Pennies go a LONG way!!

In march when we announced we were fundraising to adopt Peter, a dear friend of mine, Deborah offered to host a Penny Jar at the Local Home-school Coop.

Today I had the privilege of DEPOSITING that money!

For all the coins, papers, and money deposited... it totaled $389!!!!

THANKS to the WARNER Family for being the ONE to make a difference..... next time YOU see a penny on the ground..... Will you pick it up? it is amazing how quickly they add up!

Win an iPad 2!

Not a gimmick, Not a Joke!

We are selling RAFFLE tickets $2 each or 3 for $5

to make your purchase email me and we will mail your tickets to you.

Drawing on June 29th  Spread the Word!

Pick up your RAFFLE tickets on site:

Tammy's Flowers in Hamilton

Primitive Peddler in Cameron

Iron Horse Primitives in Cameron

There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child - and an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own." ~Robert Brault 


Madison


Abigel


Claudine


Dante


Gracie


Rubi


Ezekiel


Elijah


Sione


Cameron


Bryce


Shaun


Peter


you are ALL my children. 


Our children are not ours because they share our genes... they are ours because we have had the audacity to envision them.
That, at the end of the day...or long sleepless night, is how love really works..... ---Unknown


I also have a profound GRATITUDE for the OTHER MOTHERS who share their  babies with me!! 

My Angel's

The literal ones, and the figurative ones, have come to my rescue this week.

I have hit a wall, exhaustion and worry have set in, I received a precious private message from a prayer warrior who was letting me know she was lifting me up in prayer today. Thank you Marcie.

I received the GREAT news that Angel Butterworth has arranged to sell snow-cones on May 5th for Peter.
THANK YOU ANGEL!

I also had an angel friend come and whisk 4 of my kids off so that I can take a nap. THANK YOU REBECCA!

I can not overcome this monumental task without your help, prayers, confidence and aid.
Someone got it wrong when they said it takes a village to save a child, it takes ONE person that MANY others lift & Support!

THANK YOU EVERYONE

Waybale Nyo (Thank you very much in Lugandan)

For the Love of Peter Etsy Store

Please stop by and take a look at the hand made items that have been made & donated at the

For the Love of Peter Etsy store!

She died waiting for a family.

Favour was a sweet little girl who was in the care of the same organization Peter is/was.

The difference is, Peter found donors to support his emergency medical treatment, and Favour was not as lucky.

She has been on the adoption waiting list for over a year. And no one wanted her.

She died from complications from Malaria.

Please go see her picture, read her story and HELP ME SAVE PETER!

Love from Coast to Coast

Rhode Island, Maine, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, Washington State, If anyone who sees my annoying facebook posts & Re-posts thinks it is simply annoying and not effective, this is the list of strangers-to-me donors for Peter THIS WEEK! 

I do not know them, and I assume they find our story through YOU sharing the links! 

THANK YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH!!!!

I also find it VERY interesting that if/when they are strangers, the donation amount is $28. Do you know why that is???
Thank you from a-z

Afrikaans	South Africa	Baie Dankie (thanks very much - "Buyer Dung-Key")
Afrikaans	South Africa	Dankie  ("Dung-Key")
Albanian	Albania	Faleminderit
Alsatian	Alsace	merci
Arabic	Algeria	saha
Arabic	Middle East, North Africa	Shukran
Arabic	Middle East, North Africa	Shukran Gazillan (Thank you very much)
Arabic	Middle East, North Africa	chokrane
Arabic	Oman	Shakkran
Arabic	Qatar	Shakkran
Arabic	Tunisia	Barak Allahu fiik
Arabic	Yemen	Shakkran
Armenian	Armenia	shur-nur-ah-gah-lem
Australian	Australia	Thoinks Moite!
Azeri	Azerbaijan & Iran	çox sag olun / tesekkur edirem
Bamanankan	Mali	a ni kié
Basque	Basque (Between Spain & France)	Eskerrik asko (Thank you very much)
Belarusian	Belarus	dziakuju
Bengali	India,Bangledesh	Dhannyabad

Bake Sale1

After getting such wonderful response for her initial efforts, Rubi, my 8 year old decided to spend her Saturday afternoon having a bake sale!

