The Sparrow Fund and Kenyan Jewelry Fundraiser

This fundraiser is now closed! Thank you all so much. We raised money for the women of Kenya and for Talia! Should you want to purchase more jewelry please visit the Sparrow Fund's Etsy Shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSparrowFund

The Sparrow Fund (http://www.sparrow-fund.org) is an amazing and compassionate organization that helps couples just starting the adoption process with grants for medical reviews. Their most recent venture is to help fundraising families while helping women in Kenya adopting children as well.

Their motto: ONE MORE child with a forever family and ONE LESS orphan in the world.

We are so lucky to partner with this organization and this week every item that sells on my blog, Talia's fund gets 50% of the amount. I will only have this listed until Thursday, May 10th so if you would like to purchase please e-mail me at mjpost32@gmail.com with the item or items you want and I will then give you options on how to pay. We are still working towards our matching Brittany's Hope grant where you will receive a tax deductible receipt https://www.brittanyshope.org/seedling/Youngerman-Postiglione You can also leave a comment with your e-mail address and order should you choose instead of e-mailing me.

The super lightweight bags are perfect for the beach, pool and any summer excursion! And the jewelry -- well the pictures speak for themselves...beautiful and fun! Plus how cool is that it benefits women in Kenya as well as Talia?! These are perfect gifts for Mother's Day, friend's birthday, end of school year gifts or a treat for yourself this summer. They even come with a little card about how the item was made.  Let me know if you have any questions! Sorry no returns as each item is handmade.


Price List
Earrings: $6
Bracelets: $15
Necklaces: $15
3 piece sets: Necklace, bracelet and earrings: $36
2 piece set: Necklace and earrings: $21
Bags: $20
Shipping and handling is additional : $2.50 for total up to $18
                                                          $3.50 for total up to $49
                                                          $5.50 for any amount beyond $50

The beads seen in the jewelry were created by refugee women currently living in Kenya, women broken from war and HIV, caring for orphans in their community, but made whole together. The individual hand-rolled paper beads made from recycled magazine and calendar pages and take approximately 15 minutes each to roll and varnish to make a unique bead that no one believes started as paper. The varnish makes them durable and water resistant. However, keep them away from water as much as you can, and they will stay in perfect condition for a long, long time.


Your purchase not only gives you a beautiful and unique piece of jewelry, you can wear it with joy knowing that the total proceeds from your purchase supports Talia and women like, Mary, mentioned below.

Pictures will be labeled with numbers! Just e-mail me mjpost32@gmail.com with which number or numbers you would like to purchase! Remember every piece is unique, one of a kind and special just like each child that waits for a family. I will put the word "sold" for things that have already been purchased! 

Wrap Bracelets-$15 each

Piece #1-SOLD

Piece #2

Piece #3

Piece #4-SOLD

Piece #5-SOLD

Piece #6-SOLD

Earrings-$6 each

Piece #7

Piece #8

Piece #9

Piece #10

Piece #11

Piece #12

Piece #13

Necklaces-$15 each

Piece $14

Piece #15

2 piece sets (earrings and necklace: $21 a set (I can break up a set)

Piece #16-SOLD

Piece #17-SOLD

3 piece sets (earrings and necklace: $36 a set (I can break up a set)

Piece #18-SOLD

Piece #19-SOLD-earrings still available

Piece #20

Bags: $20 each

Bag #1

Bag #2-SOLD

Bag #3-SOLD

Bag #4

Bag #5

Bag #6-SOLD

Bag #7

Bag #8

Bag #9

Bag #10

And just to see the size of a few of the big bags here is my cutie pie model, Harper Lily!

LOA-Check, I-800 Check, Halfway to our Kindle Giveaway Goal, Check!

       This might be a first in all of China adoption history but our LOA and our I-800 approval came the same day.  Due to the mix-up with our LOA the I800 was still being processed and I guess they don't care about a misspelled name so when I called the USCIS office today they happily informed me that I was approved.  The USCIS office typically  does not like to be bothered so I always hold my breath and say a prayer before I call.  I hate to tell them they are on my speed dial from this past fall when we waited 3 months for our I800A.  They might just think I am a stalker and have nothing better to do with my time! So off we go to the next step NVC.  Okay and if you aren't part of the China adoption world you might wonder what all this lingo means well the LOA is the big letter of acceptance that China feels we are qualified to make Talia our daughter and the I800 certifies that the United States feels the same way!  Thank goodness...ha!
      In addition to all of this great news we are halfway to our current giveaway goal today! So if you haven't entered and would like to just click on the donate button to the right. The giveaway ends on Monday night, April 16th at 8:00 pm.

• $10 for 3 entries
• $20 for 7 entries
• $35 for 14 entries
• 1 additional entry for posting on facebook
• 1 additional entry for posting on your blog

     This tablet is the latest model for Kindle and we are also including a two year warranty for this giveaway. If you don't want a new Kindle Fire or don't have the funds to enter can you please help spread the word and pray for us. We need this giveaway to be a huge success....thank you so much! You can also donate via our Brittany's Hope grant here https://www.brittanyshope.org/seedling/Youngerman-Postiglione/

     Little Miss Talia Mei is coming home soon:) I told Harper the good news when she woke up from her nap!

