Final Adoption Fundraising Post

Alright, folks.  We are on the homestretch for raising funds to go pick up Abigail from Bulgaria.  We don't know our exact travel dates yet, but it is likely we will be traveling as early as August 14th.  Because of some circumstances beyond our control, we may end up needing to stay in country for two weeks instead of the standard one.  Nothing is definite yet, but we need to plan for the contingency and expenses of two weeks in country.  What exactly are these expenses? you might ask.  Well, here is an estimated breakdown:

Airfare - $5,000
In-country adoption agency fees, translators/drivers, and accommodations - $2,100
In-country personal expenses (food, items needed for Abigail, unexpected emergencies fund) - $1,000
Abigail's VISA - $404
Final payment to English Tutor for Abigail - $300

Total: $8,804

We have about $4,800 of this amount already saved up, so we are asking for people to help us fundraise the final $4,000 needed.

$4,000 in 2 and a half weeks - that is essentially the airfare cost left.  Wow! sounds overwhelming and at times it is.  But I know that wherever God leads, he will get us there.  If you can help out in any way, that would be awesome.

Short of sending us a check for the airfare (for which we would be totally grateful!), there are many fundraising venues we have running for you to donate funds to our adoption that will also give you something in return (besides a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart).

Looking for a tax deduction for your donation - Check out our Adopt Together page here: https://www.adopttogether.org/thegrubaughs

Looking to buy some highly recommended coffee - Our page at Just Love Coffee is the place to go: https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/childofprayer/

Perhaps you want some discounted prices for restaurants - We have a link with CoupAide as well: http://coupaide.com/deal/grubaugh-adoption-fundraiser/

Closet looking a little empty, need a new t-shirt, or want to show your support for adoption - Check out our Adoption Bug T-shirt Fundraiser Site here: http://www.adoptionbug.com/grubaughadoption/

We are also selling some collectibles and vintage toys on Etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TreasuresbyEllie?ref=em

and at Ebay here: http://myworld.ebay.com/trghpu/

You can also link to all of the above using the images to the right on this blog.

Some friends of ours are also helping us do another garage sale next weekend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 1 - 3, the address is: 740 Fox Run Trail, Saginaw, TX.  Come on by!

Thank you SO much for your time in reading this post and considering how you could help us with these final airfare expenses to bring our girl home!

We are parents!

We passed court today!  Woohoo!  We are officially the parents of Abigail Grubaugh. Adopted into her forever family on July 22, 2013.

Thanks everyone for all your prayers so far.  Now comes the wait for travel dates.  It might take two weeks to get the travel dates assigned, and another two to three weeks until actual travel (sometime end of August beginning of September).  Then we get to go pick her up and bring her home to her family!

Praise the Lord from whom all blessing flow.

Court Date!

UPDATE (7/18/13) - We have been notified that the Court Date was moved forward to July 22nd! Woohoo!  And our apostilled final home study agency confirmation letter is on its way now to North Carolina to our adoption agency, and they will send it on to Bulgaria today.  Thank you Lord, for moving that smoothly along.

Text of original post:

Our adoption court date has been scheduled for July 25th!  We have to get one more document from our home study agency that we should have in hand by tomorrow to send for apostille.  It is looking like we will be able to get that document back to Bulgaria in time.  Yay!

Typically, the travel week to pick up the adopted child is four to five weeks after court.  There are a lot of factors involved, so we won't know the exact date for a while yet, but if all goes smoothly, by mid-September, our daughter will be home.

Praising God for his watch-care over us, even when my faith felt small, compared to the mountains of paperwork and process it took to get to this point.

Received Signature - now waiting for Court Date!

Hello everyone! I am excited to report that we have received the final Minister of Justice signature for our adoption file, and our file has now moved to the Courts for the adoption proceeding to officially make our girl part of our family.  Yay!

We are now waiting to hear when our court date will be scheduled.  The agency is pretty sure it will be scheduled for this month, which means it is likely our girl will be home in America sometime in August.  It is getting so close now!

Doing a happy dance.