Winner of the TV!!

Thank you to all who entered for this drawing.  The winner of the TV is Susan Russell! Congratulations Susan!!!    And here are some pictures of my cute little helper drawing the name.  He was so excited to help!

Just Love Coffee

 

Okay coffee drinkers, this one is for you!  We have set up an online store front with Just Love Coffee.  If you have never heard of Just Love Coffee, they are a wonderful organization that helps adoptive families fundraise through selling various coffees.  A portion of each sale will benefit our adoption.  Click on the Just Love Coffee Logo and once you are on the website, click on "Shop" at the top of the page and you can view the different coffees on the left.  You can even join their coffee club to have your coffee shipped to you at regular intervals in which you choose so you never run out!  Please be sure you see Pannell Family Adoption at the top of the page before checking out to be sure your purchase is credited to our adoption fund.  Thank you for your support!

32 Inch LCD TV Giveaway

 

32 Inch LCD HDTV

 

You must be able to pick this item up in the Trussville area. To enter, make a donation through the donate button on this blog and include your contact info and "TV Giveaway" in the notes section. $10 for one entry or $25 for 3 entries. Drawing will be held on December 21st.

*We reserve the right to cancel this giveaway and refund all money received if we do not have enough entries to cover the cost of the TV

Santa Letters and TV Giveaway

Santa Letters

 

Your child will receive a personalized letter addressed to him or her from Santa. Each letter will be unique and printed on a festive Christmas paper. To order a letter, click on the donate button on my blog and donate $10 per letter. Once you have made a donation, please email me at jpannell76@gmail.com with the following information:

Child's name and age

Mailing address

List of what the child wants for Christmas

Anything else you would like to be included in the letter

Letters will be mailed within three days of receiving your order.

32 inch LCD TV Giveaway

 

 

 

You must be able to pick this item up in the Trussville area.  To enter, make a donation through the donate button on this blog and include your contact info and "TV Giveaway" in the notes section. $10 for one entry or $25 for 3 entries. Drawing will be held on December 21st. 

*We reserve the right to cancel this giveaway and refund all money received if we do not have enough entries to cover the cost of the TV



Winners of the AG Doll and Basket Giveaways!

Thank you to everyone who entered for our drawings!  Your support means so much to us.  And thank you Ann for drawing the winners names for us!

The winner of the American Girl Doll is Corrie Moncrief!  Congratulations Corrie!

 

 

The winner of the Basket Giveaway is Sharon Long!  Congratulations Sharon!

 

 



Current Giveaways and Fundraisers

We have several fundraisers going on now and some end in just a few days.  Please check these out and share with your friends or anyone you know who may be interested.  We need to raise $3500 to pay our 2nd agency payment and CIS fee.  You can see our progress through the goal thermometers on the right side of this blog.  We have completed our home study visits and are just waiting for the agency to complete the paperwork so we can send the 800A form to immigration for final approval before sending paperwork to China.

Basket Giveaway ~ $502 Value!! 

Included in basket:

Cross Painting - It's so You Art by Jenny Ballentine - $30

4x6 Block Frame - Joyful Expressions - $20

Photography Package - Benzaia Photography - $300

Three husky paracord bracelets - Tanner Pannell - $12

Burlap Owl and Santa Ornaments - All Wrapped Up - $14

Red Cross Applique Tower - Heart to Heart - $10

Reindeer Applique Hand Towel - Lil' Monkey Designs - $15

Huskies Charm Necklace - Princess Charming - $35

Life Necklace - Olive Tree Creations - $28

Mud Pie Hairbow - Spruce Boutique - $12

Set of 4 Coasters - Joyful Expressions - $12

Alabama Hand Tower - Debbie Elliiott - $14

 

You will receive the basket and all items are included.  To enter for the basket, make a $10 donation and include your contact info and "Basket Giveaway"  in the notes section.  Drawing will be held on December 10th.

Here are pictures of a few things in the basket:

 

Next ~ American Girl Doll Giveaway

 

 

You may choose any doll, or any combination to equal $105, such as one American Girl Doll, two bitty babies, one bitty baby plus accessories, or $105 in accessories!  To enter, make a $10 donation for one entry or $25 donation for three entries and include your contact info and "American Girl Doll"  in the notes section. 

 

 

Letters From Santa

 

 

Your child will receive a personalized letter addressed to him or her from Santa. Each letter will be unique and printed on a festive Christmas paper. To order a letter, click on the donate button on my blog and donate $10 per letter. Once you have made a donation, please email me at jpannell76@gmail.com with the following information:

Child's name and age

Mailing address

List of what the child wants for Christmas

Anything else you would like to be included in the letter

Letters will be mailed within three days of receiving your order.

32 inch LCD TV Giveaway:

To enter, make a donation through the donate button and include your contact info and "TV Giveaway"  in the notes section.  $10 for one entry or $25 for 3 entries.  Drawing will be held on December 21st.