She got up early, helped me make the lemonade, and worked hard setting everything up just right.

She was so THRILLED when our friends, Laraine, Leigh, and Erin arrived with additional baked goods to supplement her efforts. (Her mom was even MORE thrilled, as I was not energetic enough to bake anymore!)

She is a bright, cheerful and GRATEFUL child. each person who helped she said Thank you sincerely to, and BEAMED with joy at the opportunity!

I am SO proud of her, and I am honored to move the thermometer reflecting her efforts!
By the way, it was surprisingly CHILLY today!  we MIGHT have done better with Hot Cocoa! ;)

Tupperware PARTY! (online)

If you want copies, just let me know! I have 1000 copies of the fundraiser flyers!
(or you can download and print copies of the fliers.)

These fliers have ALL of the items for the fund-raising.
A new feature for fund-raising is the Fundraiser Webpage!



Your friends or co-workers can order directly from MY specific fundraiser page and everything is automated.

How cool is that!?

Then if shoppers would prefer shopping from the FULL catalog, I have my regular website set up and ready to take orders.

Friends Near and Far

I would like to introduce you to yet another angel, Joy Quist and I met when we were about 12.
We went to summer camp together, she was a bit younger than I was, but she was always a JOY to be around! She has offered to host a Scentsty Fundraiser for Peter.

Here is the info

you can have them go to my webpage www.happyjoy.scentsy.us
and click on your fundraiser. "Pennies for Peter" on her web page listed under Fundraisers.

Susana is at it again!

Do you feel the earth quaking?? That's cause I am movin' and shakin'!! I have set up a Red Wheel Fundraiser for the St. Jo, Gallatin, Hamilton, Kidder, Cameron, area. I need 20 people willing to get just 10 orders!!! That would raise Dee's thermometer by $400!!!

This fundraiser begins today 4/16 and ends on 4/30/2012. I can personally deliver order forms tomorrow on my way to Gallatin or drop them off with Dee. I could use a volunteer in each town to oversee their area and get more people to help take orders. The more we sell the more the thermometer grows!!

http://www.redwheelfundraising.com/

To participate please send me an email and I will add you to the list of team members!!

Easy-Peasy Giveaway...can you CLICK to help?!

In an effort to SPREAD the word about Coupe-Aide for our fundraising we get the AWESOME opportunity to be entered into a drawing for BONUS DRAWING...including $300 towards our adoption fund!!!

ALL you have to do is "LIKE" CoupAides facebook page

EASY PEASY!

I know we can get 500 likes in ONE week. Let's show off! Show everyone how AWESOME Midwestern'ers are when it comes to supporting our neighbors!!

(This contest runs from April 16th, 2012 thru May 31st, 2012 at 11:59pm. Check out our Facebook page each week to see which families are in the lead)

CLICK CLICK!

CLICK ON ME!

http://coupaide.com/adoption-giveaway/

http://coupaide.com/adoption-giveaway/

We are in the NEWSPAPER!

A beautiful article written by Erin Wisdom in the St Joe Newspress.

Thanks again Erin!

THANK YOU

I have been saying this an AWFUL LOT lately,

Thank you again to the strangers & Friends who donate.

Thank you for reading, sharing and commenting on the articles or the videos.

Thank you for spreading the word.

Thank you for being encouraging.

Thank you for allowing the the privilege to parent this sweet (and sometimes ornery) little guy.

Every dollar, dime and penny help!

Visitors near and Far....

We have a neat-o way to figure out how many visitors came to our blog.

In the 3 weeks since we have created pennies for peter the blog, we have had 700 visitors!!!

If each visitor donated $22 we would be DONE fundraising!!

THANK YOU for visiting, THANK YOU FOR GIVING.

Thank you for sharing it with your connections.

May God bless you all for your kindness.

What is the big deal?

