Crazy Awesome NEW Fundraising opportunity for the boys

Nab Amazon bestselling YA Fantasy novel Thorn by Intisar Khanani for 99 cents April 1- 7 and help bring these two young brothers home. Described as "unflinching and exquisite," Thorn is a story of choice and betrayal, justice and compassion. Recommended for fans of Robin McKinley and Mercedes Lackey.

About Thorn

For Princess Alyrra, choice is a luxury she’s never had … until she’s betrayed. Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family’s cruelty and the court’s contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future. But powerful men have powerful enemies—and now, so does Alyrra. Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman’s, giving Alyrra the first choice she’s ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she’s never met. But Alyrra soon finds that Prince Kestrin is not at all what she expected. While walking away will cost Kestrin his life, returning to the court may cost Alyrra her own. As Alyrra is coming to realize, sometimes the hardest choice means learning to trust yourself.

Amazon Worldwide | Barnes & Noble | Nook UK | Google Play

About Evan & Raymond

                                                                                                                     This sale is also about Intisar's good friend, Jamie, and  the two little boys she and her husband are in the process of trying to adopt. Evan (age 7) and Raymond (age 9) are biological brothers, both born with Saethre-Chotzen Syndrome--a condition that results in brain damage if left untreated. They were each given up at birth, and were unable to receive treatment for their condition. These brothers have lived in an orphanage in Eastern Europe their whole lives. As boys who are older and struggle with developmental disabilities, it's almost impossible to find adoptive families for them. But Jamie has her heart set on bringing them home, and this sale is about helping that happen.

All of the proceeds from Thorn's 99 cent sale are going towards that adoption. Our goal is to raise $2,000 over the course of the week. International adoption is prohibitively expensive (often over $20,000), so every dollar makes a difference... You can find out more about the boys and Jamie, and link to their blog, here: http://reecesrainbow.org/83163/sponsorallison-3

And today, your help can make this goal a reality. Please share, tweet, and/or re-blog this post, and buy and give "Thorn" as a gift to friends and family! You can also invite your friends to the "Thorn Flash Sale" event on Facebook. Help us bring Evan and Raymond home.

Thorn is currently on sale for only 99 cents at all of these e-retailers:

Amazon Worldwide | Barnes & Noble | Nook UK | Google Play

World Down Syndrome Day

March 21st is world Down Syndrome Day!!!     Down Syndrome occurs when a person has 3 copies of the 21st chromosome.  As you know, we have three adopted children with Down Syndrome that make our lives extra great!  This year the kids and i are doing a community outreach project where we take a treat and handmade card to local community organizations in honor of 3/21.  So if you are here following a link off our treats, welcome and feel free to look around!  Hoping to upload pics of the kids delivering the treats in the next couple of days!

Fly away, Fly away

Jared and i got back our USCIS approval in NINE days!!!!  Last adoption it took close to 60!!!!  We rushed and scrambled and our COMPLETED Dossier FLEW away yesterday.  Wow.  Complete.  We are so so ready to meet the boys and bring them home.

I think of them every single day, in the (rare) quiet moments during the day and all through the late evening hours when i stay up making crafts or working on fundraisers to help bring them home.  What will they be like.  Will they like us?  When will they be home?  How will our lives change?  I know there aren't any quick answers to those questions, but i am READY to find out.

We are ready for them to be here and to start learning what it means to be part of a family.  To have people that will fight for you (and with you ;) ).  To know that someone always has your back.  That's what i am waiting for.  To show them the wonder beyond those orphanage doors.  What the world has to offer them.  It's a crazy thing to watch a child discover the world.  I remember watching Eli play on a playground in his first months home and just weeping.  B/c he was free.  B/c he had waited so long to have a family who would delight in watching him go down a slide.

It's amazing when our babies explore and learn, even more amazing and achingly heartbreaking when you watch a child of 9 or 7 or 5 discover things our biological children take for granted.  Food always being available.  Someone to rock you whenever you want.  Someone to worry when you are sick or scared or upset.  Someone to sit with you when your world feels to big or scary.  Someone you can show your big scary feelings to and they will help you work through them.

 It's so much work. Truth right there. Bringing home children from institutions is hard WORK.  It can feel never ending some days.  Back breaking some days.  Tear worthy some days.  Some days i wonder what in the world we are doing, b/c on those hard days i am oh so certain that anyone else could do a better job with our kiddos from hard places.  Those hard days come and go though, but the bottom line is, they are worth it.  They are worth my tears and sleepless nights worrying over if i did the right thing, or enough, or worrying about medical issues or emotional issues.

We still need around 15,000 more to be fully funded to bring the boys home.  That is a very big, very scary number to me.  Being our third adoption in three years means we don't have a nest egg, or a retirement fund (used it on the last adoption), and i know we are annoying when we post fundraisers and ask for help.  It's truly humbling to have to ask for money and Jared and i are both the type who would rather just do things on our own.  So it's a good lesson for us, that we can't do things alone.  If we had 35k laying around that would be great but we don't.  So pray for us and the boys, for them to hold on b/c we are coming, and for funding to come in or new ideas to pop into my head for fundraising.  I am not afraid to work for them!