Home study

Today Chad and I had a phone conference with a social worker regarding our home study. LOTS of paperwork is to be completed in the next few weeks. I have to write a list of all the things we need to complete so I don't lose my mind trying to think of everything that needs accomplished. On Sunday we will have our Gipson Family adoption Bowlathon in Galesburg at Northgate Lanes from 2 to 4. This event was to initially be held in February, but the bowling alley unfortunately had a fire. We will earn a portion of every game bowled as well as the shoe rental fees. Chad's mom Jackie is making burrito pie and we will also hold a bake sale so please bring your appetite! Next week I will be on spring break from WIU but think I will stay busy gathering the necessary documents for the home study and CLEANING the house for our home study. Last weekend Chad and I went hunting for scrap metal (thanks to my dad) and loaded up quite a bit of aluminum siding to take in to the recycling center along with our many bags of smashed cans. We hope to see many of you on Sunday!

TACO DINNER RESULTS

I am snowed in again this morning! We have had an intense winter thus far. My birthday was this past weekend, and my dad wrote in my birthday card how the weather was similar this past weekend to the day I was born. I was encouraged to cancel our taco dinner (which was yesterday) due to the weather, but I decided since we already pretty much had the meat ready (a big thank you to Jackie Gipson) to go ahead and hold it. I am glad we did, as we earned a little over $800 dollars. Jan Winbigler won the 50/50 raffle. I would like to thank the following people who helped us in our dinner including my Mom (decorations), Jaimey (cleaning and helping with kids), Jess (decorating and serving food), Dad (50/50), Grandma Argyle (brownies), Grandma Jackie Gipson (made rice AND cooked 20 pounds of taco meat!), Grandpa Mike Gipson (ran back to Little York in a blizzard to get the hard taco shells), Aunt Stef Gipson (donated food items and helped serve food/clean up after), Aunt "Loony"Amanda Maleug (helped with food), Uncle Chad Maleug (entertained our brood), and Samantha for selling raffle tickets. As you can see, this was truly a group effort. We also appreciate all of you for donating cans and money to our efforts. Alan Otten from Cameron put our fundraiser on his sign in his yard. The final THANK YOU goes to Chad. He helped me stay on track and not get too worried about pulling it off; he sensed when I needed a breather and would give me a big hug and held on tight. We learned the downfalls of having fundraisers in the unpredictable winter months of Illinois. As for an update, we are awaiting to hear the dates to schedule our home study. After we complete the home study, we will be able to apply for grants. According to my fundraiser budget, we can just about cover the costs of the adoption itself with our savings/fundraisers, but the cost of travel is the area I am hoping the grants may cover. Many more people apply for grants than are available, so this is by no means a definite for us. Please send positive thoughts and prayers our way so that we may be awarded a few of these grants. I understand many of you wonder when exactly we will travel to Russia to bring the boys home. I wish I could give you a specific date, or even a specific month; we are simply unable to do so for many reasons. The biggest reason is we do not know how long the different steps of the process will take as there are so many different people and government institutions involved. You can believe we complete the paperwork as quickly as possible. At this point we are ahead of the game, and waiting for everyone else to catch up. We do know we will receive a telephone call from our adoption consultant and told to pack our bags and be ready to leave in the next two weeks for our first trip. I believe this could happen in the next three to six months. Please stay tuned as we will be rescheduling our bowling fundraiser to be in March as the bowling alley is opening next week!

TACO DINNER

I am writing this morning quickly before we head out to a full weekend of activities. I am SO HAPPY to be able to share with everyone the news of sending our application fee and necessary paperwork via FedEx yesterday. I don't think I have ever written a check that large before! It was gratifying to know how hard we worked to save the amount in such a short period of time. I had a coversation with the employee at the Fed Ex store yesterday. He sensed the anxiety I was experiencing in entrusting such an important package to him. He then said "hey, you are the woman who is adopting from Russia!" That helped me relax and realize the package will reach its destination. Today Chad and I will be returning to Behr Recycling in Peoria to take more cans. Then we are headed to Sam's Club to purchase supplies for the Taco Dinner next weekend. Unfortunately, County Market in Monmouth was unwilling to donate food to us for our fundraiser. The manager stated we did not meet the store's criteria of qualifying for food donations. He told me that although the store realizes many family's are experiencing hardships they are unable to donate to families. I then stated that this was not because we couldn't afford groceries, this was to help pay to bring two little boys home from an orphanage and give them a forever family. So, we are asking our friends and family to PLEASE attend our Taco Dinner to help support our efforts. It is on Sunday, February 21st from 4 to 7. We will be serving hard/soft shell tacos, spanish rice, drinks, and dessert. If you are unable to attend, we are having a raffle as well. We would love to hear from you if you would like to donate. My email is CheriGipson@live.com. Happy Valentine's Day!

