Moving Forward

Hello Family & Friends,                                                                                                                             

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

As of September 6th, we have been on the waitlist for 16 months. In the past few months – there has been lots of good news out of Ethiopia!! There have been a lot of families on the wait list that have been given a referral (medical information on a child). In fact, just about a month ago, a family we know that is exactly 4 months ahead of us on the wait list received a referral! That means we could be getting a referral ourselves in just 3-6 months?! Whew! SO exciting. My heart starts racing every time I think about that day!! I can’t wait!

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 $385 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 – And the coffee is DELICIOUS!!
• 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