Silent Auction Fundraiser!

Hi Friends,

We just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who came out to support us at our Silent Auction Fundraiser. It was a lot of work, but we were thrilled with how everything turned out and so grateful for everyone's support.

In total we raised $3,500 but grossed about $3,000 after our up front expenses. With that being said we still need another $4,500 by December in order to submit our Dossier paperwork. God has continued to provide in various ways and we know He will meet this need as well.

We want to take the time to also thank the people who made this event possible.

First and foremost our vendors who donated! They included:

- Rebecca Meadows - Photography Package

- Rachel and Peter Sengenberger - Art and Photography 

- Rebecca Brown - Pilates Lessons

- Bristles Hair Salon

- The Melting Pot

- Hairuo Yi - Ceramic Art

- Michele Ritter - Thirty-One

- Jessie Raines - UVA Tickets

- Bob Crowell - UVA tickets

- The Clifton Inn

- The Melting Pot

- Leigh McCready - Personal Training Sessions

- Victor Diamonds

- Ragged Mountain Running Shop

- Burton's Grill

- City Spa

- Charlottesville Wine and Culinary

- Magic Stitches

- Meadowcreek Golf Course

- Bloop

- Eileen Mendoza - Pampered Chef

- Montfair Resort Farm

- The Local

- Commonwealth Wine Tour

- Vivian Polo - Perfectly Posh

- Wintergreen Ski Resort 

We can't thank them enough for their kindness and generosity.

We also want to say a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who took the time to help make decorations, prep food, wash tablecloths, hang streamers and entertain all of the crazy ideas Bettina had to make this event beautiful. 
Becca and Jon Meadows, Leigh McCready, Jill Jones, Josh and Cary Ellen Brown and Gary Stevens, you were invaluable in making this work and we are so thankful for the time and help you spent making this a success!

Below are some pictures from the event for those of you who couldn't make it. It was a labor of love in every regard and we hope you enjoy the pictures as much we we enjoyed the event!

Thank you again for your outpouring of love and support and we look forward to sharing more good news!

Love, love, love,

Tax Deductible Donations!

Dear Friends and Family,

We can not begin to express the outpouring of love and generosity we've received from our friends, family and community. We are continually humbled by God's provision and every time we've had a financial deadline to meet, we've had enough money in our adoption account. God is good.

We wanted to let you know that we have partnered with an organization called Project Hopeful who's mission is to bring hope to overlooked children and vulnerable mothers around the world. They work in the United States and globally to support families and individuals fostering, adopting, or considering care for overlooked orphaned children. They have developed a focused set of in-country care efforts in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Uganda and Ukraine to provide direct care and support to women, children and families who are without resources. Their goal is to bring the right educational, financial, spiritual, and emotional resources to where they can make the most impact for each overlooked child. 

With that said, they have graciously taken us on as a Ugandan family and all donations given through their website toward our adoption will be tax deductible. You can access our "family page" by using this link:
 http://www.projecthopeful.org/matched-families/stevens-family

We have our next fundraiser coming up on Sunday and we are believing for God's provision once again. We need $7,500 in the next month to be able obtain the clearance paperwork needed and ultimately submit our dossier.

Thank you for all your love and support and we will continue to keep you posted on our progress.

We love you!

Home Study Paperwork Complete!

Hi Friends and Family!

We wanted to give you a quick update to let you know that we submitted our home study paperwork this morning!!! And man it feels good!!! 

          About to mail our paperwork!

It took us a little under a month to complete the 34 documents required (mainly because Bettina is a crazy woman!), and now it's just a matter of waiting for our background checks, fingerprints and other papers to be confirmed and approved. 

                                                     

Once our history packet is approved we will be assigned a social worker who will come to our house for the interview process, which will consist of 3-4 visits to our home. Additionally, we need to complete 16 hours of education regarding parenting and adoption, to fulfill Virginia State requirements. 

We are now waiting for our dossier checklist to come in which will begin the process of phase 3! We're hoping that many of these documents will be similar in nature to our home study paperwork which should save us some time in the long run. 

So far we have paid about $15,000 of the total and will need $7,200 more when our dossier is complete. God has been very faithful through this process and we are continuing to believe for His provision. Our next fundraiser will be our silent auction on November 2, which we're believing will bring in that amount (if not more!). 

Thank you again for partnering with us and for your continued prayers and support. We couldn't do it without you!

