Hello friends! It's been a few weeks since we've had the chance to update everyone so we wanted to share some news. We've experienced lots of love and great news this month.
Our first big news is that our family has expanded!! While it's not in the way that our blog is for, it's equally as exciting! My brother got married the first of this month to Emily. Our family got to spend three days in Rosemary Beach, Florida celebrating love and marriage. We're so excited to know that our children will have such an amazing and godly woman as their aunt. She's an answer to prayers, a wonderful enhancement to our family, a great friend and perfect for my brother. We couldn't be more excited for them as they start their marriage.
This fall we were also blessed by a friend introducing us to Tiffany Palomba of
Bella Vie Photography . Tiffany goes to our church and is a member of the photography team. Not only that but she's just a beautiful person inside and out! She offered to do a mini photo shoot for us as a fundraiser. She donated two shoots and the money that came in from them, she donated to our adoption fundraising. She also surprised us and asked if she could do a shoot of just Brian and I. It was such a treat! We loved being able to capture our journey as we prepare to open our home for children. The pictures turned out great, here are a few of our favorites!
Lastly is our Christmas fundraiser, Our Love Tree! We saw this idea from another family that adopted a few years ago. They did an envelope fundraiser where they numbered the envelopes 1-200 and people would sponsor an envelope and donate the amount they wanted on the corresponding envelope. Well, we decided to put a Christmas spin on this idea. We created 200 handmade ornaments and numbered them 1-200. People pick the number they want, donate that amount and then we send them their ornament. Once that ornament is purchased, that number is no longer for sale. If we are able to sell all 200 ornaments, we will raise over $21,000 which would be a tremendous blessing for our adoption expenses!
As of today, we've sold 40 ornaments! We have a lot left, so if you are interested in supporting us, this is a great way to do that! The numbers that have been purchased so far are:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 50, 71, 75, 77, 82, 83, 90, 120, 150 and 199.
If you want to purchase an ornament, choose one of the numbers not listed above and send an email with your name, address, and ornament number to higdonadoption@gmail.com. Once you've done that, you can make your donation
here. We'll send your ornament out that week in time for you to have it for Christmas.
We've started our home study process and have all the money to cover all of the payments for that. Once that is finished, we'll need $15,000 for our country fees so we are praying and believing that money will come in soon as well.
Thank you for supporting us through prayers, encouragement and finances. We couldn't do all of this without the love and support of our family and friends!
Lastly, today is my birthday! I know we aren't supposed to share birthday wishes, but I'm going to share my birthday prayer today. I'm praying that next year for Christmas we will have a child (or two!) to fill a pair of these shoes. It's an ambitious prayer, and we're trusting in God to fulfill it for us. If you want to give a birthday present, purchasing an ornament would be a great one!
Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving!
Lauren
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