Exciting news from the adoption arena!

What a busy week this has been with lots of progress toward the homecoming of R & B!

• Fundraising activities abound. I held the yard sale a couple of weeks back and managed to bring in a little over $600 with items donated by family and friends. My heart goes out to those who sweltered in the heat with me for two days to make the sale a success.
• Earlier this week I also posted about an opportunity provided by Wild Olive. Go to http://store.wildolivetees.com/adoption-fundraiser-tees-c6.aspx and you will find many Christian t-shirts (not adoption specific) to choose from. At checkout enter the code SHINKLE629 and I will receive a portion of proceeds paid directly to CCI to go toward remaining expenses.
• My daughter Kathy also created an amazing video of my first adoption process which goes to where I am now with the girls. I am humbled just to watch it (and I have watched it many many times) and amazed to see the story from her perspective. The video was created for an opportunity with Give1Save1 and we learned earlier this week it will be featured during the month of August. Please consider going to http://give1save1africa.blogspot.com/ during August to view the video and make a donation toward the adoption.
• In addition, I learned yesterday that I am the recipient of a grant from ONEless Ministries! This also will be paid directly to CCI to offset expenses.
• I faxed another grant application to A Child Waits Foundation today and am anxiously awaiting results of the pre-application process.
• Most exciting is that I received an e-mail from CCI today that adoption court proceedings in the DRC have begun! If I am at all on target of understanding this process I am still a few months from travel, but each step feels like a mountain has moved.
• A co-adopter I met during the Ordinary Hero benefit is planning to travel the end of this month to bring her son home and now has a package in her possession to take to each of my girls. They will soon come face-to-face by way of pictures with the family waiting so anxiously for them!
• Finally, I found the house of my dreams the other day and am viewing it this weekend. It has everything I want...twice the space, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a playroom, den, living room, fenced in backyard, and is on a cul-de-sac so an opportunity for four little ones to ride their bicycles with less fear of traffic.
• I also have narrowed my choices of vehicles to trade to and though the luxurious ride I now have will need to be replaced with a minivan it is a necessity that will be short lived and so worth it.

So, as you can see, lots happening but lots more still needed. Please continue to pray for the health of the girls and for the preparation of the boys. Oh, I also will be traveling alone due to health risks of the yellow vaccine immunization to my daughter Kathy so pray for that. If you wish to offer a pledge of financial support instead of those options listed above I have a paypal link on the sidebar and would love for you to consider partnering with me to get these girls to their forever home.

I will end with a picture of two little boys anxious to meet their newest sisters. Oh, they have no idea how their world is going to be rocked!

Happy 4th (well 3rd) of July! Waiting on Smyrna fireworks to begin!