July Update (a few days early)

Just writing to give you a quick update on our adoption.

As of July 6th, we will be on the waitlist for 14 months. We received a pretty disappointing letter from our adoption agency just a few days ago saying that, because of lots of changes in the adoption process in Ethiopia, the wait times have continued (and are projected to continue) to get even longer. Just a few months ago, they were saying probably about 14 months wait time. Now they are saying probably much longer. They really have very little idea as far as projected wait times, so this is just their best guess at this time. I am trying to be patient, but I have to be honest that it is pretty difficult to do that.

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
Dossier Update Fee – Holt	$255.00	6/28/12	7/6/12
Program Fee – Holt	$9,890.00	saved	Upon Referral (have $6,000 in Show Hope Grant for this).
Post Placement Fee – LSS	$1,300.00		Upon Referral
Trip 1 to Ethiopia	$8,000.00 (estimated)		Upon Scheduled Travel Date (have $65 in the bank for this)
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.

Adoption Bug T-Shirt Fundraiser

You can order t-shirts from this site: www.adoptionbug.com/thomasadoption. You can order and pay on-line and the t-shirt(s) will be shipped directly to you. We make anywhere from $5-$10 (depending on the t-shirt) per shirt sold toward our adoption. Check it out! They have some cool, high-quality shirts for sale! This fundraiser will be on-going until we bring our child home.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• -          Finances to continue to come through and successful fundraisers.
• -          Patience and faith for both of us in this process.
• -          Jaden working on recording his first album (all proceeds earned to go toward the adoption). He is working hard. He has begun the recording process but it is taking longer than anticipated.

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

The Thomas Family