 

 

 

 

Survival Bracelets

My 11 year old wanted to help raise money for the adoption, so he decided to make these "survival bracelets".  This has turned out to be a popular item!  The bracelets are $4 each and make great stocking stuffers!  Here are some pictures of some of the color choices.  We also take special orders and they come in all sizes.

 

 

 

 

 



Basket Giveaway

Yesterday a sweet friend hosted a Christmas Open House at her home and donated a portion of sales to help with our adoption costs.  We had a great time and Tanner (my 11 year old) even went with me to sell paracord bracelets that he made!  Several ladies donated items to put in a basket for us to raffle off.  Thank you for your donations and to all of those who came by and shopped.  We will draw for a winner of the basket on December 10th.  To enter, just make a $10 donation through the donate button on my blog and include your contact information as well as "basket giveaway" in the notes section.

Items included with basket:

Cross Painting - It's so You Art by Jenny Ballentine - $30
4x6 Block Frame - Joyful Expressions - $20
Photography Package - Benzaia Photography - $300
Three husky paracord bracelets - Tanner Pannell - $12
Burlap Owl and Santa Ornaments - All Wrapped Up - $14
Red Cross Applique Tower - Heart to Heart - $10
Reindeer Applique Hand Towel - Lil' Monkey Designs - $15
Huskies Charm Necklace - Princess Charming - $35
Life Necklace - Olive Tree Creations - $28
Mud Pie Hairbow - Spruce Boutique - $12
Set of 4 Coasters - Joyful Expressions - $12
Alabama Hand Tower - Debbie Elliiott - $14

Here are pictures of a few things in the basket:

$502 Value!!

Letters From Santa

We are doing a fundraiser for letters from Santa.  Your child will receive a personalized letter addressed to him or her from Santa.  Each letter will be unique and printed on a festive Christmas paper.  To order a letter, click on the donate button on my blog and donate $10 per letter.  Once you have made a donation, please email me at jpannell76@gmail.com with the following information: 

Child's name and age
Mailing address
List of what the child wants for Christmas
Anything else you would like to be included in the letter

Letters will be mailed within three days of receiving your order.

Home tour complete!!

Our social worker came to our house today for our home tour and final home study visit.  We should get a list from her some time tomorrow or Wednesday of any forms that still need to be completed.  Once she has looked over the home study and all paperwork is complete, we will submit our I800-A form and wait for approval from USCIS which can take 2-3 months.  We have some required online training that we must complete as well before the home study can be complete.  Please pray that everything will continue to move quickly and we can hurry and find our daughter!   

Winner of the 4 wheeler!!

 

The lucky winner of the 4 wheeler is Michelle Taylor!! Congratulations!! We captured the drawing on video and pictures to be fair to everyone.  Thank you to all who entered.  After paying for the 4 wheeler, we were able to add $316 to our adoption fund!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goal Thermometers

I have set up a couple of goal thermometers to keep everyone informed of the amount of money we have raised and the amount needed.  Our adoption will cost approximately $30,000.  I will update this thermometer with the total money raised, but I am also creating thermometers for individual goals as we need them.  This helps me to look at a smaller number.

American Girl Doll Giveaway!!!

 

Win an American Girl Doll of your choice!!

 

 

We are giving away one American Girl Doll of your choice!

We will be taking entries now through December 9th.  The winner will be announced on December 10th.

Our current goal is to raise $3500 for our second agency payment ($2578.75) and the Citizenship and Immigration fee ($890).  These fees are due at the completion of the home study (our home tour is 11/26/12).

To enter:

Click on the Donate button on the top right of my blog and make a donation.  If you prefer, you can give me your donation in person or mail a check.  Leave a comment on this post with your email address and I will send you my mailing address.  If paying through paypal, please be sure to include your contact information and "American Girl Doll"  in the notes section.

You will receive one entry for every $10 donation or three entries for every $25 donation.  I will send an email confirming receipt of payment.

We will have a drawing on December 10th and the winner will be contacted immediately.  To be fair, I will have someone else (not sure who just yet) present to witness the drawing.

Once we contact you to let you know you have won, you will be able to choose the doll you would like and it will be ordered and shipped directly to you.

If we are lucky enough to receive more than 150 entries, we will draw for two different winners and give away two dolls!!  As an incentive to help us make this a successful fundraiser, if you send 10 or more people to make a donation for this fundraiser and you are the winner, you will also choose $25 in accessories for the doll chosen!  Be sure and have each person you send notify me that you sent them.

Please share this fundraiser with everyone you know and don't forget to ask grandparents to enter!

If we do not have enough entries to cover the cost of the doll, we will refund all donations received and cancel the giveaway.