More to come!

Silent Auction Fundraiser!

Hi Again!

Just wanted to let you all know we are having our next fundraiser on Sunday, November 2 from 1-4 pmat Keswick Vineyards! 

The cost will be $15 per person and will include wine tasting, hors d'oeuvres and desserts!

The fundraiser itself will be a silent auction of locally donated goods from the Charlottesville and Rochester communities!

The bidding will take place from 2-3pm and you do not have to be present to win.

Items will include:
2-night stay at the Clifton Inn
2-night stay at Montfair Resort Farm
Diamond Earrings
A portrait session
Personal training sessions
Private Pilates lessons
Local art and pottery
Golf Lesson
Gift baskets
Local furniture
Date Night Package
Haircut and spa certificate 
Ragged Mountain Running Shop Gift Certificate
Local rrestaurant gift cards
and much more!

It has been a pleasure to partner with local Charlottesville vendors to make this all come together, and we are excited to see the event unfold!

If you are able to attend please RSVP by October 25.

We are hoping to raise $7,500 as that is the next installment needed to move forward into phase 3 of our paperwork. With that said, please spread the word to friends and family as every penny helps!

Thank you all again for your love and support and we look forward to seeing you all there!

xoxo,

BBQ Fundraiser!

Hello Everyone!

We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to support us at our fundraiser! We had a great time and even though it was a VERY hot day, I think everyone was able to enjoy some good food, good company and beautiful scenery!

We do want to take a moment and thank everyone who helped make this day a success!

1) The Market at Grelen! They were beyond gracious, hospitable and kind the entire day and helped us more than we could say. They not only donated the space for us to use, but included tables, flowers, and centerpieces for no charge AND gave us a discount on the desserts! We can't thank them enough!

2) Smoked BBQ! Justin is the owner and let me just say that he is amazing! He gave us a TON of food (we're still eating left overs by the way) and all for a very discounted price. Everything was delicious and even the vegetarians ate some of his smoked pork! :) If you haven't been to his cart on the downtown mall, please go...and quick!

3) Chris and Kristin Helsley! These two were such a HUGE help to us in transporting food, setting everything up, serving and keeping the drinks refilled and fully stocked! They have been such a blessing in our lives for the last few years and it wouldn't have been a successful BBQ without them!

4) Jon and Becca Meadows! There's too much to say for how much these two help us on a daily basis. We couldn't have asked for better friends and the fundraiser wouldn't have been possible without their help. A big thank you to Becca for helping with set-up, artistic design and clean up and to Jonny for his awesome music, food transportation (sorry about the mac in the car!!) and tear down. You guys are the best!

In total we raised $2,800 which allows us to submit our home study packet! We were so blessed by the outpouring of love and we ask for your continued prayers and support as we continue with the paperwork process. It's been emotional, challenging and exhausting all at the same time, but totally worth every minute as it's one step closer to bringing our kiddos home! Thank you all again for your kind words and prayers and we look forward to continuing to update you with good news!!

If you weren't able to make it to this fundraiser, we will be having another on November 2 at Keswick Vineyards. We hope to see you all there!

Also, we have some "Stevens Party of Four" t-shirts left over if anyone is interested in representing our adoption... only $20! :)  

Our families wear them loud and proud!!

Thank you again! xoxo

Update and Support!

Hi Friends and Family!

We are happy to announce we have completed the first stage of our paperwork and are officially approved for our adoption! (It feels like 1,000 pounds was removed from our shoulders!) We are now moving on to stage 2, which consists of a tooonnn of paperwork and a whooollee lot of money! 

                    celebrating with ice cream cake!                         

The realization of needing $20,000 in the next few months is becoming very real to us. We know our God is faithful and we know He will provide, but our human brains are having trouble comprehending a number that large! 

With that said, please help us promote our fundraisers and get people there! We wouldn't be able to do this without you and we appreciate the continued love and support we're receiving. It has already been a trying and emotional process, but we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We are continuing to trust God in all situations and are excited about entering into the next step!

Thank you all again! xoxo

VERY IMPORTANT

Hi Everyone,

We wanted to thank all of you again for your outpouring of support in this process. It has already been very trying and emotional, but we're keeping our eye on the prize and continuing to press into God during this time.

I am writing because soon we will have to make our blog private for the protection of our adoption and our agencies.

