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!