      And just in case you forgot how cute Talia is! Here is a picture of Talia with her foster family in China. We are so grateful to them for their dedication and love they have shown our daughter as she waited for her forever family. We are eternally grateful to them and Grace & Hope-the foster care organization that sponsors Talia in Yulin, Guangxi. (This picture was taken last May-She is the child on the right.)

    On a spiritual journey note I have been listening to a series, entitled, "Rubble to Rejoicing" by Dr. Michael Youseff. Here is his webpage http://www.leadingtheway.org. I love his sermons! He talks about suffering, timing, challenges and ultimately finding gratitude for our circumstances. Oh how thankful we are for everything surrounding our little girls lives, no matter how devastating, it seemed it was part of God's perfect plan and in His perfect timing we will meet our newest daughter. Today was an all day happy crying fest for me from my over the top emotional high! I am sure the passengers in their cars at stop lights were probably wondering what I was listening to on the radio...ha! Little did they know all of my good news today! 

Happy Easter, yes it was happy!

     I was actually able to enjoy Easter even with our new LOA wait. Everyone asks, "How is the wait"?, "How are you doing it"? or the sweet sentiments of  "I would be crying everyday if it was me"! Quite honestly I don't have time to cry and there are always much bigger things to cry over in my opinion. So although we are waiting, once again, I treasure the moments I have with my only child right now. Pretty soon her little world is going to be rocked in a big way!

Just look at my sweet chick (compliments of the grandparents!)

                ...and she was so sweet when she  colored eggs she wanted Talia's name to be with hers!

       So do I have my moments of seriously how much longer is this wait and seriously will any grants come through. Sure, I am only human but I really only think about it now for a split second and then go on about my day and planning out the rest of our fundraisers. I have to say I also cling to this verse and if you don't know it memorize it!  "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"! (Philippians 4:13)  So although we are a big ways away from our financial goal and a big ways away (probably July) from traveling to Talia I am at peace and worry free.  I know through Him all things are possible and I know through Him every detail and every dollar is orchestrated.  He knows how this is all going to turn out and that is our 2nd baby girl from China in our arms this summer.  I am not sure how it will happen, or when it will happen but I believe firmly it will happen. 

Happy Easter from our family and our sweet 1st child home, Harper Lily!

LOA wait, again! What?

     Yes you heard me right we are waiting for our beloved LOA (Letter of Acceptance) once again! I guess China thought 101 days was not long enough to wait for our LOA! I think my adoptive friends thought I was playing a cruel April Fool's Day joke when I told them the news!  It seems the Chinese government liked Todd's last name better without the "u"!

....and 2nd mistake we forgot to check the box that "We accept" which we just noticed on our copy tonight!

      

        My agency caught the typo mistake today before it got sent back to China.  They explained that although this will delay us it is much better to catch this now then when we are waiting for Travel Approval (TA).  So they put a positive spin on this mistake...ha! At this point I might as well too!  This wait to Talia has been beyond long and we are tired, delirious and going a bit loco! (Just ask my parents who have been down here visiting us for the past couple of weeks) We just want to hold our little girl and give those sweet cheeks some much needed kisses! 


So when will the new LOA come? That is the million dollar question. They said it would get reissued next week but we all know China and their time frames. Please pray that this does get expedited and handled immediately!

Kindle Fire Giveaway

Let's set this giveaway on fire!

With our LOA in hands we need to come up with approximately $10,000 in 3 1/2 months! We sent off two grant applications last week and are anxiously awaiting for a response. We are getting so close to our baby girl and have lots of great fundraisers coming up these final months! Thank so you so much to all of you for your prayers and donations. We have come so far!

The Kindle Fire has been donated to us so every $1 of this giveaway goes to Talia! Here are the details!

All entries for the the drawing need to be in by Monday, April 16th at 8:00 pm.

Just click on the donate button to the right. Please specify "donation" on paypal. You can also pay by credit card on the donate button. For those that rather not pay via the website but want to enter please contact me at mjpost32@gmail.com for other payment options. 

• $10 for 3 entries
• $20 for 7 entries
• $35 for 14 entries
• 1 additional entry for posting on facebook
• 1 additional entry for posting on your blog

This tablet is the latest model for Kindle and we are also including a two year warranty for this giveaway. Total value: $250

Good luck! Harper will be picking the winner once again:) Here is a picture of her getting ready to pick the winner when we had our last giveaway! She takes her "job" very seriously! She folded each entry so carefully and then shook that container as hard as she could! 

LOA-Baby girl whohoo!!!!

     After 101 (yes you heard me right!) 101 Days it took to get our LOA! I am back in my hometown this week without my husband so it is quite hectic but we are so excited to finally have that piece of paper. I don't have time to write much but just wanted to share this huge step! Harper's LOA only took 34 days so this was agony! All in God's perfect timing though! Funny it should come on a day when I was away from my computer and phone (which never happens!) So Talia should be coming home in June we hope! We also were blessed with some other wonderful news this week! New pictures of our sweet angel and she just hit 23 lbs.!!! I am sure they weigh her with all the clothing...mind you it is 70's there..ha! 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Hang on baby girl we are coming soon!

 
     What a doll baby right? She also looks a big naughty! Looks like Harper and her will get along just fine. It might be mommy and daddy that will need to up their vitamin regimen to keep up with two toddlers! We are so excited for our little family and for our two girls to finally meet! A big huge thank you to the adoption community for keeping my spirits up during this wait. You are all so amazing and I could not have done it without all your prayers and positive thoughts!