Overwhelmed

Today we had our third home study visit, the last one before the home tour.  This visit lasted two hours and 15 minutes.  We talked about our kids some, and mostly about the adoption and the children waiting to be adopted.  This was a very emotional visit for me.  All of the home study visits have been emotional for me, but this one even more so.  While I have researched a lot, I learned things today that I didn’t know and wasn’t prepared to hear.

This journey we are on feels a lot like being pregnant to me.  I feel like my hormones are all over the place and I am amazed at how emotional I am at times.  I daydream about what our child will be like just as I did with my boys.  I have hopes and dreams for this child just as I do for my boys.  And my thoughts are consumed with this precious child that I haven’t even seen yet.  There are so many similar feelings, but there are differences as well. 

While I carried my boys, we hoped and prayed they would be born healthy.  I knew they were being well cared for because they were with me and I was sure to do only what I thought was best for the baby we were waiting for.  While I wait for the day that Little Miss is placed in my arms, I have no control over how she is being treated.  How many hugs does she get every day or does she ever get one?  Does she get enough to eat?  Does anyone say “I love you”?  Does anyone care if she is hurt or sick?  Does she even know what love is or how to love?

I thought my eyes were open to the need for families for orphans.  After today’s meeting, my eyes have truly been opened to this need and so much more.  I am heartbroken.  I have struggled to keep it together all day.  Please pray for these sweet children.  Please pray that each child will be placed in a forever family.

Four Wheeler Giveaway

 

We have this Fisher Price Kawaski four-wheeler to give away!  It is brand new in the box.  This would make a great Christmas gift for someone.  It is for ages 3+ and up to 65lbs.  $230 value

We are currently trying to raise about $2600 for our second agency payment that is due in a couple of weeks.  We will have several giveaways and fundraisers going on.

You will get one entry for each $10 donation.  To enter please click on the donate button on the top right of my blog and make a donation.  We will draw for a winner on Wednesday, November 21st.  You must be able to pick this up in the Trussville area. 

Update

We are about halfway through our home study.  We have completed the orientation interview, the first meeting with our social worker and today I completed my individual interview with our social worker.  Tomorrow Robert will meet with the social worker for his individual interview and then we will have another meeting with her together next week.  About a week after that, we will have a final home tour to complete the home study.

We have had a little trouble with the fingerprints.  Our cards were returned to us because they were incomplete, so we completed them and resent them on 10/26.  Then, there was an error with the way the SBCN entered Robert's name into the computer and they had to correct it and resubmit his cards.  Even with these obstacles, we are still ahead of schedule as our fingerprint clearances are complete as of today and we are just waiting for them to arrive in the mail.  We were told that we should receive them in about a week.  Originally we expected to have a wait time of up to three months so if they arrive in a week, that will only be about a one month wait.  I am praying that we receive the clearance letters very quickly.  I thought this would be a painfully slow process from the beginning but so far everything seems to be moving along faster than I expected.  I am prepared for obstacles ahead, but I am thankful that everything seems to be moving along so well right now.

Why Adoption? Why China?

Robert and I knew we planned to adopt for about a year before we told anyone, including close family.  We had talked a little about it to a few people, mostly to get answers to questions, but once we knew that we would adopt we kept it to ourselves.  This gave me a lot of time to think, to read blogs of friends adopting as well as blogs of people I have never met, and time to research.  I knew that people would ask why.  Several people have asked why China and even why adoption.  I am not at all offended by these questions, and even though I knew people would ask I don't ever feel like I satisfy their curiosity with my answers.

Why China?  After much prayer and discussion, we chose China just because it felt right.  I really don't have a better reason than that.

Why not adopt from here?  Again, China just feels right.  While there are plenty of children in our country that need a home, there are orphans all over the world.  None are better than others and we feel led to go to China.

Why Adoption?  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.  James 1:27

Now I'm not saying this verse means everyone should adopt.  We feel led to adopt, while others may foster, and others give support by simply praying for families adopting and encouraging them.

I know we will still hear these questions and that is okay, I just may not have the best answers.  I love talking to anyone about this journey we are on, it is the same excitement I felt while waiting to meet my biological children!

 

Survival Bracelet Fundraiser

We have a new fundraiser!  Tanner (my 11 year old son) is making survival bracelets and selling them for $4 each.  All of the money raised goes into our adoption fund.  You may choose one or two color bracelets and we can get most colors.  If you would like to place an order, just message me the wrist size and color choice.  Most bracelets can be made within a day if we have the colors you want in stock.  These make great stocking stuffers!

 

 

Orientation Interview

Today we had our orientation interview.  This interview was a phone call from our social worker that lasted an hour.  Our social worker explained how the process would go and the time frame for each step of the adoption.  She had a list of questions to ask us and answered any questions we had.  Robert and I have a couple of things to be working on, but we have already completed most of the paperwork that is needed and we are currently just waiting on the fingerprints and the homestudy.  The fingerprint clearance can take up to three months but we are praying it will come back sooner.  The homestudy will consist of three visits at the agency and a final home tour and should be complete in about two months.  I'm excited that we are finally starting the homestudy and can't wait to complete it so we will be a little closer.  I will be posting some fundraisers that we are working on very soon.