So Peter is an orphan (according to the government of Liberia)

what is the big deal? Someone somewhere will care for him...right? The Orphanage can feed him, and change him. He will grow up, let free onto the streets with rudimentary education and experience, to fend for himself and learn on his own what he must do to survive. Most likely, he will become a father at the same age of his peers 12-16. And the cycle continues.


Peter had very little language exposure, he was not diagnosed as deaf until in his 3rd year. Most likely it is due to recurrent infections and possibly a virus.

So what is the big deal?

Peter had a severely enlarged spleen that made it so he had to be fed via IV. The hospital is not equipped to keep him overnight, so they would travel by bus with a very sick, lethargic and feverish child onto a crowded city bus to travel just to get him the fluids to keep him alive.

The Dr.'s in Liberia knew if he did not get his Malaria attended to, his spleen would not be able to endure more stress, and he would die.

So what is the big deal?

Peter came to the USA. he got emergency medical care, he has recovered and is doing well, he eats, plays, runs, and is communicating beautifully with ASL.

Peter was 24 lbs at 3 years old. that is approximately a 12-18 month old size.
Peter got the flu bug in February, and it wiped him out by 7 pounds. He dropped almost a pound a day while he was ill.

So what is the big deal about Peter?

If Peter can not even tolerate a minor illness, such as the flu, how do you think he will handle Malaria again?

He won't.

He is just one child.

His needs are many, but manageable.


So what is the big deal about Peter?

Peter is my son.

Peter is worth fighting for.

Peter, and all the sweet children that come into this world....DESERVE a safe place to grow. They Deserve a family, a bed and all the love that can be dolled out.

Peter will not get these basic necessary needs met if forced to return to Liberia's Orphanage.


Help us, Help Peter.

Peter!

That's how we Roll....

In 2008 Our family tackled the HUGE chore of turning a Blue-Bird school bus into a Home on Wheels.


We spent 4 months working around the clock to build and create the ideal Road warrior.

We then left on our road trip of over 22,000 miles. We called it our "US History Tour" and for the months preceding our trip we studied about the battles, conflicts and shaping of our Great country.

Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Michigan, Mark Twain Caves, Mississippi River, Back to Missouri, then onto Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, California, Colorado, Kansas and finally home to Missouri.

It was a wonderful 5 months on the road. Life-Long memories were forged.

Now we are on a new road trip. One that does not end in miles, but in smiles.

We are happily giving up our annual family vacation to save the money for Peter's adoption.

Thanks for joining us! Especially Thanks for offering your support.

The Widows Mite.

2 Cor.
6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall areap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

I saw this scripture today, and thought of my dear friends who are struggling financially, and yet they have found a way to give to Peter's fund.

One friend drove all the way to my house and offered her last $20. She was heart broken over the fact that it was so little. What she did not realize is the amount is not what matters, it is the act of sacrifice and the act of love to give. I appreciate her gift and recognize her sacrifice.

Another friend has been saving up to start a family business, they are working very hard to launch this business and they gave $50 to the fund, THEN they asked all of their contacts if they could give. They were able to collect another $35.

In 1998 Madi went to Little People Preschool, in Orem Utah.
Her teacher and I served in church callings together, and I love her. She is a gem, and she sent Money To Peter's fund.


Then there is Susana Baig. She has become my cheerleader, she works SO HARD to keep their family of 7 kids taken care of. She invited me to witness the birth of her last child. It was a beautiful bonding experience.
I can not name where each dollar came from. I also got to know her husband Robert during this experience. he is the most gentle, loving, attentive father I have met. He lovingly attended to his new sons arrival and spoke so sweetly to the kids. I was touched by his loving ways.

Susana has literally changed my energy levels. I have been consumed with the task of attending to Peter's needs. She has taken the initiative and the time to help me formulate and EXECUTE a plan of action.
She has raised over $150.00 and she is not done yet!

We are working on plans that will make ALL the funds trickle in within the allotted time frame.

Stay tuned....It is getting exciting!

Thank you to all who have given.

Thank you to all who have shared the link, the video, the flyer, the jars and their prayers. I appreciate every one of you.

I appreciate the sacrifice.

I appreciate the encouraging words.

I appreciate the support.

