It's that time of year...

Ok. It's been a year. I know I promised back in January that I'd be posting a Salsa Party update "soon." I have no good excuse aside from the fact that blogging - for me - requires a willingness to give up some sleep. These days, sleep is a precious commodity. I am reluctant to skimp. But with the anniversary of the salsa party upon us I am embarrassed that I have yet to get this post together. We've had inquiries as to whether we'd be hosting another party this fall. We're tickled that people had a good enough time to want to come back again. However, our current policy is one salsa party per adoption. So, no party this year. But now it truly is time to give a report.

We have lots of great news to share, though we don't have the ultimate news that everyone has been waiting for. Not yet. We are still waiting for that call. But in the meantime it's been a good year. We're having fun looking back through our pictures, remembering what a great day last year's salsa party was. Our friends, community and family came from far and near to celebrate our first adoption, anticipate our second, and help us put together some savings for when those final adoption bills come due. The weather got a little crazy on us a couple times, but we all had fun anyway. We chopped, we ate, we scavenged, smithed, played and sang with more than 200 most wonderful guests. Audrey, at 14 months, was having the time of her life, running around the farm with a trail of attendants in her wake.

The photos below tell the story of the day. To get a closer look at any of the photos, just click on the image.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Bethany Fancher and Karin Svenson for most of these pictures. And thank you to our many friends, neighbors and family members who came together to make this day so special and such a success for us.

In all, we received $6400 toward our adoption fund! What an amazing gift! And that's not all. Over the winter we applied for a few adoption grants. We were so excited to get word this spring that Katelyn's Fund approved us for a $1500 grant and Show Hope has awarded us a $6000 grant. We are exceedingly grateful for God's provision through the generosity of others.  We anticipate our expenses will be somewhere between $16 and $20,000 to complete this adoption. The gifts we have received take the financial burden out of our adoption picture and we can freely look forward to holding that sweet little baby someday. Hopefully someday soon.

p.s. If anyone has any tips on how to manage multiple (unruly) pictures on a blogger post, please drop me a line. I could use some help.