Saturday, December 31, 2011

Summary of Our 2011 Adoption Journey

So, as we are counting down the hours of 2011, we can't help but think about our journey this past year.  We hope and pray this is our last New Year's Eve celebrating as two, and that next year our family of three will be together.

You can imagine at times like these (and it was even harder at Christmas), our hearts ache and yearn for our child that is so far away.  Sometimes it's as if we are spinning our wheels, a feeling that we are not really going anywhere in our adoption path.  We know that's not true, but honestly that's the way the holidays make us feel.

In an effort to cheer ourselves up, and double checking our finances in preparation for tax season, we created a little presentation of the adoption journey in dollar signs.  We have been so blessed by family and friends from the beginning.   The adoption process can be so fuzzy and gray at times (and we have all the literature and information at our fingertips), we thought that this would be an easy way for our loved ones to see where their donations and prayers are going.

Let's start with the adoption expenses we have already cleared.

We haven't paid our Dossier fees quite yet, but are expecting that to go through in the next week.  We went ahead and marked it as "paid" since we know we have those funds covered.

As many of you know, we have been working really hard to raise this money.  Until October, John was only working part-time but we were still determined to stay out of debt with this adoption so we can be prepared financially to support a baby.  Again, we were blessed by family and friends along the way, just look below.


Unfortunately we have yet to receive our donations from the marathon, but we are hoping that will arrive soon.  That, along with future T-shirt sales, will add to our fundraising total.

In addition, we have been picking up every odd end job that comes our way.  As we went through our adoption deposit receipts, these are a few examples of what we found: babysitting, dog sitting, countless hours of tutoring, tutus for Coppell Dance Centre, Advocare, Daily 5 Presentation in Crandall, CISD mentoring, and chauffeuring our favorite Coppell lacrosse player.

Although crossing these expenses off our list is a major accomplishment, we know there are more fees to come.  In addition, we want to be prepared for the unexpected hurdles that may arise.  Here's what we KNOW we can expect:


The hardest part about this is we just don't know when all this will come about.  We are definitely in the "waiting" stage now, only this time it's in Ethiopia's hands, not the U.S. government. (More on that when we get our number!)

Finally, to sum it all up:
Our intentions for this post are simple really:
1.  Thank our friends and family for the support emotionally, in prayer, and finances.  Hopefully you have a better understanding of journey so far.
2.  Celebrate our progress in the process of adoption.

Looking back on 2011 we will always remember this was the "climb" in our adoption.  Yes, it's been stressful, down right agonizing at times, but we can honestly say we have never felt so close to our Lord, Jesus Christ or our friends and family.

Wishing you all the best in 2012.  Please continue to pray for our family, especially our sweet baby in Ethiopia waiting for his/her forever home.

Sincerely,

The Scotts