Today we got an email that stated that our Home Study was officially approved! We will now be moving onto the next steps in our adoption process, which include:  

• Waiting Child Conference Call ( discuss the special needs of our son)
• I-800 Form (Determine the child's eligibility for classification as an adoptee)
• Dossier (Information about our family that China has requested for international adoption)

I know, we don't even know sometimes what all of this paperwork is or what it entails, but we want to keep it all out in the open so every one of our supporters can see why the process of international adoption can take time and cost so much.  But, we keep praying about everything and God keeps reminding us that we are going the right direction.

We have been blessed recently with some anonymous donations to our Bethany Adoption account.  We have no words, other than "THANK YOU" and we say those words with sincere appreciation.  These donations allow us to move forward with every step quicker than we have expected. This means the world to us.   

Our family wishes all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Adam, Hayley & Kiddos
 

 It's a Wrap!

I admit, it has been over a month since I last blogged about our process.  Some of you may be wondering what is happening in our journey to bring home our little guy.  Well, A LOT.  We are in the stage of massive paperwork, interviews and training hours.  So, it may not seem like we are making progress, but it is happening.  Our home study is in it's final stages of APPROVAL which now makes us eligible to apply for adoption grants!  We will also have a phone meeting with the "Bethany China Team", which will help us better know what specific medical/special needs we can properly care for and parent successfully.  We are pretty excited about the next step and continue to be very hopeful of what is to come. 

We had a special visit from KOTA news station.  KOTA is doing a special at the end of November on adoption.  They interviewed families and agencies about the process.  Our hope is that it will help educate and encourage others in our region to also choose this adventure!!  

As you can see in the picture, Reese stayed to her "true" self.  Never a dull moment in our house.  It will be interesting to see what they edit out.  ;)  uh, probably a lot.

  Shoe Drive Ends!

 

Our fundraising efforts are always in full swing.  After many months of gathering (and begging for) athletic shoes for our Angel Bins shoe drive, it finally came to a CLOSE today, October 23!!  Adam and I stayed up late making sure the shoes were properly boxed and taped.  We then got up at 6:30am to place mailing labels on all of the boxes so they could make their journey to Angel Bins headquarters in Los Angeles, CA! 

Total count of shoes was 600!

We should hear from Angel Bins next week on the total amount raised.  It all depends on the weight of the shoes.  Ah, the suspense!  But even better, think of all the people that will get a pair of shoes that they are much in need of!  ALL OF YOU did this!  We thank you for helping us bless others and for the financial blessing it brings our family in getting closer to our total adoption financial goal!  God is good - all the time!

 

Our cheerful helpers!

  

14 XL Boxes full and 1 Medium Box full -- total 15 boxes!

600 pairs of shoes going to meet their new feet in South & Central America!

The UPS driver didn't know what to think pulling up to a residential pick-up and seeing all the boxes.  He asked what on earth we were sending!  Ha!  He couldn't believe we had that many shoes in our garage!  I am going to give a shout out to my awesome neighbor, Gene for helping load the boxes!  (I am pretty sure the UPS guy thanks you too!) Also, to our dear friend, Margaret who would weekly go to our drop off spots and bring me all the shoes!  That helped me immensely since I have the kiddos in the day. 

We can't tell you what a relief and feeling of accomplishment came over us as we watched that big brown truck drive off with all of the shoes we have been collecting over the past 6 months. 

Check out the video ;)  

So now that the rummage sale and shoe drive is done, what will Adam do with a clean garage?   I am sure he is open to ideas.  Because who actually parks in their garage these days?

The next few months bring more scrambling of getting paperwork done and getting closer to actually getting our referral/match with our son.  Every day closer brings much anticipation to seeing his face.  Thank YOU all again for jumping in with us on this journey and for the encouragement and prayers!  

Blessings to you!

Praise the Lord from who all 

BLESSINGS flow.

Our family and AMAZING friends survived the Rummage Sale Fundraiser!  I know you are all anxious to know how much we raised.  So, we won't hold you in suspense any longer.  Drum roll....are you ready for this?

 $6719.54

Adam and I just laughed together when we counted the earnings at the end of the day.  Our goal was $2-3,000 and that was with hopeful hearts.   AGAIN....the Lord has taught us that when we put our total trust in him and take a GIANT leap of faith, that he PROVIDES for his children.  

