Update

I am half done my home study process and we are on track to having our last session on Dec 6th or 7th.  Then my social worker will write up a home study report and my agency will approve it.

When you are adopting you have the option of waiting until your home study approved before you pay the next fee and start collecting the parts of your dossier. Or you can do them at the same time so that you are able to submit soon after the home study is done. I will be making my next payment this week so that I can start the process of gathering all the parts of my dossier. Paperwork has a time period that it is good for and so once it passes a specific time frame you have to get it redone and so my goal is to have to not have to redo things...as redoing papers and documents means more expense I have to pay.

On Sunday, Aiden saw me holding one of the little guys who comes to our house for respite and he asked Mom "Did Heather get her boy from Bulgaria?" I am excited to see him understanding that I am adopting and that he will have a nephew from Bulgaria! I cannot wait to introduce them to each other.

Grateful

Tonight as I have started to write thank you cards I am overwhelmed with a sense of thankfulness and praise to God. When I said yes to God and started this journey I knew I could not do it alone but I did not know that you would support me so well. Thank for you giving of your hard earned money and for making this adoption possible. I pray that God will bless you 100 fold.

I am up to having $9650 raised and each gift of money I receive my hearts overflows with more gratitude to God. He is a faithful God who provides each step of the way.

Thank You!!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to my Silent Auction and Dinner. I am so thankful to each of your for your support and for coming alongside of me. We raised over $2860!!!! Together with other donations and personal savings I have my next payment of $5500 ready to go. I am so thankful!

So my number of $35,000 needed is now down to $26,450!  I almost have a third of my adoption funded; I just need $3116.67 to reach that goal!


A HUGE thank you to:

Josh and the Tribe at RSDK




To check out the RSDK Apparel go to HERE


Black Rock Resort in Ucluelet


It is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is a perfect place to go for a weekend away.

For more information go HERE


Pacific Surf School in Tofino












To book a surfing lesson go HERE


Thank you to The Quality Resort Bayide for hosting the evening!












For more information go HERE


Thank you for Emily at My Little Nest



For more information check out My Little Nest on Facebook!

I would also like to thank:
Prancing Pony
Ivy Cottage
Petal and Kettle
Curves
Lighthouse Gift Shop
Bea's Nest
Wilde and Sparrow
Soak Essentials
Simply B Images
Rachel Bosch Photography
and many others who donated items.

I couldn't have done it without you!

With deepest gratitude,
Heather

Hosting a Silent Auction for your Adoption

I hosted my first silent auction. I have never been to a silent auction and so it was a first for me and I would say that it was a success! We raised over $2860! I thought that I would share the details of how we organized it in case it can be an encouragement or help others who are adopting.

Booking a venue:
We booked the event at a local resort and so we paid $20 per adult and $10 per child to the resort and I sold the tickets for $30 for adults and $10 for children. I only had two children attend and so with 63 adult tickets sold I profited $630 before the auction earnings. That price included a pasta buffet, dessert, coffee, tea and punch as well as all the linens and they clean everything up after the event. As well, the resort donated a gift certificate to the auction!

Inviting people:
My sister designed nice invitations on the computer and we mailed them to friends and family who live within 2 hours of our town along with a letter talking about my upcoming adoption.

Facebook is a great tool. We created an event on Facebook and invited anyone local. As well, we put signs up at the local mall and a grocery store. If you attend a church that is adoption friendly I would suggest asking them to put it in the bulletin.

Obtaining Item for the Auction:
I was overwhelmed by the amount of items I received. I received around 100 items. I emailed friends, family and acquaintances who have businesses and had a very positive response. As well, I emailed companies in a neighbouring city that has high tourism traffic and my sister went to some local companies and asked them to donate items.

I received:

• $500 to a resort on the West Coast of the Island
• two surfing lessons
• many gift certificates
• flowers
• pictures
• photo sessions
• games
• movie night baskets
• along with so many other items

Setting up and running of the Auction:
Make sure that you have enough tables so that the items are not too crowded. We had 8 large rectangular tables and could have used 10. We placed the tables around the edge of the room.

We made bidding sheets for each item and placed it in front or beside each item. We made our own sheets similar to this one.

The rules were:

• highest bidder wins
• must start at minimum bid
• have to pay by cash or cheque

We allowed throughout the night specific times for people to bid and then we closed the tables in 2 groups. If I was to do it again I would have closed the tables in four groups. As bidding closed my family would use a sticky note to place in the item with the winners name and the amount of the winning bid. When the whole auction had closed they tallied how much each person owed and they gave them the amount as they left at the end of the evening.


We also had a kids table where they could buy the items at set prices. I had items for .25, $1, $2, $3,$4 and $10.


