That includes: straight donations; our Burrito Night fundraiser; burp cloth sales; some cleaning, babysitting, and misc jobs I've done; a few pop cans; some baby bottles of change, etc. Aaron created a neat spreadsheet in google docs so we can enter each little earning and it keeps totals for us. It will be fun to print and keep in a scrap book of some sort.
We know it's a tough economy for many people. We're grateful for those who have wanted to come alongside us with support or contributions, an encouraging facebook note, the well wishes, etc. We realize we still have a long ways to go, but have actually enjoyed the fundraising efforts so far. Our garage sale is in just a couple weeks and we are excitedly plotting for that, seeking out a few more donations to sell, collecting ingredients to make cake pops to sell, and it has also motivated me to sew some more burp cloths just in case anyone wants to buy a set!
Between the $7,094 that we paid early on and the $4804.72 that is in our adoption savings account (which includes the $3,451.85) that is about $11,898.72 total in a $34,500 ish process (depends on travel) (About 34% Funded).
We are still awaiting our official home study completion so that we can begin applying for grants. Our church is awarding a grant, and we've found another grant to apply for through Show Hope. We'll keep looking into others and apply for as many as possible.
It can be discouraging at times. Especially months when our medical bills and expenses to fix our house siding mean we can't save as much of our own money in our adoption account. The boys don't feel the financial strain thankfully, but we continue to plug along thinking ahead to summer fun that doesn't cost a lot.
But... we're certain God will provide. He's thus far provided just what we need when we need it, in seemingly random (yet not) ways. I'll surely post some garage sale pictures. Our gigantic driveway will be put to good use. Looking forward to it and praying for dry sunny weather.