Thursday, October 6, 2011

October Update

Hello Family & Friends,                                                                                                                                       10/6/11

Just writing to give you a quick update on our adoption and our life these days. . .

Today, we have officially been on the waitlist for 5 months. Can’t wait for the day that we get the phone call that our baby is ready to meet us!

We have some other big news. James 1:27 has been a theme throughout our family’s life lately. It says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” As many of you know, Jaden’s father passed away in 2006. And Jennie’s father passed away in 2009. That means both of our mother’s are widows. Being over three hours away from our mothers and our family for the past three years has been difficult. We certainly are doing our part to look after the orphans and we feel like it is, and has been time to look after the two widows in our family. That said, we will be moving back to the Milwaukee area on or around December 1st. It is bitter sweet for us. We are very sad to be moving away from all the friends and our church family that we have grown to LOVE in the past three years. But, we are excited to be near family again as well.

Here is a break down of what is going on, financially, with the adoption.
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 (have $6,000 grant and an additional $2070 in the bank for this).
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
  • 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.
  • Gazelle Gadget Fundraiser: We are hosting an online gadget drive through Gazelle and would love your support.  You can visit our drive webpage at http://thomasadoption.gazelle.com.  A gadget drive is a new way to fundraise that turns your used electronics (laptops, cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras & more) into cash to support a cause. Contributing to our drive is simple. Just visit our drive webpage, find the value of the gadgets you would like to donate, and send them to Gazelle (shipping is free). The value will go to support our adoption from Ethiopia. If you would like to donate, please go to Thomas Adoption Gadget Drive (http://thomasadoption.gazelle.com) to learn more about our drive and track our progress.  You will receive a confirmation of your donation by email, and we will be notified as soon as you make your donation.

PRAYER
  • -          Finances to continue to come through. Successful fundraisers.
  • -          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 November! He has begun the recording process and it is going very well!!
  • -         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!
  • -          Our move and job hunt for Jaden. He will need to find full time employment in the Milwaukee area beginning around December 1st.


Thank you all so much! We are very blessed by each of you!
The Thomas Family