Super hero batman elf!

Buddy our elf has been hard at work this Christmas season- After reading the little boys Christmas list and being around our house - he has figured out one of their most favorite things in the world!! It doesn't get much better than this!!
Merry Christmas!!

Caden Day

Five Years ago today we got "the call" that we have a son. What an amazing day that was. It was early in the morning and all 5 of us were on our bed fighting to see the laptop screen and then getting lost in the HUGE eyes that were starring back at us! This is the day we choose to celebrate- because from the first moment I looked at him- he was my child.
I love you sweet boy!!




Caden thought it was great to wake up to Buddy his elf holding a Happy Caden day sign and leaving a Caden Day gift!!

Autographed Baseball for Clean Water for Ethiopia

Ok- I am not good at fundraising or asking for money but when it comes to raising money for clean water I will climb out of my comfort zone and do it! My sweet brother signed a baseball and asked Billy Beane from the movie "Money Ball" to sign it for me so I can raise money for Dig Deep. Half of the water wells are under construction right now and when I finish raising the remaining funds, the entire village (approx 10, 000 people) of Chuko will receive the gift of clean water!!
As we celebrate this Christmas season and reflect on 2011 we can be thankful for all that we have, but think of those that walk many miles a day for nasty, contaminated water to bring home to their families. Help them with the gift of LIFE!! Everyone deserves clean water.

This signed baseball is on ebay until 12/18/11, so go check it out and give it as a gift to the baseball fan in your family. Click HERE for the auction.


If you simply want to donate to the water well for Christmas gifts, then you can go to
www.aglimmerofhope.org/digdeep

I can send you a nice Dig Deep card letting that person know that a gift was given in their honor.



"C" showing his uncle, his new car!!

Baptism at K Kauai

Baptism is very special all in itself, but when you get to do it at K Kauai family kamp with one of your favorite people in the the world, it is even sweeter.
Diana was R & J's small group leader (who they adore) until she moved. Diana still remains a very important spiritual leader for the girls and they wanted Diana to be the one to Baptize them. No one could have been more perfect to do the job! It was a beautiful ceremony with great friends around to show there support.
Sorry mom- it was spur of the moment!!
I am so thankful for great mentors in my kids lives.

- - - - - - FIVE!!!!! - - - - - -

Five years ago today, a very special lady gave birth to the most amazing son! As we were busy preparing for a fun Batman birthday party, I couldn't help but stop and reflect on this very special gift that our family was given.

As he came barreling into our room EARLY this morning, he was so excited that today was finally here. After tearing off a Batman paper chain each morning for so many days, it has finally arrived! Watching him and his excitement was so fun and the anticipation of all of his friends coming to help him celebrate finally reached its culmination today.

Having been to Shebedino where he took his first breath, grieving for what his birth family who doesn't get to experience this with him, and being soooo grateful that I get to be his mom staying up late all week, making capes and masks and preparing for a fun birthday....my emotions are just so jumbled. I love being his mom, I love seeing the beautiful boy that he is turning into. I'm so grateful. . .I'm so honored, but I'm also so grieving for this special woman who gave birth to him, five years ago today. I pray she is looking down from Heaven right now, with her heart so full, seeing the boy he's becoming!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, sweet boy!!

My best friend Kari (my crazy adoption) and I have dreamed of leading a trip together to Ethiopia! We have been friends for over 13 years and both have adopted children from Addis Ababa! We can’t wait to visit orphans all over this beautiful country with a Visiting Orphans team ready to man up 4 the fatherless!

You can apply now for this amazing trip!

Apply Now!

“Simply Love Ethiopia” 12 Day Trip
Dates: June 7-18, 2012
Leaders: Kari Gibson & Julie Neal
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Team Size: 30 persons max
Cost: $3200 – $3400 (trip total varies depending on flight and travel insurance costs)

Details:

Join My Crazy Adoption blogger, Kari Gibson and her best friend, Julie Neal on a 12 day missions adventure to Africa. Together, they are leading a team to minister in Ethiopia and will make sure your time is both powerful for the orphans and immeasurably life-changing for you!

The team will be working for several days in Addis Ababa with Project 61 for extreme needy children living in the Korah city dump… VBS, community BBQ, Home Makeovers, Leper Hospital, and more. We will have a special outreach at Baer Essentials (rural Dahley) outside the city, as well as an excursion to Negash Lodge to see the beauty of rural Ethiopia. We will have the incredible opportunity to hopefully celebrate the inauguration of the Dig Deep Well in Chucko Weyama (My Dig Deep Project) with A Glimmer of Hope. We will visit the community and share in their joy of living with clean water! The team will also minister at two Govt Orphanages [ages infants to teens] as well as visit Fistula Hospital for an exclusive tour of the center and the courageous women featured in the movie “A Walk To Beautiful.” Just for fun- donkey races and bowling!

