Hello Family & Friends,
Just writing to give you an update on our adoption. . .
Well, on July 6th, we have officially been on the waitlist for 2 months. The first month of waiting was big with the grant and news of the slow down. June has been relatively uneventful. The latest updates from Holt (our international agency) say that the wait time from dossier approval (May 6th, for us) to referral (picture of child) is now 9-12 months of waiting. That would put us at getting a referral around February or May, 2012. That feels like a LONG ways away. Especially toward the end, that is going to get LONG. We appreciate all of your support during this process. We feel so loved and encouraged by so many of you, and that helps a lot!
Here is a break down of what is going on and fundraisers.
| Step | Cost | Date Paid | Due Date |
| Application Fee – LSS | $420.00 | 10/25/10 | |
| Application Fee – Holt | $300.00 | 10/27/10 | |
| Home Study Fee – LSS | $2,780.00 | 1/14/11 | |
| USCIS | $890.00 | 2/2/11 | |
| Program Fee – LSS | $1000.00 | 5/20/11 | |
| Remainder of Program Fee – LSS | $750.00 | | Upon Referral |
| Dossier Fee – Holt | $3,000.00 | 5/6/11 | |
| Program Fee – Holt | $9,890.00 | | Upon Referral |
| Post Placement Fee – LSS | $1,300.00 | | Upon Referral |
| Trip 1 to Ethiopia | $8,000.00 (estimated) | | Upon Scheduled Travel Date |
| Trip 2 to Ethiopia | $8,000.00 (estimated) | | Upon Scheduled Travel Date |
FUNDRAISERS
COUSINS SUBS! July 7th 4-9pm. We will earn 20% of sales with flyers. If 50+ flyers are turned in, we will earn 20% of ALL sales (not just those with flyers) from 4-9pm. I will attach a flyer to this email. We can not pass them out at the door the day of (to people who didn’t come specifically for the fundraiser), but feel free to print them and pass them out to friends before the fundraiser! We hope to see many of you there! And a big thank you to Cousins in Onalaska for setting this up for us!!!
Just Love Coffee: $5.00 to us for each bag of coffee sold www.justlovecoffee.com/TheThomas. This fundraiser is on-going until we travel to Ethiopia to bring our child home.
Lifesong for Orphans: Make a tax deductable donation. We have been told that they will continue to accept donations in our name up until we travel to bring home our child. Make checks payable to ‘Lifesong for Orphans’. In memo section: ‘THOMAS #1855 ADOPTION’. Send to Lifesong for Orphans PO Box 40 202 N Ford Street Gridley, IL 61744.
PRAYER
- Finances to continue to come through. Successful fundraisers. Grant money awarded.
- Jaden working on recording his first album (all proceeds earned to go toward the adoption). He is working hard and hoping for a CD release date of late August!
- Our child (requesting 1 child age 0-12 months, either gender). He/she will go through mourning at the loss of his/her biological parent(s). We pray that this is a smooth transition and that he/she will stay safe and healthy in the orphanage until we are able to bring him/her home!!
- Our child’s birth parent(s) who will suffer a HUGE loss in relinquishing their child. That they may know God’s love for them and find some comfort that we are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to meet our child and bring him/her home!
Thank you all so much! We are very blessed by each of you!
The Thomas Family
