Most of you know that Dustin and I have been raising our nephew Aiden since Summer of 2016. He’s now fourteen and has not yet felt the security of having a permanent home. He lived with one of his grandmothers or another from the age of 5 to the age of 10. It was at this point that he came to live with us. 

Within a couple of weeks of arriving for a summer visit in July 2016 he asked if he could come live with us. We were a little taken back with his request, even though that was our eventual goal, a goal we had not mentioned to him. He officially came to live with us on August 20th, 2016. It was one of the greatest days in my life. Within a year of his moving in he expressed interest in having our home be his permanent forever home. A home that nobody could remove him from; one that would always and forever be “Home”.

Since then we have had many conversations about the options. The discussions included the impact this will have on his life and the impact of this decision on his biological parents. We purposely took our time to ensure it was a well thought out decision, and not rushed. After considering the options he has settled on wanting to be permanently adopted into our home, we have agreed that is what we want too. At this point I could not imagine life without him in it. So the journey to adopt began.

Adoption is expensive. Unfortunately, this roadblock keeps so many fantastic families from taking the steps to adopt. It’s a reality many who adopt struggle with. One that can seem insurmountable. 

When we first made the decision to adopt Aiden, one of the things that we talked over was whether or not we would do any fundraising. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to. It’s quite humbling to ask other people for money. It sucks! It’s very uncomfortable. As we talked about it though, the more we came to understand that it isn’t about asking people for money, but asking them to be a part of our family’s story; Aiden’s story about how he got a forever home. We are super excited about our PUZZLE FUNDRAISER! 

It works like this:

1. We have a 500 1000 (oops) piece puzzle (Bedroom by Van Gogh) by whose picture represents a forever home to Aiden.
2. We are “selling” each piece for $10 $5. You can choose to buy 1, 2, 3, or 10! There is no limit! You can even go half with your roommate!
3. To purchase, go to our donation page at AdoptTogether.org. Type “puzzle” into the notes field so we know this is for the puzzle. Because we are using a 501c3 umbrella your donation is tax deductible!
4. Once you purchase a piece, we will write your name on the back of one, or more, of the puzzle pieces and send you a picture.
5. Once every single piece has been “sold”, we will put the puzzle together and hang it in a double-sided glass frame so that we can always look back and be reminded of who had a “piece” of giving Aiden a forever home! 

Our family will know these are the people who helped secure Aiden a home that he will never be removed from. Something he’s never had! We will keep the blog on our AdoptTogether.org page updated with progress on the puzzle and a list of all the wonderful donors. Our goal with this Puzzle Fundraiser is to sell all 500 1000 pieces of our puzzle which will raise $5,000! We’d be honored to have you as a part of this story.

Want to help us secure Aiden a forever home? Click the green “Give to this Adoption” button on the right hand side of our AdoptTogether.org page. If you wish to make an additional one time donation above the $10 price of a puzzle piece you can do that there too. The other amazing thing that you could do to help would be to spread this fundraiser! Share it with your families and friends. Thank you!