If you still want to be a part of this journey, please e-mail me at bettina.stevens@gmail.com and I will give you the password and add you to our group e-mail list that we will use while traveling in country.

This change will go into effect in the next week, so please send your e-mails along! 

We hope you continue to follow along and we appreciate all the prayers and support!

Who doesn't love a good BBQ??

So now that you've all enjoyed a good chikin' meal from Chick-fil-A, it's time to move on to some BBQ! 

On Sunday, September 21 we will be having our 2nd fundraiser!! A BBQ pinic catered by Smoked BBQ Co! The menu will include BBQ sliders, mac and cheese (which by the way is my favorite in town!), baked beans with sausage, cornbread and cole slaw!

The event will take place at The Market at Grelen which is located at 15091 Yager Road in Somerset, VA. They have so graciously agreed to donate their space to us, and we could not be more grateful! 

The Market at Grelen is a farm market and garden shop set on Grelen Nursery's 600 acres. It has 360 degree mountain views and will be a great place to come and hang out! You can take a look at their website HERE.

The Market will also be providing homemade ice cream and cookies to enjoy for dessert! Beer and wine will be available to purchase on site at their cafe. 

We will have Cornhole, Kan Jam, and Bocce Ball available to play, but feel free to bring any other games you'd like!

The goal is to eat, drink, play games and be merry! Families are welcome to bring their kiddos! 

We will be asking a suggested donation of $20 per person (ages 12+), $5 for children 4-11 and FREE for children 3 and under. All donations will be taken upon entrance to the event.

If you are planning to attend we ask that you RSVP HERE so we know how much food we will need to purchase. Also, feel free to pass on to friends...the more the merrier! 

Hope to see you all there!

Logo Reveal

Hi All,

I just wanted to take a minute and say a BIG, HUGE thank you to some extraordinary people who have done a lot of behind the scenes work to get our information out there AND make it look fabulous!

1) Joey Chappel
- Joey collaborated with us to make our awesome Stevens Party of Four logo for our blog header and he was kind enough to donate his time and efforts! We LOVE the end result and it will be coming soon to a t-shirt on you! :) Thank you Joey!

2) Alex Rogerson at Arobesque Design Studio 
- Alex is a creative genius and has always had an awesome eye for detail! Alex was kind enough to donate her time and creativity to collaborate with me on our second logo which will be used for a few different things coming up (keep an eye out!). Not only was Alex prompt in getting back to us with designs and options, but she was flexible even though I changed my mind daily! Thank you Alex!

- If you haven't already, check out her website HERE and be amazed! Also keep her in mind for some of your future event planning needs! She won't let you down :)

3) Angelique Phillips from AngeliqueInk 
- The beautiful script in the logo above was created by Angi at AngeliqueInk! 

- I have secretly coveted Angi's designs for the last few years and I have had her store as a favorite on my Etsy account for quite some time. When it came to creating the second logo with Alex, I wanted something beautiful yet fun. So with Alex's prompting, I decided to contact Angi to see if she would give me a quote for handwriting our name in my favorite calligraphy script and then digitize it for our logo. Well not only did she agree, but she had it done in less than 24 hours and donated her time! Thank you Angi!

- Please check out Angi's website HERE or her Etsy site HERE and peruse her beautiful work! You won't be disappointed!

Joey, Alex and Angi, you were all so gracious in donating your time, Paul and I can't thank you enough! We think both logos are AMAZING and we couldn't have done it without your help!

THANK YOU! 

Chick-fil-A Day!

We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to show their support today at Chick-fil-A! We were BLOWN AWAY by the love and support we received, and we couldn't feel more blessed by all of you!

We want to say another HUGE thank you to Chick-fil-A's marketing manager, Gina Hutchison, for her willingness to support us, as well as all of the Chick-fil-A staff for their kindness, attentiveness and graciousness in hearing that bell ringing ALL. DAY. LONG :)

Another thank you to my AMAZING parents for working a 12-hour shift all while keeping up their smiles, pep and persistence in ringing that bell and spinning that wheel ALL. DAY. LONG :)

And last but not least, our awesome friends, neighbors and co-workers for spreading the word, sharing the invitations, spinning the wheel and encouraging people to come out and show their support! We couldn't have done it with you guys!

Here are some pictures from the day!

Hope you all enjoyed your chikin' as much as we did! Sending so much love your way!