God bless you.

Another wonderful surprise!

In my effort to spread the word on the Pennies for Peter campaign, I got creative :)

I thought of ALL the folks who I know understand the power of referral marketing.

I wrote a letter to some of these contacts and got a lovely response today from one

.Life Manifestos

I bought a copy of their Family Manifesto in December for my Christmas Present to myself.


I absolutely love it. It takes all the elements of being a family each phrase, word and meaning and put it all together in a beautiful eye catching piece of art.

I took a photo of the framed poster to show of course, the glare from my camera and the angle I had to shoot it do not do it full-justice.

But you can at least get an idea.

The owner & creator of life Manifestos, Stephen Palmer, has offered MORE than I asked for.
he has offered to DONATE $2 of EVERY sale during a specific 48 hour time frame of their YET-To-Be-Released "Leave a Legacy" Manifesto.

This is why I need all of you to join his newsletter, so you will be aware of the specific times
and can share this awesome deal with everyone you can!

if you go to their webpage, and sign up for the newsletter, YOU WILL BE FIRST TO HEAR about this AMAZING, GENEROUS Offer, for a *LIMITED TIME. (48 Hours)

So first step is to JOIN their mailing list! (which is FULL of uplifting stories, quotes and other helpful advice) and watch for the announcement of which dates and times we will be Favored with their offer.

This is a HUGE deal, this company is BRAND NEW and are not making a huge profit (yet) and the fact they are willing to GIVE to Peter is an HONOR.

GO HERE

It is as simple as entering your email address. Trust me. This newsletter is heartfelt and this family company is awesome.

Do me, Peter and yourself a favor.

Join the newsletter. And pay attention to the dates and times of this limited offer!

THANKS Stephen Palmer & the crew at Life Manifesto!!

Donation!

I am AMAZED.

A friend from 1993 sent a donation to Peter's paypal account, for $500!

Thank you S.H.

You and your sweet family are VERY appreciated!

The donations are trickling in from near, far, friends and not-yet-friends.

Thanks to them all. Thank you for your kindness.

Thanks for encouraging others to get involved.

As Peter is snuggled up by my side, he thanks you too!

Brave enough to STAND

Yesterday we took Peter on a car trip. Peter and I stayed in the car except when we went to eat dinner.

It was allot of training and coaching him, but he is learning so very fast.

In the first few days he was biting and hitting. Every 3 minutes (not exaggerating)
Now we have only seen him hit once or twice a day.

He has learned our family routine quickly, and has been so helpful in keeping us on track.

Some people have asked me, How do I do it all?

I Don't. I choose what is most important to me, and pray about my daily priorities and then I try to get those all done.

Today It is get caught up on my 13 year old daughters homework.

Wish me luck!

When we are asked to do something, whether big or small significant or not, we need to be brave enough to stand. Stand alone, or stand together. If at first we feel alone, eventually you will find others who are able to stand with you.

Follow your heart, do what your inner winner is whispering at you to do. It will be tough, but it will be worth it!

Photos of Peter

The Power of One.

I have come to realize, that I can do many things.

Some times I can do them well.

Right now I can not do everything that needs to be done. I need many hands and hearts to reach out, share the message and offer help.

I get many emails or phone calls each day that come from my friends who offer their support with ideas on more ways to raise the funds for the adoption.

IT IS AWESOME!

But I can not do them. I have my hands full, literally of this adorable sweet boy. My heart is FULL of love and I ENJOY Serving him. But I can not do this alone.

THANK YOU to the dear friends who are organizing the Yard Sale Fundraiser for Peter.

THANK YOU to the friends who have printed off labels, made donation jars and taken them to various retail locations around their homes.

THANK YOU to the many who have donated to our paypal account!

THANK YOU To the Village of Kotzebue for the Bake sale that made us $420!!!

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU!

My heart is Full.
My hands are Full.
My life is Full.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

The Power of One.

Do you know who Third Day is? See this video, what an awesome way to use their talents! I CRIED. it moved me. Will it move you?