Some pretty awesome things happened to us this weekend.  We had people who didn't even know us offer to help bring out stored items to be priced, sorted and sold that we just couldn't get to.  There were people who threw in large dollar amounts to our donation bin who didn't buy anything.  Others shared about their own adoption stories.  By the end of the weekend, we couldn't feel our bodies but we felt very blessed and we could see how many people LOVED our new son.   
 
We want to thank our working crew: (not all are pictured above)
JESUS, Oz & Sandi Hespe, Denny & Wyonne Kaemingk, Adam & Lindsey Bauerle, Gene and Leola Ligtenberg, Kim Nelson, Wes and Kim Roth Family, Shelley Cumella, Kim Hague, Margaret Skillman,  Sarah & Jace Wortman, our extended family at Simpsons Printing, & Cole & Ashley Hektner.

As we continue to get closer and closer to a possible referral please keep our family in your prayers.  

THANK YOU sincerely from deep within our hearts!!!  We DID it!!  GOD is GOOD!
Here we come, China!!

Adam, Hayley, Eliot, Anders & Reese 

  THIS WEEKEND. 

It's almost here.  The big rummage sale! Our largest fundraiser that we have been busy planning for months.  The process of prepping for an average sized yard sale is tedious.  When you have family, friends and complete strangers donate enough items to fill 4 garages full of stuff it becomes more than an "average- sized" sale.  It's becomes a "WHAT DID WE GET OURSELVES INTO? - Sale."  It's SO BIG, that Adam had to take time off work to help me and 6 other volunteers get all the items set up.  I am pretty sure all we need now is a ferris wheel, carousel and a couple of clowns.  

So here is your update:

Our Angel Bins Shoe Fundraiser is almost to a close and we have met our goal of 500 pairs of shoes.  Actually...we have went OVER that number and they continue to show up on our doorstep and at our drop off locations.  The shoes will be shipped to South America and Africa to their new "feet" that will put many more miles on them.

Premier Jewelry Party - Our little group of 10 ladies had a fun night of sipping homemade Italian sodas and trying on jewelry.  We raised $250 ! Thanks to Karen Springer, Premier consulant, who donated her net profits to our son's fund.  

Raising Arrows T-shirts - The t-shirt design holds a special place in our hearts.  This mama-designer worked hard on them ;)  Our shirt design showcases the awesome verse -
Psalm 127:3-5.  My Sunday school teacher that led me to the Lord sent Adam and I that verse early on in our adoption process.  She also told us to be patient. And while that is a pretty hard thing to do while adopting, we know we can't get ahead of ourselves.   We hope that some of you find this shirt to be inspiring and wear it proudly.  We will be putting the order in on Sept. 25th and it will take 1-2 weeks to get them turned around.  We hope to sell 50 shirts.

Adam and I are deep into our training hours.  Eliot is not the only one in this household that has went "back to school" this month.  So far, we are pulling good grades. 

Our home study is projected to be complete end of October.  We then move onto our dossier and our actual referral of our son.  Patience is a virtue.

We hope to see you all browsing our sale this weekend.  We have said this before, but will say it again. THANK YOU.  We feel the prayers.  The Lord has given us a peace about finances.  We are able to focus more on preparing ourselves to parent a child with minor special needs.  


Hayley (Writing on behalf of our grateful family.)

  

 

SHOES

I've got big shoes to fill. 

This is my chance to do something. 

I have to seize the moment.

 

- Andrew Jackson -

This mama is not a blogger by any means.  In fact, sometimes at night when I am up late working, I keep racking my brain on what to write to our adoption supporters/followers.  I have found that when I worry about making sure everyone following our journey is updated...well, it gets overwhelming. 

 

So, instead of writing gobbly gook (it's a word, ask Reese), I stay quiet.

 

BUT TODAY....my battery just got re-charged and my hope level just rose again!

 

NINE BOXES of SHOES will arrive tomorrow from Adam's past co-worker from Mitchell. That's 85 pairs of shoes she collected for our goal.  This makes our souls joyful and rejuvenated!  It brings tears to this mama's eyes how GIVING people are.  We thank our GOD for directing people's paths and opening their hearts.