Program for the Evening:
5:30 Bidding on the items and mingling
6:10 Supper with a pianist playing
6:50 Bidding
7:00 Quiz on Bulgaria with prizes (below)
7:15 Two minutes to finish bidding on specific tables and then close them
7:20 Name the Eastern European Countries on the blank map quiz with prizes (I gave them a list of countries that they had to identify)
7:35 Finishing bidding on remaining items
7:50 Closed bidding and my family started tallying how much people owe.
7:55 I shared about the adoption journey I am on, why I have chosen to adopt a boy with Down   Syndrome from Bulgaria and how people can get involved.
8:10 A friend prayed for me and I thanked everyone for coming. People paid for the items they won on their way out.



Lessons learned:

• ensure you have adequate time to set up
• recruit help
• provide table games that involve minimal marking or get a teacher friend to help you!

Bulgarian Quiz

1.      What is the population of Bulgaria?

a.      6.9 million

b.      1.2 million

c.       7.3 million

d.      4.3 million

 

2.      What is the name of the Bulgarian President?

a.      Rosen Plevneliev

b.      Vladimir Putin

c.       Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta

d.      Petar Stoyanov

 

3.      How many kilometres is a direct flight from Vancouver to the capital of Bulgaria?

a.      9,307

b.      7,910

c.       11,909

d.      12,082

 

4.      What is the average high temperature in Bulgaria in October?

a.      10°F

b.      18°F

c.       21°F

d.      32°F

 

5.      What is the national flower of Bulgaria?

a.      rose

b.      tulip

c.       snowbell

d.      fire lily

e.      iris

 

6.      When did they become a member of the European Union?

a.      1999

b.      2005

c.       2007

d.      2011

7.      Which of the following is words is Bulgarian?

a.      картоф

b.      barabulă

c.       кромпир

d.      馬鈴薯

e.      תַפּוּחַ אַדֲמָה

 

8.      What is the name of the capital?

a.      Dobrich

b.      Burgas

c.       Nis

d.      Plovdiv

e.      Sofia

 

9.      What is the predominant religion?

a.      Eastern Orthodox

b.      Anglican

c.       Muslim

d.      Catholic

 

10.  What is the currency called?

a.      pounds

b.      lev

c.       euro

d.      forint

 A couple other questions to include would be:

• Which of the following is the flag of Bulgaria?
• Which countries border Bulgaria?

I cannot wait to say....

"There's one less broken heart in the world tonight".
What a joyful day that is going to be; I cannot wait!
For now I am working hard and each day is one day closer to you becoming my son.

Update

I thought that it was time for an update! I am in the home study part where they ask you every question imaginable. Around Christmas my home study should be complete and then I will compile paperwork to create a dossier that will be sent to Bulgaria.


I want to leave you with a song that I have been enjoying. It brings encouragement to me as well as challenges me to remember the biblical call behind adoption. We are called to adopt and care for children who need families.

Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won’t let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved

[Chorus:]
Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these

Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open

[Chorus]

If not us who will be like Jesus
To the least of these
If not us tell me who will be like Jesus
Like Jesus to the least of these

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family! This year I am thankful that God gives us dreams and desires and that he allows us to live lives of adventure while following him. I am thankful that he has planted the dream to adopt and care for children in my heart and that he is providing the means for me to adopt.

I am thankful that God has adopted me and made me his child. He loves and provides everything I need. I am blessed.

Why so Expensive?!?!

When people ask me how much the adoption will cost they are very surprised by how much it will cost (that is unless they have adopted before or have friends who have adopted). There are many laws around adoption and a way that they ensure that they are followed is by having agencies that walk you through the process. So I will be working with a BC based agency as well as a Bulgarian based agency. Let me break down as much as I can why it is going to cost around $35,000.


$3000                      Registration with my BC agency
$200                        Travelling expenses for Social Worker
$5500                      Program registration fees with my BC agency
$11-14,000              Program fees for Bulgarian agency
$ 7000                     Flights (this will depend on the time of year, etc)
TBD                        Food and Lodging
TBD                        Medicals, visa, passport and other appointments


How am I going to be able to afford $35,000? Well, I sometimes ask myself the same question. It is a lot of money. When I start thinking about it I am reminded that God has been blessing and leading me down this road. He is faithful to provide when He leads.


 I have created a list of ways that I can save, make and receive money for my adoption.

• keeping my living expenses to a minimum
• providing respite for extra money
• crafting up a storm to sell on Etsy
• holding a Purdy's chocolate fundraiser this Christmas season
• collecting recyclables to bring into the bottle depot
• applying for two grants (there are two that I am aware of)
• using my tax refund in May
• inviting friends and family to come along side of me
• hosting a silent auction and dinner on October 19th

Right now I am focusing on the silent auction which will be held at the Bayside Quality Resort in Parksville on October 19th. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children from 3-12 years old. I have lots of amazing items to auction off; photo sessions, art, jewellery, dvd's, children's toys, books, 2 nights at the Black Rock Resort, surfing passes, zipline pass, games, etc. If you are interested in purchasing tickets (I am praying that 100 people will attend) please email me at hkenoadoption@gmail.com.