Ok... I was wrong

It took more than a few hours to get back to blog.  I apologize.  So much has happened. 

First, we were given our I800 approval to adopt Christiana and our article 5 letter from the US embassy in her country should be in our Lawyer's hands in just a few hours.  She already has all of our court documents, so now we begin the process of formally petitioning for her adoption. 

In the coming days and weeks Toni will present our documents to the Ministry and gain the minister's signature that is needed to be assigned a judge.  Once we're assigned a judge, he or she will assign a court date for our adoption proceedings.  After that... it should just be a matter of weeks before we can bring her home!

All of our adoption fees and country fees have now been paid and we're beginning our final fundraisers.  All that is left to pay for is her homecoming.  We need  round trip airfare for 2 adults, a 1 way ticket for Christiana, funds for 7-10 days (hotel and food) in her country, and about $300 to cover taxis, medical exams (for the US embassy), etc. 

So far, we've raised around $1300 of the approximately $7000 we need to be fully funded for our trip.  So in the coming weeks (and there are very few left) we will be working hard to raise the remaining $5700 that we need. 

In order to do that... I will continue to take orders for key fobs and other crafts and we will be having another auction and a large item giveaway that will include diamond jewelry, celebrity autographs and memorabilia among other great items! 

As always, donations can be made directly to our Chipin or to our FSP at Reece's Rainbow.  All donations made through Reece's Rainbow via Paypal or check are fully tax deductible. 
If you would like to donate to our Reece's Rainbow fund via paypal, just click this link.  If you would prefer to send a check, please send it to Reece's Rainbow (be sure to put "Carissa/Christiana for the Matthews Family" on your check) at:

Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885

We will also be having a "Text To Donate" day on December 23rd that is being sponsored by Wish Upon A Hero.  Any time on the 23rd of December you can donate $5 by texting "WISH" to 80077 .   It's that easy!  Just remember to click "YES" to confirm the charges.

Please help us make this a success by sharing this on your blog/website or your Facebook or other social websites.  Tell your friends and family, please!  This will be a one day only event.

Pre-update

So much has happened in the past few weeks.  I'll be back tonight to give a real update.  Until then... I would like to announce that Sevenly has chosen Reece's Rainbow as their charity to sponsor this year! 

Sevenly.org is an organization committed to raising awareness for the many charities around the world through their hip and trendy shirt designs! Each week of the year, one charity is chosen. Sevenly design artists create a unique graphic for that charity, and fundraise through the sale of those items over a 7-day period only!

THIS week, December 17-24, Reece’s Rainbow is Sevenly’s chosen charity! We are SO BLESSED to have this incredible opportunity to *reach outside of our existing Down syndrome/special needs/adoption community*, and to share our ministry and the needs of these children with the general public. HELP US MAXIMIZE THIS SPECIAL WEEK BY:

1) Buy a shirt or two, they make great gifts, even for teenagers and us 40-somethings who *think* we’re still 17!

2) Share the link https://www.sevenly.org/

3) Take one of the various “headers” shown here and change your timeline cover pic on FB.
4) Grab one of the blog buttons and add to your blog.
4) Follow RR on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ReecesRainbow) and be sure to RT our posts multiple times a day.
5) Same goes for Facebook and your blogs.
6) Continue to reach out to celebs and other influential folks to help you tweet.

 

 

 

 

Please help us support Reece's Rainbow.  They're the reason we found Christiana and they've helped us so much!  All of the money that is raised will be used to find homes for waiting children.