thanks to my sister for letting us use her house for our sale, storage, and for her help this week. She lives in the perfect location; we don't even have to put signs up or advertise and people will just show up as we're taking off the tarps! <br />
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Also, a big thanks to our family for helping us put the sale on. Lastly, we are so thankful for all of our friends and family who donated to our sale. We couldn't of done this without you! <br />
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Our grand total for this garage sale is........ $3521.00. We still have a few bigger items posted online, so hopefully the total will even go up. We can't wait to bring our son home! <br />
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It was a very hot weekend (we don't often get to complain about the heat where we live, haha), but my sunburn is so worth it! (And yes, I put on sunblock multiple times a day. But I probably should have done more.)<br />
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Before we began this garage sale we said, this will be our last one. The prep time, the time away from work, and the 4 days we're out there make them exhausting. But after having another amazing sale, we're thinking we must do it again. We have had multiple friends and family members come to us this week and say they have stuff for another sale. So we're planning our next one for the end of August. <br />
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Please let us know if you have any items you would like to donate to our garage sale. All proceeds go straight to our savings account for our adoption. We can pick up anything you would like to donate. Just message us or give us a call. We really, really, really appreciate all your support! <br />
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Love, April & Aaron <br />
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<div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbedj1ll_EiNuQ-moKjsRv_aDhDexCI_7wMAAqFodrGFUh0v6l4vKJJ4mZVsmC7kvuFVkTemfktsNdQ9kLMbyfFvrBTudHaauN6s8ZX5LYullPoYJ8frCL_zUfeC5AEpthO8ATRolC9Q/s640/blogger-image-1271370846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbedj1ll_EiNuQ-moKjsRv_aDhDexCI_7wMAAqFodrGFUh0v6l4vKJJ4mZVsmC7kvuFVkTemfktsNdQ9kLMbyfFvrBTudHaauN6s8ZX5LYullPoYJ8frCL_zUfeC5AEpthO8ATRolC9Q/s640/blogger-image-1271370846.jpg" /></a></div>Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-82010872431192865232012-06-28T15:03:00.000-07:002012-06-28T15:03:30.430-07:00We have BIG news!!!!So with the last post I kind of hinted to that fact that some big things were happening with our adoption.<br />
So here it is...................................<br />
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-We've decided to leave our agency and have signed on with another agency. We are absolutely thrilled to be with this new agency. It was one we tried to sign up with in the beginning, but I guess God only knew the best timing and it is now! A lot of people have questioned our decision to leave our agency after about 10 months, but we want everyone to know that we didn't come to this decision lightly. We have been praying, talking, (more) praying, and investigating for months. There are many reasons behind our decision, but I'm not going to share them here. If you have any questions or are just curious please call or email us and we will be able to share some more details with you. Just know this was the right move for our family.<br />
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- We are so excited for these changes. The new agency we are with has more of a humanitarian focus for the children of Africa. We are thrilled for the opportunity to partner with them and for the ability to stay connected long after our child comes home.<br />
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- And the biggest news of all is.........................<br />
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WE HAVE A REFERRAL!!! He is beautiful. We cannot share his picture, but believe us it's true! We actually don't know his age, but think he is about 2 years old. We are completely overjoyed with our new little guy, and can't wait to meet him in person. We want to bring him home as soon as possible!!!!<br />
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What happens next...........<br />
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1. Finish getting our dossier ready for our new agency. Were currently waiting on one piece of paper!<br />
2. Our agency will get everything together and sent to the lawyer.<br />
3. WAITING.... Lots of stuff with happen once our paperwork gets in country, and then we will have a few things to do, and then our lawyer will have some more things to do. (I really don't have a clear picture of whats going to happen, but we'll figure it out as it goes!)<br />
4. After we pass court and wait out all that entails, we will hopefully be on a plane to bring him home. This whole process will take 4-6 months.<br />
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With everything happening so quickly, we are going into extreme fundraising mode!<br />
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The fee schedule is a little different with the agency and actually worked out in our favor. The majority of the fees we will need to pay are closer to the end of this journey. This is great news for us because it will give us the time to continue to save and fundraise over the next few months.<br />
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At the moment we are selling puzzle pieces and getting ready for another garage sale. Were hoping to have the sale in a few weeks, but it will really depend on the weather. We are still looking for donations, so if you have some items you'd like to get rid of we can pick them up!<br />
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Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support. If you have any questions please talk with us individually or through email.<br />
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Love, April & Aaron<br />
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<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615641451659677912.post-85824781902686942182012-06-14T17:41:00.000-07:002012-06-14T17:41:36.802-07:00It's Time to Put Together That Puzzle!!!<br />
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So we began talking about this months ago, but were finally ready to have this be the Fundraiser we focus on this summer. There are a lot of new things happening with our adoption, but I'm not really at liberty to talk about them right now (sorry for the teaser, but no referral yet!). I will let everyone know as soon I can!<br />
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What I can talk about is that we are really needing to focus on saving money and fundraising in order to make things happen when the time is right. We are sending out postcards (you can see a copy on the bottom right of the blog) to all of our family and friends in hopes to raise enough money to cover our referral costs. We actually got this idea from another adopting family and just loved it.<br />
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We are selling puzzle pieces for $20 each. Once a piece is purchased we will write your name (or family name) on the back of a piece. Once all the pieces are purchased we will put the puzzle in a double sided glass frame and hang it in our home. This framed puzzle will be a reminder of everyone who has helped us on our journey to bring our family together. We have already written a few names of donors, but we still have nearly the whole puzzle to put together! Can you help???<br />
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I've place a list of FAQ's at the bottom of this post. I will add more if I start getting other questions. Also, please email me your address if you'd like to get anything that we mail out (Postcards, letters, Christmas cards, etc). My email is dawn bey 15 @ ya hoo . c o m.<br />
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Thank you so much for all your support and prayers. We definitely know that we couldn't do this without all of you!<br />
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Love, April<br />
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<u>FAQ's</u><br />
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If I send more money, can I have more than one piece???<br />
*Yes, you can buy more than one piece! (I'll write your name really big across multiple pieces or I'll write each family members name, if you prefer.)<br />
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I just don't have $20 to spare, can I still participate?<br />
*If $20's to much, any donation will do! (We appreciate all the help we can get!)<br />
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Where do I send the money?<br />
*Please send the checks directly to us.<br />
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Can you accept credit cards??<br />
* I do have a pay-pal account. Please look to the right of the blog.<br />
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<br />Marvin Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15745268665748485451noreply@blogger.com0