We are so excited! We received $471 from our California Pizza Kitchen fundraiser. They told us it was the one of the best ones they had. So thank you, thank you! This could not have been accomplished without your help and support.

So where does this leave us? Well, so far, we have raised a total of $3,501.00. This includes all our funds from our puzzle fundraiser, California Pizza Kitchen fundraiser, and another generous donation from a local church. Given this amount and the amount Kelly has raised with her online ESL teaching, we are in a good position to start the first phase. In this phase, we will complete our home study and federal background checks, which proves we are fit to be parents. Seeing as we are already parents, we hope to pass this without any issues.

The total cost of all of this is $7050.00. We will make this first hurdle. We are so grateful to be able to say this. Here’s a breakdown of the fees and the steps we are about to take in January.

• Formal Application $250.00
  
• IAAME Monitoring and Oversight Fee $500.00
  
• Our agency fees $4,000.00
  
• Home study fees $2,000.00
  
• Core Training $300.00
  
• Psychological Evaluation: Depending on our provider
  

 Believe it or not, this is first financial hurdle is our smallest one. We will begin right away on the second and biggest financial hurdle in January. This is the one where we owe $27,000 all at once. This is the one where we get to say yes to our child. Our estimated timeline is for April/May of 2019. Stephen is gearing up for the tax season. His hard work will make a major dent in our costs. We will also hold a few more fundraisers. Details to follow. In the meantime, we are still accepting donations through this website. Every little bit helps. It does not have to be much. Even $10 still makes a difference.

Thank you again for all of your help and support! We are excited to finally begin this journey!