Cuteasa-button.blogspot.com

Okay ya'll, I tried giving this little blog a facelift. I'm not a very "techy" person, so if anyone has any insights or suggestions, send them my way. I can only dream of having a blog as pretty as Andrea's over at Babe of My Heart one day!

Also, pop on over HERE to see the latest pictures from our fundraising. I will be planning another Photo Mini-Session once our Oregon weather cooperates a bit more! Feel free to contact me in the meantime if your family is interested in having photos done. All proceeds benefit adoption!

Holden Uganda

As a nurse working in labor and delivery I am surrounded by mostly happy times. What many people don't realize is that there can be a great deal of heartache in my line of work too. I want to share with you a family who has taken their broken ashes and turned it into something beautiful in the name of their son who is in heaven.

Visit: www.holdenuganda.org to learn more.

I love these!

How great are these scarves?








You will find them even greater when you discover the story behind them. I'm hoping one of these will be an addition to my wardrobe soon!

Catch the video:


Our Commitment | fashionABLE

Or visit the website and order one for yourself here.

The Village of Korah - A short documentary

A video worth checking out:

On the Waiting List!! Wahoo!!

After a little bit of notarizing delay and drama, I'm so ecstatic to announce that we are finally on the waiting list! We are so happy :)

Every month we will get an updated waitlist number, and every month we will inch closer and closer to meeting our baby girl! Im pretty convinced that our starting number is probably the highest number ever given out by our adoption agency, but we are praying for these next 9-12 months (current estimated wait time) to fly by.

Our official waitlist number is:


Thanks for all your support everyone!

I want what I have learned to trickle from my head down into my heart....

Dossier Disappointment

This week Nate and I finished our Dossier, the group of documents we send to Ethiopia. As soon as this paperwork (which we have been trying to get done for these past months) is turned in, we are then placed on the waiting list.



Well, I received a call from our case manager this morning and it turns out several of the documents need to be re-done. I anticipated a couple things, but there are far more "errors" than I was hoping for. Most of them are errors on the notary part of the documents. So my advice for paperwork families is to make sure that the person notarizing your document doesn't cross out or write anything that is difficult to read.....even if they initial what has been crossed out.



As a result we unfortunately are not on the waiting list yet, but are super close. We are hoping to get all the documents that need to be revised done by next week. So, I look forward to sharing with everyone our waiting list number next week (hopefully)!

Thank you again everyone for all of your support. We were able to contribute $2000 of fund raising and personal gifts towards this portion of our adoption expense. Amazing!

For the Love of Etsy

I can spend hours getting lost with all the handmade goodness that Etsy offers. There are so many talented and creative people! I especially love the items that share a special message or promote adoption, of course :)

I secretly want a necklace from the Junk Posse shop (not a secret anymore!)

Click Here.


This Print from Barking Bird Art would be a sweet addition to the nursery that one day I will start working on.

Click Here.


I look forward to reading books like this from SM Design.

Click Here.


One day I hope to order a custom made doll from Craft Mommy. These are great!

Click Here.


What are your favorite Etsy spots??

Truth Pandemic

Click the Following Link Below:


Truth Pandemic

People Magazine is featuring a very inspirational family. If you can, pick up a copy out December 6th.

This family was also featured on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in a segment entitled The American Spirit. The segment is featured here, or on you tube.

You can also visit their website at www.projecthopeful.org

Project Hopeful for HIV Adoptions

Compassion is the consequence of salvation.

My friend Erin has shared a beautifully written and thought out post. It describes what I have been feeling lately on many levels. Please take a minute to read it HERE.

Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday…an event to bring awareness to the millions of children worldwide without a family or place to call home. I can’t help but think about our own little one today. I often think about her mama and what an immense decisions she is about to make. I wonder if she is safe, healthy, or frightened. I pray for them both daily.

Let’s face it-the bubble I have been living in has burst. And I am so thankful it has. For a while now, something has been itching to change inside of me. I am tired of living like a selfish Christian…..seems like an oxymoron, huh?

It is a constant struggle for me, but it started with the notion that if I love God, and I love people, shouldn’t my life reflect that? The passion I feel for orphans now has grown in ways I never expected. I don’t know where, or how, or when, but I have to do something to bring awareness to the needs of these kids. I have to serve in someway. These kids are overseas, but also right in your own town. There is a HUGE need for loving people to step up and care for them through adoption, through fostering, orphan sponsorship, or by supporting a family that is or has adopted.