 

From the beginning of our adoption decision, Adam and I sat down trying to find fundraisers that would not only help us bring home our son, but help others as well.  So, not only does Kaemingk baby #4 thank all of our shoe fairies...I am sure every person who receives a pair of nice walking shoes will be just as grateful.

 

Our family is now currently in the home study process.  We will be taking 30+ training hours to help us ready our home and our minds to bringing home a mild - moderate special needs child (OUR SON!).  Thanks to extra jobs, prayers, donations and fundraisers we have successfully paid our way thus far with no debt.  We are looking forward to our HUGE September 12th RUMMAGE SALE which will be our biggest fundrasier.

 

Thanks to ALL OF OUR SHOE FAIRIES for helping make a difference.  We are seizing every moment and praying fervently. 

 

And that my friends, is a blog post worth sharing.  

 

Count the Happies!

Hayley, Adam, Eliot, Anders, and Reese 

 

 

 

 

A Father to the Fatherless

This weekend we all celebrated all of the special father's in our lives.  I was lucky enough to have been raised by the amazing, Oz Hespe. (Yes, that will go to his head and rightfully so.)  My dad is a jack of all trades, hard working and has a sense of humor that is unforgettable.  Of course, it was only natural for me to look for those same qualities in my future husband. Low and behold the Lord placed Adam in my path. Yay, God! 

This past weekend on our long drive back from visiting family in Rochester, Minnesota I got to thinking of how Adam will become a "father to the fatherless."  This made me even more thankful for Adam's heart and his openness to welcoming a fourth child to our crazy crew and loving this child unconditionally.  

Psalm 68 speaks of this very thing.  How awesome is it that ALL of us have a loving heavenly Father that has adopted us and wants to be with us forever?  Pretty awesome.  

Our family is just about to embark into the Home Study phase of our adoption.  We continue to ask for your prayers as we start our training hours, paperwork and fundraising all while running our household and after three little kiddos!  

We love you Adam!  If there was a daddy lottery, I am pretty sure our kiddos have won it ;) Wishing you a very happy FATHER's day!

http://www.youcaring.com/bringing-baby-k-home-adoption-expenses-358019

These Hallelujah's be Multiplied!

 

The Kaemingk’s are inviting you to be a part of our story, one that imitates what God has done for us in Christ.  A story that reminds us that we are all ADOPTED by our heavenly Father.

Adoption has been a desire we have had since we were first married.  Our plans to adopt have surfaced a few times throughout the years but Kaemingk timing is not always God’s timing.  So, we waited and this year it has become clear that we can move forward with His plans for us.

Our family is in the beginning process of international adoption with Bethany Christian Services. As of now, we fit China’s requirements for adoption.  This is a long process.  International adoptions can take up to 2 years or longer.  There are many legal and financial hurdles, and not to mention the mountains of paperwork.  But, this is a small task to tackle to bring a child into a loving home.  OUR HOME.

We are asking for your SUPPORT.  Our family is requesting your PRAYERS.  It does take a village and we have a big village!  Please pray for our discernment throughout our adoption process that we will make the right decisions.  Pray for our waiting child’s health and care-givers. 

We also ask for your prayers in raising funds to help cover the high costs that come with adoption. Our adoption will cost us close to $30,000. No, that’s not a typo.  We refuse to put GOD in a box.  We know His love for His children is real and powerful and that we are called to be this child’s PARENTS and that this child is going to be blessed with three amazing SIBLINGS: Eliot, Anders and Reese.  

We are at the very beginning of our adoption journey and this process is already teaching us humility.  It’s very hard for us to ask for financial help.  We truly believe that all the money in the world is the Lord’s and if you feel called to help, we are grateful for that support.  Our family has chosen to hold a few fundraisers that we hope can help us reach our financial goals as well as SERVE you and others in doing so.  

With any important decision we make in our lives, we look for support from our family and friends.  We appreciate the love and friendship that you all have given to us and our children.  Thank you for loving our family!  

For this child, I have prayed.   

 1 Samuel 1:27

 

- We would like to add two more feet to our home -

Kaemingk Family Adoption Fund