who doesn't need joy like this in their life?

Josie appears to be one of the most joyful faces on Reece's Rainbow right now.  Have you thought about adopting?  Would Josie fit in your family?  Think about it...pray about it...do something about it!

Sunday Prayers vol. 5

Gonna be a short post tonight, and since I'm out of town until Friday this is most likely the last one until next Sunday's installment.  :)

1. Our friends the Barnett's...their country has decided to keep adoptions open for special needs children while they reorganize their structure.  This is fantastic news for the Barnett's, but it also means their timeline to raise $10,000 has been greatly shortened!  To help out and read their story click here: Donate to the Barnett's.

2. Our friends the Hinz's.  Same story as above.  To help them out and read their story click here: Donate to the Hinz's.

3. RAIN!  We got a little bit today, but need a lot more.

4. The FBI.  I am asking you to pray for them because if we don't get our back-ground checks soon I'm gonna get really mad!  (hahaha)

5. Remember that job thing from last week?  Keep praying on that please.

6. Finally, I will be travelling for work all this week, so prayers for safe travel are greatly appreciated.

Thanks friends, we love you all!

obstacles

To say adopting is filled with obstacles is an understatement!  We are still so early in the process and yet we have come in contact with obstacles a plenty.  Here are some, and how we are handling them, or what we are doing about them and in some cases suggestions if you want them.

1. Money!  I think this is probably the single biggest reason families who might be compelled to adopt end up not going through with it.  We are very blessed with friends and families who are very supportive of us financially.  Also when we bring Danny home (finally!) our respective companies will provide us a small amount of assistance.  Are you thinking about adopting, but can't pull the trigger because of money? Check with your employer, many times they offer adoption benefits that are never used because no one knows about them!

2. Paperwork! Whew.  This is a doozy.  I have a huge file folder that is already completely full of the paperwork that adoption requires of us.  And yet there are still missing items at this point.  Our homestudy won't be complete until we get our FBI back-ground checks back, our medical statements, as well as our psychological statements.  You read that right, we have to be evaluated psychologically in order to adopt!  With both of us working more than full time jobs right now this is far and away the most daunting obstacle we have faced so far.  It has taken a significant amount of time to go to doctor's appointments, get forms signed, notaries, apostilles.

3. Nay-Sayers! While completely expected this is still quite frustrating.  Wes and I have been very lucky that we have been quite shielded from this, but it still happens.  I am finding that our new "adoption friends" are enduring much more of this than I think is appropriate.  We know that adoption of a child with special needs is controversial but the questions that come are incredibly exhausting and most of the time RUDE.  If you want to know why we are adopting...ask.  If you have a question that you think *might* be offensive it probably is.  If you still want to know the answer...ask, but don't be surprised if you get an answer you don't like.

4. Time! I am not a patient person. Adoption takes a long time.  Things do not move quickly and most of them are out of our control.  There aren't a lot of things we can do to speed this process up other than pray.  So we are spending this waiting time praying, fundraising, making new friends and praying! (Yes, I know I put that last one in twice.  We do it a lot.)  If anyone has any suggestions on this one they would be appreciated!

So those are the current obstacles.  This is not a complete list by any means, just what we are dealing with now.  Again, any questions let me know and I will do my best.  Thanks for your prayers!

twitter followers unite! (or something like that)

If you're coming here because of twitter - welcome! We are currently trying to gather items for a silent auction to Help Bring Danny Home. We will be holding this auction at a fundraiser in October. Danny is a beautiful 3 1/2 year old boy currently living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe.  He has Down's Syndrome.  Jessica & Wes (owners of this blog) are in the process of adopting him. We, their friends, are trying to help raise funds to offset the astronomical cost of bringing this little boy to the loving home he deserves.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Email me at crystal at gaitanfamily dot com. You can read back posts of this blog to hear more about their story and how Jessica and Wes arrived at their decision.  If you would like to speak to me by phone, email me and I will send you my phone number.

Any funds raised beyond the needs Wes & Jessica have in their adoption will be donated back to Reece's Rainbow to help other orphans! 

Much thanks!

Crystal, Emily & all Friends of the Family!

Sunday Prayers vol. 4

Today has been a tough day.  Even though our grant has been growing steadily for the past three days and we see hope I am still discouraged.  I spent the day at the pool with friends and watched tons of kids and all I could think about was Danny!  He needs to be next to me in the pool!  Has he ever seen a body of water bigger than a bathtub? What did he have for dinner?  Is he sleeping well? Clothed properly? Loved, hugged, kissed?  I'm torturing myself, so here are our prayer requests this week:

1. That Danny is happy and healthy.
2. That we get the rest of our paperwork together in the next two weeks.
3. Pray that the FBI gets back to us no later than July 14th.  (This is the date they told me was their legal deadline.)
4. RAIN!  (It still hasn't, and there is none in the forecast!)


Thanks friends!

adoption bonus!

One of the totally unexpected (to me) parts of adoption is the new group of friends we have made.  We continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by the support we get from people who have adopted, are adopting, have kids with Down Syndrome....it's amazing!  Do you want to "meet" some of our new friends?  Check out their blogs, links are embedded.  Thanks for the donations today, every little bit helps a ton!  Check back tomorrow as I attempt to make it four weeks in a row of Sunday Prayers.

The Rhodes Family

The Hinz Family

The Lewis Family

The Woddell Family

The Lim Family

The Barnett Family

our Grant took a jump!

I was just sitting here thinking about how it's been weeks since our grant moved....but I was wrong!  It has moved sometime in the past week or so from $290 to $340!!!!  It's great to know that we are $50 closer to getting Danny home.  Every little bit helps, friends!

PS: Have you seen what our friends the Rhodes are doing? I'm resorting to guilt here people!
Click the link below to find out...
$13 and 1,000 people can make a HUGE difference!