Necklace Fundraiser

"Hope"  necklace

We are selling these necklaces for $20 each.  These are made locally by my sister.

  http://www.facebook.com/#!/OliveTreeCreations?fref=ts

        Ribbon color choices are light pink, light green, blue, orange, black fuchsia, chocolate and lilac.

 

A little update

We got a call from our social worker last Monday, 10/8.  She basically just wanted to introduce herself and tell us what needed to be done before we can start the home study.  We had a ton of forms to complete so we got started on those immediately.  We also received our fingerprint cards in the mail Friday 10/5, so we went to the Trussville Police Department and had our prints taken.  Some of the forms needed to be notarized so we were going to take the forms to the agency along with the fingerprint cards just to be sure everything was completed correctly but the agency was closed for two days due to a retreat and our social worker had to leave early one day so we just got everything to the agency today.  Next we will schedule an appointment for our orientation interview which is the first part of the home study.  Please keep us in your prayers as we have a long road ahead of us!   

First emails received

Yesterday we received several emails from our agency.  We received a welcome letter as well as the CAM (China Adoption Manual) and several attachments that explain how everything works.  The CAM is about 100 pages so we have alot of information to review.  We are currently just waiting to hear from the social worker assigned to us so we can begin the home study.  I am anxious to be further along in the process so this will feel more like a reality but I am very happy to be where we are.

Adoption Timeline

9/28/12 - Submitted application and paid app fee $250
10/3012 - Received CAM and welcome email
10/5/12 - Received fingerprint packet and paid SBCN fees $97
10/8/12 - First call from our Social Worker
10/9/12 - Fingerprints taken
10/16/12 - Fingerprint cards mailed to SBCN
10/19/12 - Paid first agency payment $2578.75
10/23/12 - Orientation Interview
10/26/2012 - Fingerprints returned to us and remailed to SBCN
10/31/2012 - First Homestudy meeting @ agency
11/7/2012 - My individual home study meeting
11/8/2012 - Received my fingerprint clearance letter, Robert's individual home study meeting
11/10/2012 - Received Robert's fingerprint clearance letter
11/14/2012 - Paid for Hague online training $195
11/15/2012 - Third home study meeting @ agency
12/12/2012 - Jennifer's medical
12/13/2012 - Robert's medical
12/13/2012 - Paid for IAC Online Training $150
12/27/2012 -  Home Study complete!
12/28/2012 - I-800A sent to immigration $890, paid 2nd agency payment $2578.75
12/31/2012 - I-800A received at USCIS Lockbox (we received notice 1/8/2013)
1/3/2013 - Applied for Robert and Jennifer's passports
1/22/2013 - Received passports in the mail
2/2/2013 - Received I-797 (immigration approval)
2/4/2013 - Dossier sent to county/state $39 + $65
2/12/2013 - Dossier back from county/state
2/13/2013 - Dossier sent to consulate $150 + $325
2/21/2013 - Dossier authenticated, arrived at LL from consulate
2/26/2013 - DTC!!!  $1,190
3/25/2013 - LID!!!  Finally!
7/8/2013 - Received referral 9:49PM!!!
7/10/2013 - Call from Dr. Chambers at 8:44 PM
7/11/2013 - Submitted LOI
7/25/2013 - Received PA (Pre-approval)!!
8/13/2013 - Received email that our paperwork is at the reviewed stage
8/28/2013 - LOA!!!  Dated 8/22/2013
8/30/2013 - 800 paperwork sent to immigration
9/3/2013 - Applied for Carter's passport
9/9/2013 -  Received letter of receipt for 800 paperwork (receipt date 9/3/2013)
9/14/2013 - Received Carter's passport
9/19/2013 - RFE
9/27/2013 - Received 800 Provisional Approval Notice (incorrect date)
10/1/2013 - Received email w/GUZ# and PDF from NVC (EK's name misspelled)
10/4/2013 - Article 5 submitted

Our journey begins

Robert and I started talking about adoption in the spring of 2011. I spent many hours researching and began to think this may not be for us. I found every reason why we shouldn’t adopt. Robert never really seemed to have any doubts but I am a worrier and I tend to overanalyze things. Although I had decided I didn’t think it was a good idea to do this, I just couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. While driving home one day after dropping the boys off at school, I had a moment when I felt that God was commanding us to go and so here we are. Today we met with our agency and submitted our application, we were there about an hour just talking and asking questions. So this is the beginning of our journey to adopt our daughter from China!

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. 
                                                                                                                                              James 1:27