Update...

Okay...I got the bee out of my bonnet...at least for a while!   I've gotten through 6 orders in the last two weeks and needed a small break. I found this Stonehill fabric at 75% off an few weeks ago and its been a distraction sitting folded on my cuting table so,  I made the dress for Eva and there is enough left for a bag. We already had a cute pair of white sandals and they now have something to go with!

We have our last document at the Chinese Consulate for certification and funds are trickling in toward our goal. I want this part to be over already...

We sold a bag on Etsy! 

Eva's Forever Family Quilt - Sneak Peek

Thanks to our dear friend and professional quilt designer Lori Hein, we have completed Eva's quilt using fabric remants left over from the Eva Bag project.

Its is absolutely amazing .. I love the fringed trim in between the quilt blocks and the back is super soft fannel in amazing colors and prints! Lori, I am amazed how you were able to bring all the different fabrics together so beautifully but then again, that is why your the porfessional. You have blessed our socks right off!

Thank you all for your support and forever memories!

Eva's First homemade outfit with 2nd hand jeans - Welcome to the Wagner Family!

Been feeling kind poopy lately and just felt like it would do me some good to make something for Eva so I sorted through leftover Eva bag fabric and was able to make this little peasant top (size 12 mo)  with enough leftover for an oversized pocket and matching patches on the the jeans. I was short on the patchwork fabric for one side of the top so I modified it a bit with one black and white polka dot panel and coordinating pocket.

Having it hanging on the wall is such an inspiration.

So cute if I do say so myself! 

Not yet...

A friend shared this with me...what a blessing in what has been a challenging time for me in my walk...

"Hope is always about what isn't," I say. And then, weaving its way through my accusations, silently and gently squeezing in, just in time, YET falls from Heaven and slips into place.

This word finds its way through a small space between our tightly clasped hands. The word adds itself, completing and changing the meaning, filling our hearts with truth, and overflowing them with hope. In that instant I say and know the truth: Hope is not about what isn't.   Hope is always about what isn't yet.
We sink to our knees and whisper timid words because of what isn't yet.

In moments where we trudge through life between a weathered cross and a not-yet-empty tomb, it brings us to our knees.  It causes us to lay our quivering and undone hearts on makeshift altars in the night. When did life twist to need these hopeless prayers of crying out and pouring out and wringing out our hearts together in the dark? When did we first notice just how small we are?

When I stumble over disappointments in the dark, and feel swept away in hopelessness, even then it is hope that causes me to cry out to the One who is faithful, despite my chronic faithlessness.

Our situation hasn't changed, but on our altar, we've shifted our grip. No longer holding on for dear life, together we hold fast to the One who gives life. We have put our hope, again, in Him. We send forth heavy sighs of hope for unknowns that are yet to be.
And though we don’t yet see it, our hands and hearts are open to receive this hope that does not disappoint.

Approval Notice!

Look what was in the mailbox when I got home!  We received our I-800A Notice of Approval
from USCIS today. This means we've met the eligibility and suitability requirements as adoptive parents of a child that is being adopted under the Hague Convention and are approved to proceed with the adoption process with the Hague Convention country we have requested.
This letter is the last of the paper work necessary to complete our dossier file. We are now ready to send it off to China as soon as we raise $3,500... our deadline is April 1, 2010.

We will be fine...we have to be right? The Lord has brought us this far....He is faithful!

  "In all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loves us".

Romans 8:37

Accepting Community Donations for Adoption Yard Sale Fundriser!

Hi all!

David and I are planning a Yard Sale / Adoption Fundraiser this Spring and we are asking for help from our community by way of  donations of  your unwanted items! This is to help raise funds for Eva's adoption!

It is only January but in a effort to maximize the results we are   accepting donations now and we will continue to do so up to the day before the sale this spring ( date to be announced). Feel free to contact us for more information. We will also gladly come pick up your bagged or boxed donated yard sale items...we have a truck for larger items:

David 's cell 509-953-7557 or Laura's cell 509-953-7570 or at pinkertoncricket@msn.com

 Items needed:

Toys, clothing, shoes, kitchen items, books, home decor, wall art, sports gear, textiles, collectible items, camping / sportswear supplies, pet supplies, home office items, old tools ~ garage stuff,  movies, music, games, yard and garden items, furniture, small appliances....

you name it, if its is decent condition, we'll sell it!

Thank you so much for your prayers and your donations!

Eva's Christmas ~ 2009

Eva got a band new retro red radio flyer tricycle for Christmas. David picked out this gift and kept it a suprise from me till Christmas morning. David ( Dad- OMG!) put it together for her Christmas morning!  It has a cool retro bell and red and white tassels! It will wait in her room with all the rest of her things. We can't wait to teach her how to ride it!

Eva also got a handmade crib quilt from Aunt Tisha - LOVE the owl, bridies and trees made of courduroy! Her name is even sewn onto it...top left. Isn't this precious? We are taking this one with us to China!

Eva also got a cute little china girl ornament.....she has a little pony tail sticking straight up on the top of her head. So cute!

Happy New Year!

Well, we are just about ready to complete our Dossier. David and I just completed our CIS fingerprinting appointment on 12-31 and we now await our Notice of Favorable Determination ( 6-12 weeks).

We completed our 10 hours of required Hague Training this last week too. Now we need to compile the lifestyle photographs we need to have to accompany our dossier to China. Then, our Dossier is complete.

To get our dossier to China we need to raise $3,500 . $2,500 is for our 2nd Great Wall China Adoptions agency fee and $ 900  for the CCAA log in fee ( CCAA ~ Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs).

Then we wait the 36-42 month timeframe for processing. 
During the 36-42 month processing time, we need to raise approximately $18,630.00 to complete the process of bringing Eva home. The breakdown of the $ 18,630.00 is as follows: Required orphanage donation $5,100.00, Visas for David and I $230.00, our international flights $5,000.00, Intra China Fees $5,000.00 (ground transportation, inter~country flights, hotel, meals, cultural tourism) , Legal fees in China $700.00,  Eva's passport $200.00, Eva's visa $400.00, Incidentals $2,000.00. The stay in China is about two weeks.

We still have a ways to go but from where David and I stand, the past 11 months have been transforming in our lives and in the lives of our friends and family. During times of eceonomic townturn, we have been able earn / raise the money needed to get us to this point in Eva's adoption process and it has been a wonderful journey. We have tuly been blessed. We do wish we were further along financially which would help move the process along faster but we are moving as the Lord provides and we trust Him fully to complete what He has started.

We hope to hear back soon about another grant we have applied for.

We can also accept dontations in the form of 'frequent flyer miles' ....we can use those toward the cost of the international flights!  So...If anyone has any frequent flyer miles they would like to donate...please let us know!

Have a Blessed 2010!