How many of us need to be challenged to step outside of the bubble we live in?

James 1:22-27 (New International Version)

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ 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.

Homestudy complete!

In adoption news, we just completed all of our homestudy interviews and documentation. This is one big hurdle we finished, and we are doing our best to complete the rest of the paperwork for the dossier.

The dossier is essentially a profile of our family that is sent along with some legal documents to the Ethiopian government. Once we have completed this next step, we will be on the waiting list for a referral! We are hoping to wrap that up in the next few weeks.

We are so excited to take this next step and see where God is leading our family. We know that there is a special child out there that will fit into our family perfectly. I am beginning to see what a miracle adoption really is, and very similarly so to that of conception! It is a real miracle to see how an adoptive child comes to join a family.

Break Me.

You may have noticed a lag in blog posts lately. Some of it has to do with being entrenched in paperwork (almost done with our homestudy documents), but mostly the lag in posts has been because I have had so much on my mind and heart.

I can only describe adoption as a complete faith based journey. I was not prepared for the changes and growth I am experiencing now firsthand.

My mind, my perspectives, my heart are all being radically altered throughout this process. Nate and I have become more and more conscious of the poverty, suffering, and emptiness in this world.

Before recently, I would think about all the devastation in Africa from time to time, and feel heartfelt sadness. But, I also felt somewhat hopeless, like I couldn’t do anything about it. In fact, it is so much easier to not really think about it in depth because thinking about it, I mean to REALLY consider how the majority of the world lives is uncomfortable for us. Let’s face it, it is much easier and less stressful to turn on the tv and watch an episode of House Hunters.

Some people might question why God allows for this kind of trouble and heartache and suffering that innocent children and people all over are facing. The truth of the matter is, there is an answer to all of this sadness. There is a solution for all of the poverty, illness, hunger, and hurt in this world. It starts with me. And with you.

Throughout the start of this adoption there is a song by Hillsong (untitled) that has touched me and I find myself reflecting on it often. It goes:

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdom cause

‘Break my heart for what breaks yours’ really stands out to me. It cuts me deep to really think about what breaks God’s heart. And I think what breaks His heart, and is now breaking mine means living in action. It means doing something. It means loving with reckless abandonment.

The truth of the matter is this world has enough resources to take care of every single person on this planet. How can I not feel convicted as I type these words on my king sized bed in the master suite of my house?

1 John 3:16-18: “We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help — how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.”

My prayer continues to be for my heart to be broken for what breaks yours God. Mold me, shape me, use me.

Pictures Galore!

I've been so lucky to have the support of so many in raising money towards our adoption. These past weeks I've been able to photograph many families, and a few weddings. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of those willing to let me snap a few! I'm working diligently in getting them edited in between working at the Birthplace. You can take a peek over at:

www.cuteasa-button.blogspot.com

If anyone is interested in having pictures done and you live in the Portland area please email me at:
kerrikuykendall@hotmail.com

I saw what I saw

I have a good year I'm guessing, before I have the chance to travel and meet my baby girl face to face for the first time. Yes....baby girl. Nate and I have narrowed our parameters down (adoption lingo for age/gender specifications) to an infant girl 0-18months. It turns out that if you increase your age range, you can still specify gender. I will say that I hesitate to even specify anything because I feel that God will place the exact child we are meant to have in our family with us. It was a difficult decision, but I'm trusting that Oliver will be a good big brother for his baby sister.....and we couldn't be more thrilled to have a sweet girl in our family.

In this year of waiting, I'm gearing up for some major personal growth. Daily I think about her, if she is even born, what her birth mother is going through, how she is doing, if she is healthy....so many thoughts run through my mind. I wish I could just push the fast forward button and have her here, safe and home with our family. But, I know that in times of waiting, or longing, or difficulty comes great times of beauty and awakening. I'm holding on to that understanding with all I've got.

I wanted to share a little song and video that touches my heart. I have a huge lump in my throat every time I watch it because I think it is a portrait of some of what I may see when we travel to Ethiopia.

An aritcle about us!

We have had many opportunities to share our journey with friends, family, and many others as we follow our path towards adoption. Recently, we were honored to be a featured article in The Baramoter. You can read about it

here

or

here

Craig Bidiman, the author of the article has shared some of his personal first hand experiences about adoption. He is an adoptee and hearing his story and his willingness to share it with us, means so much. He has also shared a few encouraging words which are much needed during this stressful waiting time.

