Rummage Sale, Brittany's Hope, and...DTC!!!

We have officially concluded our outdoor rummage sale but are continuing to sell items that are left on Sioux Falls Rummage Online (Facebook page) and Craiglist. We met and actually nominally exceeded the goal I had in mind! In that vein, we also found out today that we officially received a matching grant from Brittany's Hope. That means for every dollar we raise, up to $1500, we will receive equal funds from Brittany's Hope! We have a ways to go before we reach that amount, but it is certainly not insurmountable. We may have to be creative and find a few more items to sell (as we cannot contribute any money of our own to the grant per our signed agreement), but we will think of something. Even if we do not reach the full $1500, they will match whatever we do raise. We are eternally grateful for this organization's commitment to helping to bring children home.

Not only did we have a successful rummage sale, we also got the wonderful news that our dossier is enroute to China. Hopefully it will be in the hands of the CCCWA next week and logged in soon thereafter. Then we can start the LOA wait. It is such a huge relief to have all of that paperwork on its way -- out of my hands -- and to be one step closer to Carter. In the past, to celebrate this milestone, Troy and I have had Chinese food, shared a bottle of champagne, gone out to a nice restaurant. This time around, however, we were a little worn-out from our garage sale and having to chase around and worry about our "precious little guys" during said sale. So,

this year we share a Lucky Buddha (enlightened) Beer (no kidding, it says enlightened). That was pretty much it. Please know we are as equally excited for Carter's DTC as we were for Aiden's and Ethan's DTC day; we are simply out of gas right now. Maybe we'll do something special on Logged in Date (LID)!! If we can summon the energy.