We are looking for men, women, and teens who want to Man Up 4 orphans!
Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is LOVE. (1 Cor. 13:13)

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Make A Difference today on World Water Day!!

This sweet boy should be in school, instead he is making the long, grueling journey for unclean water. How can they break this cycle when the dirty water is making them sick.
Most of their day is spent gathering water for their families. Clean water would mean more hours to their day to focus on bringing in income for their families instead of dirty water.
Clean water will change their lives in so many great ways!! Everyone deserves CLEAN water.

I am so excited that there is a World Water Day! Water is something that I really, really took for granted until I walked for miles in the shoes of the Ethiopian people (who, ironically, had no shoes). Sometimes being back at home I find myself still taking the flip of a handle at the sink for granted!! Even if I had to walk miles for water, to find myself carrying 40lbs of nasty, filthy, muddy water that animals use the bathroom in and people bath in. How could we even find the strength to function? Survival?! They have no other choice. Water is the only thing that our body HAS to have to live! Eighty percent of their illnesses are due to water-borne diseases. Our littlest one still deals with a parasite and he has been here for two years , and we have great medical care. This is real life (and death) for these amazing people--we can make a difference!!!

$10 can make a difference!! Buy a foot of pipeline and help bring in clean water for Chuko. For more information about this project click here: www.ourglimmerofhope.org/digdeep.

We Hit Water!!!!!

Well, I just got back from Ethiopia and while there, I experienced a week that will be very hard to top. After very little notice, I found myself on a plane heading back to one of my most favorite places in the world!! Immediately after landing in Addis (after many hours of travel) I hopped right into a car and went for another six hours of travel to Chuko Weyama, the site of our clean water project (not to mention our son, Cruz's home village). When I pulled up to the bore hole site, I got very emotional and had to take in the view for a few minutes before I could even get out of the SUV. We pulled up and there was this big water digging machine (no that is not the techie term for that!!) digging away and lots and lots of people from the village watching and waiting. To see that machine working and those beautiful people waiting with anticipation for their first sight of CLEAN water... it was a glimpse of this reality taking shape. These people became real to me on this trip- not just a concept that everyone needs clean water-which they do. But these people have faces and eyes that I got to look into. And they are real. They are stunning, both inside and out, but more than that, they need clean water. Period. So the question is: Will you be one to help them?

How can you help? Buy a foot of pipe for $10.00 each. Now that we have hit water we need many, many feet of pipeline to connect the water distribution points. Only $10 to make a difference; a difference that we take for granted each time we turn on our faucets!

Click on this link to make a difference in the lives of the people of Chuko, Weyama, Ethiopia!!

www.ourglimmerofhope.org/campaign/throw-lifeline-build-pipeline

Throw a Lifeline--Build a Pipeline

For just $10 you can help save a life!!

This part of my campaign is to fund the pipeline that will have five different water points throughout the region. There is 9,735 feet of pipeline that is needed. I am asking you to purchase one foot of pipeline for $10. Help save a life and bring clean water to these people in need! If you buy 10 feet of pipeline for $100 I am going to send you a t-shirt. You may choose one from heathered gray,heathered brown, heathered red, or heathered orange. Please click here for a slide show of the pictures. After being there in person and seeing the faces of these people after hitting water, we must move forward to bring this water to the people of Chuko. This pipeline is like the veins that carry the blood throughout our body. It will carry the water to the five distribution points throughout the region of Chuko so the people can have the life-saving water that is needed so badly. My overall campaign is to raise funds to develop water and sanitation for the village of Chuko Weyama through a general fund-raising campaign.


A Glimmer of Hope helps lifts women and children out of extreme poverty in rural Ethiopia. By using an entrepreneurial model it provides clean water, schools, health clinics and micro-finance loans, one village at a time. 100% of all donations go directly to funding these projects. Glimmer’s endowment covers all its operating expenses and even replaces credit card transaction fees. Every dollar donated through Glimmer reaches the people in need. Over the last 10 years, Glimmer has completed more than 5000 projects and changed 2.4 million lives.

Click here to learn more and to donate!

Thank you for joining with us as we move forward in changing people's lives.

Let the Digging Deep Begin!!!

I am so excited that we have officially raised the funds to begin phase I of our water project!! What does this mean? The project is underway and out for the bidding process. This phase will entail all the labor and rigging necessary to drill the actual 500-meter shaft to where the water is! The shaft will be encased all the way down with steel. What an exciting moment it will be to experience clean water bursting forth out of ground that has been barren and dry for so long!!
So this Christmas season, we invite you to join with us as we "DIG DEEP" in order to change the lives of those who cannot enjoy something we take for granted every day. Clean Water...what a concept. It is amazing to know that we are able to play a part in reaching "the least of these."

For more information, see www.ourglimmerofhope.org/digdeep.