Here is some of what Craig personally shared:

"Throughout all of my experiences as an adopted child, one thing reverberates most within me: I am unlike anyone else in the world because my family chose to take a chance on me. They didn’t have to. They could’ve just forgotten about me and moved on with their lives. They had enough love to open their hearts to me-a child they had no idea of what would become of. This is why adoption matters. Showing that you are willing to risk everything on someone you don’t even know!

With your passion and intent, you have the opportunity to provide a life for a child who may have never had an option like this if it weren’t for you. You are doing what so many people in this world say they want to do but never follow through on."

Thank you Craig for sharing our story, and touching our lives with your encouragement in more ways than you know.

moment

I will never get tired of watching families be united for the first time with their adoptive children. The emotions are so compelling, raw, and genuine. I know many of you who follow my blog may not make claims to faith, but for me, seeing these families experience what it means to love an adoptive child is so powerful. It is a first hand glimpse of God’s love for us. This is something I never fully understood until I became a mother. I can only imagine how emotional that moment will be for Nate and me, when we hold our baby in our arms for the first time. It will be different than when we had Oliver, but an instant just as momentous all the same. A moment filled with amazement, relief, contentment, and praise.

As I eagerly anticipate that moment, I have seen my heart change, grow, and stretch in ways I never imagined possible. I have experienced flashes of panic in the beginning of this adoption process….wondering if we were doing the right thing, doubting our decision, feeling the cost is too great, fearful of all of the unknowns. But the truth is I believe our child is perfectly made to fit into our family. Just like every other child, hand picked by God to be forever ours. I believe we have a CALLING to bring a child into our home. I believe I now have a responsibility to look beyond myself and our selfishness, and SEE the world outside of our American viewpoint.

People who serve on mission trips say that their eyes have been opened. That there hearts will never be the same. I have not served in a third-world country, but I believe that this adoption process is filled with so much of that same type of personal growth. And most of it will take place in my heart before I have a child in my arms.

When I remind myself of all these things, the panic over adoption dissolves. I find myself hopeful to encourage others to consider adoption. I am eager to share my sense of peace over this decision, and I know after seeing the faces of these orphaned children I will be returning to them....hopefully as an adoptive parent once again.

I want to share a coming home video by a recent adoptive mother. I have been touched by her eloquent writing and especially this post.

Summer life.

Are you wondering where I have been?

This summer has been filled with some of the best things:


Family.


A Silly Second Cowboy Birthday Party.
Moving and grooving.

Berries from the garden.

It has also been filled with paperwork. We are on the way to completing our home study! Thanks to all of your financial donations, garage sale items, and prayers we have been able to pay for nearly 1/3 of this adoption! We are so excited to finally be starting the "paper chase" but it has been taking up most of my free time. I will still put an effort in to blog more though :)

Here is a picture of Oliver ready to submit our orientation packet. He can't wait to be a big brother!
And a little pic of the mulah after our garage sale fundraiser.
Hope your summer is filled with some of the best things too.

If you have questions...

We have been asked many of the same questions over and over so I thought it would be best to address them all here. Hope this helps answer some of the questions and concerns people have.

Why Adoption?
Please read “our story” to see where this adoption process began. We now couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to adopt and feel a whole new world has opened up to us, as well as given the potential to love and advocate for orphans worldwide.

Why international adoption vs. domestic adoption?
We support any type of adoption whether domestic or international. For us, our hearts have been pulled to Africa for some time now. When we met, Kerri had an “Africa fund” jar which she used to save for a mission trip there one day. Little did we know that our lives would venture down the road of adopting from Africa.

Why Ethiopia?
When we applied for adoption we narrowed down our search criteria by length of stay in country, timetable for adoption, and opportunity to adopt a younger child. After looking at these factors, and the countries our adoption agency had available we narrowed our search to Rwanda and Ethiopia. We chose Ethiopia because it is an established adoptive country with a more predictable government. We have a potential to meet with the birth mother, which we find as a valuable opportunity. We have also heard amazing things about Hannah’s Hope, the orphanage where our child will be.

Why are so many children available in Ethiopia?
There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone. Civil war, famine and disease have left the country with millions of orphans. Many families feel they are unable to feed and care for one more child so they place their child in an orphanage. Many of these children are placed up for adoption simply because their birth families want a better life for the child. I can’t image making a harder sacrifice out of love for my child.