For Missy (story of Peter)

Missy and I have been friends since we were 12. She may not know this, but she is one of the people who helped me transition from my reclusive depressed childhood into an outgoing and energetic youth. Thank you Missy, you were a 'popular-popular' Girl, who had all the right clothes and all the right friends, and you NEVER made anyone feel small, or insignificant.

Your friendship and all the times I got to come watch MTV at your house are some of my funnest memories from my teenage years.

Love you miss,

This story has been written in part or portion in several places, many are just letters I wrote to family.

I compile it all in one pace just for you! ;)


I had always dreamed of adopting, I wanted a trans-racial family, one child born on each continent.

My husband was not as adventurous, he was...putting it mildly, a home-body someone who would have been content living in the same town he grew up in, and never leaving.

While pregnant with our 2nd child I had a sacred experience, of which I will not share online, this solidified that one day we would have children of different ethnicity join our family Forever. I also knew that we would have a son & his name would be Peter.

In February of 2012 I got a text from my best friend, Sasha Grove. Her sister in law, Kelly Grove is actively involved in special needs adoptions, and she has a desire to find homes for all the children in need. Her webpage : http://www.specialangelsadoption.org/

Sasha knows of my hearts desire to adopt, and shared with me a photo of a special little boy from Kelly's Adoption Outreach advertising.

Enter "Peter" from the moment I saw his picture I knew. Beyond any doubt, I knew that he was mine. I read the caption that he was from Liberia, but missed the part that said he was deaf.

It wasn't until a day or two later that I realized he was deaf. It didn't change my feeling. I had concern about my ability to parent a deaf child, but I KNEW he was mine. I knew that whatever his needs were, I would find a way to adjust and handle them .

If your natural born child was born with severe special needs, would you shirk from the task?
Some would, but I knew I would not.

This was simply a fact that needed to be handled and I was not going to pass the buck onto someone else to carry this child.

February 18th 2012

I was able to arrange a meeting with Peter and his Host mother, Denise.
I drove to Red Wing MN and spent the weekend getting to know him, and learning of his past & his needs.

On the drive home I was torn, I wondered if I REALLY had what it takes to parent a special needs child, I worried that my many life-dreams would be de-railed if I accepted the task, and I worried what the strain would do to my family & kids.

I worried not in the sense that i would not or did not want to continue in the process/steps, but I worried just as if I had received the diagnosis of a special needs pregnancy.

I went to work right away to get the back ground information in order to host Peter in our home.
It was very consuming and confusing, the local authorities had no idea how to help me, and sent me to the wrong place at least 3 times.

In all our finger-pints have been taken 5 times from 3 different agencies.

March 21st 2012

We finally had all the background checks accomplished and were prepared to bring Peter into our home, it was a hectic day trying to get a flight, and in the end we drove into Iowa and met Denise & Joe. Peter transitioned perfectly and didn't miss a beat, he is enthralled with new experiences and new people.

We cleared our calender and spent 4 days in hibernation, no one in, no one out. the kids and I snuggled and loved on Peter for 5-6 hours at a time, he was very difficult at first, he bit, kicked, hit and spit. (I would too!) We had no way to prepare him for this move, as he is not advanced in his communications.

We prayed hard, and were blessed with added patience, the kids were blessed with added compassion, and were so kind and loving towards Peter.

Peter has been in our home now for nearly 3 weeks. It is if he has always been here. He is part of our family, he has allot of medical and emotional needs, we pray that all the resources will be made available and we will have the stamina to do what is necessary.



Where do we go from here?

We finish the "home study"
We obtain US permission to adopt Peter
We return WITH Peter to petition the Liberian Courts for an adoption.
We PRAY the following are made available;
the Funds for travel, adoption fees, legal fees, USA court fees.
We Need PRAYERS that the US government as well as LIBERIAN government gives us the needed paperwork to make him a part of our family permanently.

It is a laborious and exhausting process, the check lists and the fundraising, the medical appointments, the sign language, then add on top of that all the other obligations as a family we have.

But in the end, I look into his dark little eyes, and I wonder,

If not me.... then Who?

If not this...then What?

If not now....then When?

























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