February 2010

This month is a BIG month for us! We are holding our Gipson Family Adoption Fundraiser Kickoff on February 21st. Join us for a taco dinner at the Cameron fire station from 4 to 7! I am preparing to send our initial payment with application soon, which will allow our agency to notify the orphanage we are officially seeking to adopt the boys. This is a very important step, as it will keep the boys together in the baby house until we can complete the adoption and travel to Russia to get them. Besides the fundraiser this month, both the boys are celebrating their birthdays. I wish we were able to celebrate with them, but it is refreshing to think that this year will hopefully be the last they celebrate in the orphanage. Chad and I will celebrate our one year wedding anniversary this month as well as my birthday. I am asking my family to forego buying gifts for my birthday but rather contribute to our adoption fund. Samantha has begun her basketball season. She plays every Saturday morning at the school. Callie continues to attend preschool in Monmouth. She can't wait to ride the big school bus next year with Sam. We continue to collect cans and take them to the recycling center. We hope to take in some scrap metal this month that Dad had lying around. We hope to see you at the Taco Dinner!

Siberian winter weather

Wow! Today's weather reminded me of the weather we may face if we go to Russia during the winter. I hope everyone was safe today. We have determined our Gipson Family Adoption Kick-off to be a TACO DINNER. It will be held on Sunday, February 21st from 4 to 7pm at the Cameron Fire Station. We ask everyone for a free will donation for an all you can eat taco bar. In conjunction we will hold a 50/50 raffle and will be selling raffle tickets until the dinner. Don't worry, if you are unable to make it to the dinner you need not be present to win the raffle. I hope we see everyone there at our Kick-off! People may bring their aluminum cans to the dinner as well. On Monday Chad and I took seven bags of crushed cans to the recycling center in Peoria. We recycled 74 pounds of cans! Thanks again to everyone who donated their cans. Every night when I lay my head on my pillow I think of the boys and wonder if someone kissed them goodnight. It makes me sad to think about them sleeping in a large room with many other children. On the other hand these thoughts keep me striving to bring our little guys home. Stay tuned, I will post more information as it becomes available. Please call or email if you have any questions about the upcoming dinner.

February Fundraiser

We have to cancel our Bowling fundraiser due to the fire at Northgate Bowling alley in Galesburg. I apologize, as some of you have probably already received your flyer. We are currently planning a TACO DINNER to be held at the Cameron fire station for later in February instead. I am hopeful everyone will be able to attend and bring their appetite. Tonight Callie and I crushed cans for almost an hour. Please continue saving them for us and pass it on to others. Today I was talking to a friend at her office and a coworker overheard us discussing my plans to pick up her cans this weekend. The coworker actually had a garbage bag of cans in her car she had planned to take to the recycling center that same day. She happily donated the cans to us instead! As far as an update on the adoption, we have received new pictures of both boys. The agency has presented us with the contract and so I am busy filling out more paperwork. I have a friend that referred to the endless forms as a "paperwork pregnancy". I am beginning to understand why! Samantha has her first basketball game this Saturday. Today was my first day at WIU; I felt more like a student than professor. It is hard to speak to my former professors as a colleague and not a student. I am sure I will get used to things soon. Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful support in our endeavor!

Yet more information!

We are snowed in today. Not a bad thing, except I need to work on Saturday now, which isn't my favorite thing! I was happy to receive an email today from the agency with newer pictures of the older little guy. He had a cute little smile in one of the pictures. I have had my good friend Sue (who is a pediatric PT) look at the pictures and she has shared with me her expertise on the medical issues the little guy faces. We are confident that most of these may be addressed successfully here in the US. At this time the agency continues to attempt to retrieve more information on his younger brother. We have been handing out flyers for our upcoming Bowling fundraiser on February 7th. Please consider attending our event to share in the fun and help us with our cause! I am hoping to speak and meet with our pediatrician soon with the medical information we have received to get her professional opinion. I understand how it is tough for some people to understand why we would be willing to adopt a child with known medical diagnoses. I think for many people it is a fear of the unknown. Of course, we all dream of our children being healthy and "perfect". I guess I look at it that if Sam were to live in another country and be in an orphanage, she would be considered special needs as well. Her diabetes and ADHD would keep potential families from adopting her. I wouldn't have changed my mind during the pregnancy if I knew she would later receive these diagnoses. It is a complicated issue to say for sure. Thank you for everyone's well wishes and prayers!