Will your child be healthy? What about HIV/AIDS?
Our child may have minor, treatable health conditions such as rickets, parasites, ear/eye infections, etc. when they arrive home. Most of these problems are due to malnutrition. All children in the orphanage are screened several times for HIV/AIDS along with many other illnesses before they are placed for adoption.

What about raising a black child in a white family?
It would be ignorant of us to say that racism isn’t prevalent in today’s society. It concerns us deeply how people will react to our child. We have already experienced some careless remarks, or individuals not acknowledging our adoption and it leaves us to ponder how to react. I suppose we will learn in time. Our only hope is that people will accept and love this child the way we do already.

We want our child to have a link to their heritage and honor the country in which they were born. Portland has a large Ethiopian-adoptive community where meetings, camps, etc. are held to bring Ethiopian children together. We look forward to participating!

Can you request a specific child?
We can’t request a specific child, but can specify age range and gender (if over 12 months). We are considering an infant (0-12 months) of either gender, or a girl (0-18months).

What is a referral?
Our agency notifies us of a child that matches our parameters and that they feel would be a good fit for our family. The referral includes all information the agency has about this child. There may be many pieces missing, but the information should include all biographical information on the child. We will receive a picture of the child. We will then take all of the information we have to an International Pediatrician who specializes in caring for the special needs of an internationally adopted child. After reviewing the health information provided and praying we will make an informed decision on whether or not to accept the referral and move forward with adopting this specific child.

When will you get your child?
The Ethiopian program determines the wait time for receiving a referral (match of a child with our family). Currently the wait time of an infant of either gender 0-12 months is approximately 8 months. Once we receive a referral we will travel to Ethiopia to appear in court and testify that we would like to adopt this specific child. Once the adoption is finalized we will have to travel to Ethiopia again (in approximately 12 weeks) to pick up our child!

There are no coincidences

As I've mentioned before there are so many blogs out there that have helped me throughout this adoption experience. Many well meaning friends and family have been supportive, but nobody really knows the obstacles or first hand experiences like people who have gone down this adoption road before me, or are experiencing it first hand now.

I wanted to share with everyone something I think is very exciting. A friend from high school is entering into this adoption process at the exact same time as our family. We reconnected a couple years ago at church and our adoptive child will be able to grow up seeing another Ethiopian face every week at church. Yup, they are adopting from ETHIOPIA as well! Erin and I both agree that "there are no coincidences in life" and I feel that having her family follow us on this journey side by side is a huge blessing. Please visit her family's blog HERE. They are fundraising as well, so if you can open your hearts up to donating to another family I would strongly urge you to do so.

Another family who is getting close to receiving a referral is this family. They live in Oregon, and although I have never met them, I just ordered a t-shirt from them to support their fundraising efforts. At $12 each, you can't beat the price! Stop by and order one for yourself.

A Washington family who is starting the paperwork process now too is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. She has some awesome shirts on her blog so swing by and order one to help them fundraise for the next part of their adoption.

There are so many families out there in the adoption world who need help fundraising to bring another orphan home. Will you help? The next time you go through a Starbucks line, get a pedicure, go out to eat, or see a movie, consider what that money could do in the lives of families trying desperately to bring a child home. It may not seem like much, but it truly adds up. I know I second guess myself whenever I hand over my debit card....and I find 9 times out of 10, that it isn't worth spending the money.

And lastly, I wanted to share a video with you. This little girl has inspired so many people to adopt! Lucy Lane has been home for 1 year now (visit her mom's blog to see the 1 year home video). Her family lives in Tennessee and has an enormous group of African adopted children within the community. I would LOVE to see that on the other side of the states.....so far there is our family and Erin's family....anybody else feel the pull to adopt??!!

Garage Sale Final Total....

What a whirlwind weekend! I'm a little exhausted and sunburned, but I am in great spirits! The only word to sum up this weekend is 'phenomenal.'

Here are a few pictures to document this epic garage sale....

My sister and mom by my side. Notice the t-shirts??!!


The garage sale wrapped from the front yard, through the garage, to the backyard.











And some signs my sister helped me make....




When we headed into this weekend we were already amazed at the $6300 that had been donated and fundraised for our family in a short couple months. Our friends, coworkers, church family, and friends of friends have been incredibly generous and supportive in this endeavour.

