Giving...

I wonder if anyone can commit to giving $10.00 a week til I get her home? Sometimes I feel like I am asking a lot, but at the same time, I know it isn't anything that I wouldn't do for a friend, even for a stranger. I often find myself opening my heart (and my wallet) to things that really tug at the heart strings to say the least. I have volunteered, and done many fundraisers in my lifetime. I can honestly say in my experience that people that have the least, often give the most. I have often wondered why this is, what drives people to keep giving, even when it could be the very last cent that they have. But I know the answer. I have always known the answer... it is because they know that the $5.00, $10.00 or twenty dollars will mean a whole lot more to the person as the recipient, than it will to you as you while you are drinking a latte, going to a movie or ordering a pizza. These are the same people that will leave the $10.00 bill for a tip, instead of asking for $3.00 back when going out to eat. These are the people who drop their change in the American Cancer Society change when checking out, and when someone asks you if you want to donate $1.00 to support the Make a Wish Foundation.. we say "yes". 


I like to think that my giving nature has come from a a fairly significant amount of struggles in my time here on earth. I truly believe with out the Non-Profit organization of Leukemia Lymphoma Society, I may not be here today. Without the Red Cross gathering volunteers to donated blood, I certainly would not be here today. The Make a Wish Foundation, it does amazing things for sick children, which, yes.. I have experienced that too! The Special Olympics, this is one of the most amazing organizations in the fact that it gives my son, and soon my daughter the experiences, and the feelings of achievements that they would NEVER be able to experience otherwise. All these things... unless you have never experienced them yourself, or been faced with the adversities. You may never think of them. But I am here to let everyone know, that they make a difference. All these  Non-profit organizations, they change lives. I truly believe, they keep us connected to one to one another. 




 Please know that I am  SO VERY appreciative for everything that EVERYONE has done for me in this process. I will never be able to pay anyone back, except with true, and sincere, eternal gratitude for helping give me a child that I have always wanted. As well as a home a young girl has forever needed. Soon she will be home, and you will all be able to see all that you have done. What a home means to Vika. 

Days gone by...

I am in a crunch, limited time and have one foot out the door. But I wanted to write a quick post to tell you all that things are moving along here in my home, the efforts to bring Vika home will have to be kicked up a notch!! I hope to be getting all my paperwork tomorrow. From there I will get it all apostilled.. this means that I will be able to send it all in to the adoption agency to get my official referral to bring Vika home. For anyone that has ever been in this position, it is very exciting times!! We are on our way guys!! I will have to sit down to crunch numbers and see how much money I need to travel for the first time. We are getting there! All of you who are reading this, have been blessings along the way to making it happen.. I love you all!! Thank you so much!! I wouldn't be here today with out you saying I am on my way to bring her home!! 

Lets make a memory...

What is your favorite childhood memory??? 
Maybe it is riding your bike through your neighborhood, Maybe it is playing kickball at the park, playing marco polo in the pool on hot summer days, or maybe it was sledding at the park. 


What ever your memory is.. now think.. who were you with when this was going on? What made that time so special, that you are smiling this moment thinking about it? Was it your sister riding next to you down the street on your bike, your friends all on a team of kickball, your younger brother peeking during a game of marco polo, or your Mom and Dad sledding with you at the park?? Lets face it, these memories, and all these experiences have shaped us, and made us the people that we are today. Good or bad, they have made us the people we are today, and have brought us to the point that we are at right now. 


How much do all those memories mean to you as a person? To me, they are priceless. My sister and I can still talk about playing "teacher" and taking our Cabbage Patch Dolls out on paddle boat rides. How we use to go and pick blueberries in the back yard, or the summer we built our own fort out of scrap wood. I could go on and on, telling you different memories. As parents we want only the best for our kids, and giving them memories to last a life time will help shape them into people their kids will look up to, and to admire. 


I am asking you all, to help me make memories with my daughter!! I can not stand to think of her not having these memories. Never knowing or remembering what it is like to have someone to love her, to celebrate all her achievements. I know that so many of you have already given so much of yourself to help me bring her home, but I can not stop til I have her here, with me, to live our lives together, and to make memories to last a lifetime. 


Thank you so much  to everyone who has thought of me, and prayed for Vika. You will forever live in our hearts, and our memories!