100 Wishes Quilt Fundraiser

As we prepare to bring Ashton and Alia home from Honduras, we began thinking about a special fundraiser to provide our children with a keepsake and to help with the costs of getting them home.  We came across a special Chinese tradition from the northern part of china. When welcoming and celebrating a new life, family and friends are called to put together a “Bai Jia Bei” or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The quilt maker invites 100 people to contribute a single square or patch of fabric to be included in the quilt. Often times the squares would come from the fabric of their worn clothing and it is said that the luck, energy, and good wishes of the people who wore these clothes now surrounds the child when he/she is wrapped in the quilt. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. We think this is a great tradition and would like to make a Bai Jia Bei for our kiddos from Honduras; however, for us it would represent the love, support and prayers of our family and friends. The squares do not need to be from old clothing but can be scraps or newly purchased material – something that either has special meaning to you or just something you like. We would love to have as many of you as possible contribute a square to our quilt if you are able. If your children would like to contribute their own squares and blessings and wishes, that’s great too. We think it will be a beautiful treasure and keepsake for our little ones.  We would like to do a quilt for both Ashton and Alia.

If you are interested, here’s what we would need:

1. One 7” x 7” square of 100% cotton material (washed and ironed before cutting the square to allow for shrinkage).  If you would like to send a square for both of our children great!!

2. Along with your quilt square please include a “wish” which could be a prayer, poem, thoughtful quote, Bible verse, original thought, or whatever you choose on a piece of paper (4" x 6") along with your name.

3. On this piece of paper with the wish and your name, paste a small square of the fabric (can be about 1” x 1”) that you’re sending for the quilt. This small swatch will help us to identify your fabric within the quilt. The piece of paper can be as simple or as fancy as you’d like to make it and will be kept in a scrapbook for our kiddos to read. We know that they will love to read the blessings from each of you and find  the fabric you’ve contributed within the quilt. If the fabric has special meaning to you, please include that information on the paper as well.

 

4. If you would like to also include a picture of yourself or your family in addition to the paper, that would be great.

5. To make this a fundraiser we ask that you also include $10 for each square donated

You can either give the fabric and paper to us personally or put it in the mail. Your help will make this a wonderful keepsake. Thank you so much.

If you have any questions, or need our mailing address, contact us via email - 5acrossgrove@gmail.com

1st Trip is on the Calendar

For the past five years, there would be weeks and even months between requests for paperwork, or a report on our status in the process.  We became almost numb to the news and gossip about adoptions in Honduras.  Then, about a month ago, we received a call to adopt a boy and a girl, brother and sister.  Since then, it has been a fury of communication and paperwork.  Almost every day, I come home to get the updates from Alicia on what needs to be done and what is going on in Honduras.  We were given a tentative date for travel, and have been working to make sure everything was ready to go for that date, and now it is official.  We will be flying to Honduras on July 18 for a week to meet with DINAF personnel, submit official paperwork, and meet the children.  The actual itinerary is still being set, but now we know when we will travel.  It is exciting to shift from feeling numb and thinking that the adoption would never really happen to a mix of emotion with overwhelming joy mixed with a bit of anxiety and a pinch of "is this really happening?" 

Shopping

I had to report to court this morning for possible jury duty.  The trial was not ready for a jury, so by mid day, we were sent home.  When I arrived home, Alicia was excited because she and Ariana were able to go shopping for some clothing for the two children that we are adopting.  It was great to see the little girl clothes come out of the bag.  Then, the boys shorts, a button down shirt, a swim suit...then Ariana called in from the next room.  "I found an Eagles shirt"  As a full-fledged Philadelphia sports fan, it made me proud to know that my daughter wanted to dress her sibling in a Philadelphia Eagles shirt.  There was also a Phillies shirt, so hopefully our teams will get better, so that I do not have to teach my son another famous Philadelphia phrase, "There's always next year." 

After being in this process for over five years, it is exciting to see faces of the children that, Lord willing, will be part of our family, and to be able to do something tangible like buying clothing.  We are anxiously waiting for our travel date, so that we can go and meet them.  Hopefully soon!

Moving Forward

After reviewing the information from DINAF about the children, we have submitted our official acceptance and intent to adopt the children.  As we read through the referral, we read that he loves sports, especially soccer, and it read that she is a very happy and active little girl.  Looking forward to playing with them, and getting worn out by them!

Now, we work on updating our Dossier, and completing another Home Study.  We are gathering the various letters, background checks, financial documents, medical forms, writing checks, etc...having done this every year since the beginning of this journey, you would think we would have this down pat by now.  Many have asked when we will travel for our first trip.  The answer is simple - We do not know yet.  Hopefully soon. 

Thanks for all of the messages of support and congratulations!

5...4...3...YES!

5 years, 4 months, and 3 days from when we began this journey to adopt a child into our family has finally brought us to the moment when the call came and we officially received our referral.  That call came this past Monday.  We are now in the process of adopting two children into our family, a boy and girl.  We do not have a lot of information to share at this point, but this is our way of shouting from the proverbial mountain top that "YES!!! WE HAVE OUR REFERRAL!!!!"  Thank you for your prayers and support.