We knew when God called us to adopt we didn't know how we could make it happen on our own. We have trusted that God would provide what He calls, and since we announced our plans to adopt money has trickled in. People have been so supportive and given to our adoption as they felt lead. Nate and I have been in awe by this experience and the amazing generosity of others.

And this weekend is a true testament to how only God can provide. Through His grace and the generosity of so many we were able to reach a grand total of $3100 this weekend. That leaves us with a total of $9400 raised for the adoption in just a few short months!! Our fundraising goals was $10,000 but in reviewing the adoption paperwork we will only need to write a first check for $8790. Which leaves some carry-over room for the next goal of approximately $5800 to submit our dossier.

I wish I could express our thanks to everyone. I have said this over and over, but we couldn't fulfill our dream of expanding our family without your help.

A sincere thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.

Garage Sale Day #2

Well, today wasn't nearly as busy as yesterday but we still had a steady beat of traffic. We made out with another huge profit for our adoption fund! It was nice talking with people who have adopted, know someone who has adopted, or plan to adopt one day.

It was fun to see familiar faces and co-workers who stopped by to check out the sale
and pay a visit.

Also, a humongous thank you to the friends and family who helped out today and yesterday. Things wouldn't have gone as smoothly as they did without you all.

Now onto today's tally..............

$1000

I am utterly amazed at this weekend . This feels nothing short of a blessing in our lives. I am so excited to get started with this adoption process, and am so grateful for this weekend and those willing to donate and purchase from the sale!

It is hard to believe, but we still have tons of stuff left for tomorrow's sale. More friends and family have donated and we are hopeful to have more people find some treasures.

Thanks everyone for all your encouragement and support. We couldn't do this without it.

Garage Sale Day #1

I have to say that at the beginning of the week I was a little nervous about whether or not we would have enough stuff to make the garage sale a worthwhile hit. And then, a bunch of people stopped by the night before the yard sale kick-off and donated some more great stuff.

I had more stuff than I knew what to do with.

I had set today's (Friday) start time at 9am and by 8am I counted 20 people on my driveway! There was never a lull moment today, and I had lots of helping hands, thankfully!

I have set the goal of raising $1000 this weekend to benefit our adoption. Guess how much we made ON THE FIRST DAY??!!!

$1360

Yowza! Amazing! Fantastic! Unbelievable!

And we still have loads more of great stuff to sell that I didn't even get to sort through and put out. If anyone is up for some great garage selling, swing on by!

Gods Heart: Adoption

Many of you may have noticed that this adoption journey has been somewhat of a spiritual upheaval in my heart. I have grown by leaps and bounds, my mind has journeyed places I never expected, my marriage has become more solid than ever, my thoughts are centered on something much bigger than my own selfishness.

My eyes have been opened.

My heart has been wrecked.

I have found something to live passionately for.

A few months ago I was moving into our new home. My biggest worry was what color to paint my dining room, or how to arrange the furniture in my living room. There is nothing wrong with enjoying those things……but how my heart has changed in just a few short months……

Today I am sifting through all of the garage sale items so graciously donated to our sale this weekend. I know it is just stuff, but it brings tears to my eyes. I am so touched that people are willing to help our family. I am humbled by how God is using each person who has selflessly given to our family to help bring our girl home.

And I wholeheartedly believe that God is unfolding this adoption story.

From the anonymous $100 bill sent to us in the mail, to the graciousness of our church offering tax-deductable donations God has shown us His plan.

We are humbled, we are blessed, and we see God's work so clearly here. God's plan and His work will win every time. He is in control.

Many people want to adopt but feel the cost is too great. If you feel you can't adopt just because of finances, please hold onto God as your anchor. I know everyone's experience will be different. But God will not change. He will lead. He will guide. He will provide.

After all….He first adopted us.

The Sale is Fast Approaching AND Photo-mini's are back!!

Ok, it just hit me that our first goal deadline is fast approaching! Please pray that our garage sale next weekend will be a huge success! Thank you to those who donated towards our sale, we are so grateful. And yes, I am still accepting any donations towards the sale you need to take off of your hands :)

What I need are bodies for the garage sale! Someone who can handle the Italian ice venue, BBQ venue, t-shirt sale table. Anyone who is willing to bake some goodies for the sale, or donate their craft talents (ie: jewelry makers, Etsy shop owners). I know it is short notice! If we all pitch in we can make this sale a hit and be one giant step closer to moving forward with the adoption! I am so excited thinking about it and I know all of this hard work will pay off. Each of you are helping to bring this child to our family!

