Blessed Beyond Belief!

This weekend we had our first fundraiser for Naika's adoption. We have not ever fundraised for our adoptions before, so this is kind of new ground for us. We decided to participate in the neighborhood garage sale as a fundraiser and people showed up to support us in ways that BLEW OUR MINDS! We had people donate money without buying anything, donate WAY more than what they spent, pay $10 for cupcakes. I could go on and on, but I will get to the point...We EXCEEDED our weekend goal. Our next BIG fundraiser is next weekend when we are hosting a craft/home business/bake sale at our local church. It is going to be a GREAT event and if you are in the area, you will NOT want to miss it :). I also added a gadget on the left side of the blog so you can all see our progress as we try to make our $25000 goal. If When we accomplish that goal, Naika's adoption will be fully funded! There is also a DONATE button, in case anyone feels led to give. This button will allow you to donate using any of the credit cards listed. Thank you all again for your support!!! Melissa

Easy Street vs Hard Way

Since announcing that we were adding to our family again we have gotten mixed reviews from family and friends. Those opinions increased when we shared that Naika is a special needs child with FAS.Most people have been supportive and on the same note some people have showed concern that we already have enough with 3 children and that Naika having special needs will just be TOO HARD. Though I do respect their opinions, as they are entitled to them, it has got me thinking. Most things we "choose" to do in life are not choices that we make because they are "easy", but instead things that we feel are best for our lives at that time. For instance, I LOVE my hubby in fact we will be celebrating 8 years of marriage together tomorrow, but life was "easier" when I was single. I mean I did not have to share my space, cook and clean for multiple people, discuss things I wanted to buy with someone else, compromise...you get the point. But I made a choice to say "YES" to my husbands sweet question of "So do you want this??"(that is another story!). Let me take it one step further, when I chose to move out of my parents house that was not the EASY STREET kind of thinking. I mean why leave a place where everything was taken care of for me? Where I had no responsibilites to speak of? It was not easy, but it WAS the best decesion for me at that time in my life. As far as building our family through international adoption, that has by far been the HARDEST way to build our family BUT it was Absolutely the BEST decesion we have ever made. We could have easily decided to not have children or we could have tried having biological children, but we made a choice to adopt our children because we felt it was right for our lives. Not Easy, but Right. I guess my point is, that though I respect people who want to "warn" us how hard things will be, I would appreciate the same respect of the choice we are making. A lot of prayer and discussion went into making the decesion to add Naika to our family and I know we will all be Blessed to have her in our lives. Thank you all for your continued support, prayers and love. We could not do what we do without all of you!!! Melissa