Day 5-$1000 up for grabs in giveaway!!!!!

It is day five and I am packing and planning...and very hopeful!  We are still shy of our goal but we are truly getting so close!  Our concern as a family is that if we don't reach our goal we go into debt....and then when we come home we face the potential for medical bills and medicine that is above what our insurance will cover...and we still have two more trips yet to go!  Yes, it is a bit scary....and, no, logic and sound financial advice would not support it.  But, Heavenly Father is teaching us all about faith right now.

I'm admittedly a slow learner and there must be times that God has His palm to his forehead in watching me! (just read my blog and you will know!)   But, I really am feeling hopeful today because there are people out there that are responding to His call and to the plight of children that so completely need families!

Why do I say this?  Because, Adeye has now extended the giveaway for our family and 19 others!!!  The giveaway will not end until 2/1/12 and she has now *added* two more gift cards!!!! 

So, she now has two $250 Walmart gift cards and a third $200 Walmart gift card.....AND

 a $250 Visa card that you could use anywhere!

So there is nearly $1000 that she is offering in order to help twenty different families to fundraise...all of us are families that are *urgently* needing the help! 

Please go to Adeye's blog for more details on how to enter!  We are family #2 listed with the twin clothing that is waiting to be put on actual children! :-)

I am so incredibly thankful to Adeye for her work and efforts to help all of God's children and hope to be able to do the same when we are back in a position to do so. 

In closing, I actually wanted to tell someone else how thankful we are!  My daughter Lauren is away at college right now in Hawaii and she just sent us a care package/belated Christmas package....

What a treat it was to receive.... and it came at a perfect time since life is so hectic now and it is difficult to focus and take a deep breath.

She is a poor college student and had to use resources more than money to get us gifts....many of the items she found on her free giveaway table in her dorm...like this dress she found for Mary:

And this dress for Emily:

She got a purse for Eleanor:

A zebra shirt and purse for Amelia:

A movie of a Hawaiian dance performance for Maria:

And, a whirlygig for Robertson!

Each person received their own note full of love, kind words, and funny drawings:

Lauren is an art/graphic design major....we have no clue where her artistic talent came from!

Each present was also cleverly wrapped in bright Hawaian print fabric with little knots running down the center:

What a treat it was for her siblings to unwrap....it also helped mom because it took some doing and kept them quiet with concentrated effort for quite some time!

Oh, and did I mention the VERY best part?!?

COOKIES!!!!!!

She sent me my favorite cookies from Hawaiian Cookie Company! 

She also wrote me a two page note and I just have to share a couple of lines.  It helps to bolster my confidence that I really can parent *twins*! :-)

Here are just a few select lines that I will always cherish:
"I want to tell you how much I appreciate your example, advice, and the way you raised me...You were the one who got me to leave my comfort zone and encouraged me to push ahead and do and participate in new things.....I miss you so much.  I miss our long conversations in the car, on your bed, even when you were in the shower! ha ha ha  I love you so much and I am so grateful for all you have done for me."

Ah, there are blissful moments of parenting....this is a promise to those of you who are currently running after small children and wondering....

The only present left is her Dad's but he is traveling in the few days we have left to finish up with the hiring process for a southern California police dept. 

Yes, we are swamped.....yes, we are stressed.......and YES we are *blessed*!  Thank you Lauren....we miss you!!!!