Email me privately if you need directions/details.

kerrikuykendall@hotmail.com

Now, onto the latest. We had huge success with our Photography Mini-Session, and we are planning another one for

Saturday JULY 10.

photography mini-sessions.

Session Details:

-All sessions will take place at Gladstone Park (located on the seventh-day Adventist campus).
-Mini-sessions will take approximately 15-20 minutes.
-Up to 5 people (see me if you have any questions about this)
-Disc of approximately 25 edited-high resolution digital files.


Investment: $100


To book a session- please email me at kerrikuykendall@hotmail.com
I will send you a tentative time for your family’s session based on first come, first serve.

Pass it Forward

I have found a lot of encouragement through reading other families blog about their adoptive experiences. Even though I have never met these people, I feel a deep understanding and connection to what they are going through. I was especially touched by this post from Amy at Building The Blocks.

Amy's family has started a "pass it forward" adoption fundraiser. When an anonymous donor paid in full to cover the entire expense of their adoption, they were deeply touched. Amy's family felt compelled to "pass it forward" to others. They did so by fundraising for other families. They were able to give $10,000 to a family in the process of trying to adopt.

It is amazing to me how one person can change the life of so many people.

I think it would be easy for them to say, "We are blessed to have our adoption paid for. Good luck to the rest of you!" Instead, they have chosen to pass this amazing gift forward to other adoptive families. Amy has some profound words in saying:

"God blesses us so that we can bless others."

Father's Day and more.....

Have you thought about father's day? Here are some gift ideas....

Tom's Shoes offers stylish, hip shoes and for every pair you purchase, a new pair will be given to a child in need.

Unicef offers some inspired gifts for Dad. Instead of giving the typical gift card to Home Depot give the gift of clean water to a family.

World Vision offers a great chance to sponsor one of 71 fatherless children in a small village in Zimbabwe.

Just Love Coffee offers delicious coffee with every purchase from this site will directly benefit our adoption. I recommend the Peruvian blend!

Now, on to the newest Fundraising options........

We now have "To Ethiopia With Love" silicone bracelets. They are made in the same quality as the "Livestrong" ones, only ours our half the price. By purchasing one, you will directly benefit our adoption. Cost $5 each.


Adoption T-shirts are here! These are made from 100% cotton and will benefit our adoption specifically. My loving friend Luke designed them for us. They read:

He Who Can Reach a Child's Heart Can Reach The Worlds Heart.
Support Love
Support Children
Support Adoption


We have unisex Olive color in sizes small, medium, large, x-large and
ladies chocolate brown in sizes small, medium, large, x-large. Cost $20 each.


We are still gathering any items you are willing to donate to our upcoming garage sale. It is scheduled for the weekend of June 25-27 at our home. We would love if you are available to stop by and shop, help make signs/posters, spread the word to your family and friends, or help out the weekend of the sale. I'm still hoping to find some pitch tents we could put out in case it rains or is overly sunny. Does anyone have any we could borrow?


Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for those of you who are praying for us, sharing our story with others, and financially giving to bring our baby home. I am so inspired by you all. There is no way we would be able to bring a child into our home without your selfless giving, love and encouragement.

Garage Sale

Our mega garage sale is this month. I am collecting any old stuff
you are willing to donate to the sale. We are hoping to make it quite the event.

Thank you!

Buy a tee feed an orphan

I am taking pre-orders for these t-shirts. A portion of the proceeds will support our adoption and 50% of profits will support AMAZIMA in Uganda.

Please let me know what you would like ASAP! Thanks!

Men's Baseball Tee
This is a regular, non-fitted t-shirt 100% pre-shrunk cotton.

Available Sizes: Sm, M, L, XL, 2XL

Price: $19.95

Front:
Back:
Women's Baseball Tee

This buttery soft burn-out baseball tee will be your favorite!

Color: Ivory with Black sleeves w/ Black graphics, Robin’s Egg Blue w/ Blue graphics, or Melon sleeves w/ Chocolate graphics

Available Sizes: XS,Sm, M, L, XL

Price: $34.95

Girl’s Baseball Tee FEED 1 message is strong and will help shape young hearts.

Color: NEW COLOR … Kelly Green Baseball Sleeves w/ PINK graphics

Available Sizes: small, medium, large

Price: $19.95

YOU ARE NEVER TO YOUNG TO JOIN THE TEAM! This tee is soft and the color is vibrant.

