We are still here.

Lately we have been working on a grant application while keeping someone special (in Uganda!) in our hearts. We may have some incredible news in the next couple of weeks– please keep us in your thoughts as we continue down the road of international adoption. We have two adoption classes coming up, and we are doing all that we can to continue to raise funds! Stay tuned for more soon. 

Blessed

First photo: Our receipt from Homeland Security. This means we will find out our fingerprint appointment in the next 10-14 days. It is nice to have a timeframe to hang on to- I feel it is easier to remain patient with a tangible piece of paper I can look at and count down days.

Second photo: Jake and Karin are undoubtedly two of the most kindhearted individuals we know! We are blessed with supportive friends and family, but we wanted to share what Jake and Karin did with the poster they bought from us. They came out to support us for the bike ride we did in June, and they have been holding on to their wristbands from the event since then. That alone suggests how thoughtful they are in supporting our cause. They called the other day to see if they could purchase one of our posters, and we were thrilled! Their enthusiasm did not stop there. A few days after they purchased the poster, Jake posted the photo above on Instagram. They framed the poster with the wristbands from the bike ride. It is difficult to explain in words how this touched our hearts. This was our intent with the poster. We wanted to create a piece of art that represents our journey, so supporters could hang it in their homes and be forever reminded of how they changed the lives of three individuals. We would not be able to bring our daughter home without the support of others. Thank you to the selfless people we are fortunate to have on our side!

Bike Ride

The bike ride today was a huge success! It was a beautiful morning, and we could not have asked for a more supportive group of people to be part of this event. Friends arrived at 6:45am to reserve the covered picnic tables, and the riders arrived shortly after that. After the ride, everyone enjoyed lunches packed by my mother and shared funny stories. It was a day full of sun, laughter, food, bikes, and friends. It is encouraging to have such incredible people in our lives to help us throughout our journey. We look forward to introducing our daughter to everyone involved in helping us bring her home! Monico and I could not do this without all of you.

Africa’s Daughters

Why Uganda? Why a girl? Watch this video to find out more about the reasoning behind our decision.

Video Version of our Zine

This is a video version of the zine we created a couple weeks ago. It explains some of our reasoning for adopting from Uganda, and a little more about us. Click here. Enjoy!

Lisa Turns 26!

Lisa turns 26 in ten days, and we are hoping to have at least 300 people donate just $10 toward our adoption to celebrate! Please CLICK HERE to donate, and share this event with as many people as possible. Thank you!

Zine

The fruit of our PhotoShop labor. Please read and share!

Posters

Our time creating posters has come to an end, and we are excited to start sending them out to the many people helping us bring our daughter home. These posters represent the heart within a beautiful young girl waiting for us in Uganda. We know her heart is full of love. We know she is likely alive at this time, because we are not adopting a newborn. It is about 6am in Uganda as I type, and I can’t help but hope she is sleeping comfortably and she is well. We hope for her safety and well-being often throughout each day. All we can do at this point is remain patient while paperwork is being completed. In the meantime, we are looking to others for support. Purchasing a poster for $50 is certainly one of the ways in which you can do so. With the purchase of a poster, you are not only helping us, but you are instrumental in helping us decrease the number of orphans (2.5 million!) in Uganda. Please click the ‘Buy Now’ button if you wish to purchase a poster. If the cost of a poster is not affordable at this time, we are grateful for any amount donated.

Plan and Visit

Monico crafted a brilliant letter we could send out to family and friends that explains why we chose Uganda. When we read it together, we both decided it would be a good idea for us to put all of the information together in a zine that we could distribute to more than just family and friends. This week has been dedicated to doing just that. We spent a total of 30 hours creating our masterpiece in Photoshop. It was my first experience with such an involved project in Photoshop- I am thankful for my teacher (Monico!). Our goal with this project is to not only raise awareness about the heart-wrenching number of orphans in Uganda, but to also have another keepsake we can eventually share with our daughter. Every step in this process is intentional. We want her to know that we are thinking about her each time we sign a form, or meet with someone from our agency. Each decision we make in this process is for her. Our hearts and home are ready for her.

In other news, we had our first home visit with our social worker today. We thought it went well, and we really appreciate how supportive she was. Completing the visit today means we are just about finished with our home study. Yay!

Questionnaires

We have both spent many hours staring at word documents containing pages and pages of questions today. Our first questionnaire was not as involved as the second one, but pretty lengthy. The second document was an entire 18 pages of extensive questions. This did not sound appealing to me at first, but as I started to sneak peeks of Monico’s responses, I found myself feeling more and more excited. I know we still have an arduous process in front of us, but I could not be more appreciative of the person I have in my life to do this with. Not only is he incredibly thoughtful throughout our paperwork process, but he is already talking about putting night lights in our daughter’s bedroom. What a man!