Saturday, March 31, 2007

Drop off Ya’ Junk!

We’re having an Adoption Fundraiser – a HUGE YARDSALE on Saturday, April 21st! And we’re asking all of our friends and family to help out by donating their junk to us!

We will gladly accept anything that you’re willing to part with, but we’ve also decided to divide our yard into specific areas for better “selling!” So, we will have the following areas set-up:

~ books/videos/CD’s/DVD’s
~ toys (indoor and out)
~ clothing (all ages)
~ misc household items
~ furniture

We will take anything that’s left to Goodwill and will be happy to pick-up donation sheets for you while we’re there. (At least, I think that’s legal, I’ve taken multi-family stuff there before and they’ve given me extra forms….)

So…..Here are three things you can do to help:

1) Drop off "ya junk" at our house
2) Tell your friends about our MASSIVE yardsale (I’ll be e-mailing out some flyers later).
3) Then come on out that day and have some fun along with us!
Yee-Haw!!

By the way, we are completely willing to come pick up anyone’s junk, too. It’s just that “Drop off Ya Junk” is a much catchier phrase!

Additional Disclaimer: By the constant and repetitive use of the word “junk” we in no way, shape or form, mean to cause any harm or to insult any of our friends or family by what may appear to be a "negative" word. In fact, we highly respect (and covet) your valuable unuseables and this is one way for us to honor them, or to honor you by honoring them (the junk, that is). He HEE he!

Thank you all for your support!! Hope to see you and/or ya junk soon!

And for more specifics or additional information, you can e-mail me directly at donnamarie4@comcast.net.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Okay, We're IN!!

Yeah! We just got confirmation that our file went into PGN on Thursday, March 22nd. So, yea, now we can do the happy dance!! One more step on the ladder completed.

So, what happens here? Well, refer to the "Go Orange, GO!" post from last week. Basically, our file needs to move along (at lightning speed) to a few different desks and get approved in the Guatemalan system. We now are looking for word that we are "out" of PGN. (As previously mentioned in the "Go Orange, GO!" post, we are hoping for about a 3-5 week processing timeframe.)

If you have not already done so, peruse the section on the right entitled "Just What are the Steps Involved." Scroll to page 3 - and that's where we're at.

So, everyone - prayers please, good thoughts, positive vibes, and a collective focus on an "OUT" of PGN, let's say, by April 19th!

Thank you and God Bless!!

Monday, March 26, 2007

The Unveiling of the Nursery...



Here it is...just finished yesterday, Austin and Logan's Rainforest nursery! Thanks to my awesome friend, Jennifer who did all of the very talented artwork!


My friend Anne painted the walls for me when she was 4 months pregnant. I am not allowed to paint anymore. Mom and I made the curtains and one of the bumpers, she's still working on the other one. Mom also made to the two alligators on the back of their cribs and I made the two blankets hanging over the edge of each crib.

























































































We named him, "Icky" the Iguana!


























As you can see, we have plenty of stuff, just need them!!














Friday, March 23, 2007

In PGN?

I've been waiting all week to post an update, but I needed an update to post. ;-)

We were hoping and praying that we had gotten into PGN on Mon or Tues of this week and I was looking forward to posting that. However, we've had to add that element of drama again. Here I sit on Friday afternoon, hitting "refresh, refresh, refresh" on my e-mail.

There’s a rumor that we got into PGN yeterday. However, we’re waiting on confirmation of that (in the form of an e-mail) that really should be here any minute…

So, if you need me, I'll be glued to my computer (as always)...

refresh, refresh, refresh

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Go Orange GO!

Okay, so last week we FINALLY got Austin’s pre-approval. Now (I’ll try to be brief) what needs to happen next is for our lawyer (in Guatemala) to go to the US Embassy and pick up that Pre-Approval (hopefully happened last week), spend a few days “authenticating, signing, stamping, sealing it” etc and to add that document to the rest of our file (which in my mind is about 8 lbs of paperwork at this point!) and deliver all of that to PGN – which is the Guatemalan’s last stage of the process. There it will pass through many hands and many desks all in the pursuit of authentications, signatures, more stamps, approvals, and maybe even a wax seal or two!

At this point, we are waiting on word that we are IN to the PGN phase of our journey. Again, refer to the timeline on the right. Every step on the ladder matters!! In the fall, an average file stayed in PGN 6-8 weeks. Since January, we have seen that time shortened to about 5 weeks!?!

We are, at this time, asking for a two part prayer – one, that we get into PGN early this week (Mon or Tues) and two, that ours is one of the fastest cases EVER to get out of PGN! We pray that our file touches the right person’s hand at the right moment in God’s time for miracles to happen! I want that file barely on each person’s desk long enough for them to do what they need to do and then movin’ it on to the next person’s desk in record time!

In fact, I’m going to visualize my file being an offensive, yet eye catchy, neon orange and that it actually glows. It’s SO bright, those folks in PGN are actually looking for it before it gets to their desks! They’re standing over the person who’s turn it is to review it and telling them to “Hurry up, it’s my turn to look at and approve that file!”
¡ApruĂ©beme!