Color: Hot Pink Burn-Out Tee

Color: Sea Foam Green

Available Sizes: 2T, 3T, 4T

Price: $19.95

I have some more great t-shirts in Men's and Women's sizes only coming soon!

Tax Deductable Donations

Our church has graciously and generously opened an "adoption fund" for our family as part of their benevolence program. This means you can donate a larger sum that is tax deductable and will benefit our adoption specifically.

We are continually amazed by the generosity of others. We are humbled at the avenues God has opened for our family and are sincerely grateful for the support we have already received to move forward with this process.

If you would like to make a donation:

Please make the check out to “Willamette Christian Church” and note on the check “adoption fund.” Add on a separate piece of paper that your donation is specifically for the “Dawson Family Adoption Fund.” You will receive a tax receipt at the end of the year.

3153 S Brandywine Drive
West Linn, OR 97068

Thank you in advance for your support!

He is not speaking for me....

I’ll admit that I’m a Christian and have never really liked Pat Robertson. Some of the things he says leave me embarrassed. You may have recently heard his whole rant about “Haiti made a pact with the Devil and now they got an earthquake” thing. I’ll save my response to that one for another time. Most recently, I am offended at his remarks towards adoption.

I admittedly do not watch the CBN show, but you can watch it here to see what Pat Robertson said. You may have to fast forward the first 12 minutes to reach the adoption topic and his remarks. You really should just watch it, what he says in no way is encouraging adoption, but rather he is discouraging it.

His warning about adopting a child:

"If they have demonic influences, if they have some propractor of the dark arts in their background, you never know what's going to come out of it, and you also can't tell if they've been brain damaged as a child."


Settle down there Mr. Pat Robertson.

Good work putting fear into the lives of those called to adopt.

The truth is adoption is not easy. It may be incredibly challenging for some people. You may bring a child home and find that they have emotional issues, physical conditions, or attachment and bonding problems. Yes, you may adopt a child that isn’t “perfect.”

But having a biological child is not easy. It may be incredibly challenging for some people. You may bring your child home and find that they have emotional issues, physical conditions, or attachment and bonding problems. Yes, you may have a biological child that isn’t “perfect.”

For the record God never said our lives would be perfect or easy. Things usually don’t turn out the way we anticipate or expect. But that is the beautiful part about life.

The whole concept of adoption is crucial to the Christian faith: God has adopted us as his children despite our emotional issues, physical conditions, or spiritual doubts.

Shouldn’t we do the same for the 143 million orphans in this world?


James 1:27 "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."

An adoption video

Nate and I feel our hearts breaking for the orphans worldwide. A staggering 143,000,000 children need homes. Watch this video. It really speaks to me to the fact that we are all called to find a solution to this orphan epidemic. If you feel even a dimple of a calling to consider adoption, I pray that you will look into it further. Even if you don't feel led to adopt, can you pray, support, or financially assist a family that does? We are all responsible to act.

I heard a statistic somewhere that if 7% of people who claim to be of Christian faith adopted, there would be no orphans.

Had a Bad Day

I’m having a bad day.

Today I wish I had a baby in my arms. I wish things weren’t going to take so long, I wish my body worked the way I wanted it to, I wish money wasn’t such an issue to move forward with the adoption, I wish this process wasn’t so time consuming and arduous. I wish I had more answers than questions. I wish I could keep these tears from coming.

Yes, I’m having a bad day. Maybe it is because I am exhausted from working so many busy nights in a row and I am sleep deprived and missing my family. Or maybe it’s because bad days are going to happen in life, even when I have so much to be thankful for.

And I do have more blessings than I can count. One of them is my husband Nate. He knows just how to soothe my weary heart when he finds me in a slump of tears on the couch. Seeing a mess of a girl who wished things were a little bit easier.

With a gentle arm around me he knows just how to quiet me with a nudging reminder that we are called to a different path in life. One we didn’t anticipate, but an important one. That there is a child for us, and even though I didn’t physically carry this child my heart will hold our baby until we meet. I am reminded of what a privilege it will be to become a mother again.

My husband’s calming words pacify me for now. I know that today is just one bad day in an abundance of good ones.

Photo-mini's Preview

We lucked out with such a beautiful day for pictures. Thank you again for those who were able to make it! I will mail out your edited pictures later this week.