Got Stuff?

Hey Everyone!  

We are coming up on a busy but fun week. This Tuesday, Tricia, the social worker handling our home study will be visiting us in our home. This will be our third and final meeting. She will be arriving in the afternoon from Savannah, Ga and will likely stay just a few hours. Look for an update next week.

This Wednesday is Nate's third birthday! Happy birthday bud...We love you!

Then, on Saturday we will have a yard sale and all donations will be going towards our adoption. Check out this flyer Kristen put together. We printed out 100 copies and are putting them on our neighbors mailboxes. We are hoping to gather as many used items to sell as possible. All proceeds will go towards our adoption!!!

----------------------------------------

Got STUFF?

* Neighbors, we need your help!  Donations needed (your unwanted/unneeded items) for our yard sale- all proceeds will be used to help fund our adoption of a child from Ghana, Africa.

Yard sale:  Saturday, May 5

Genesis Church (470 Furys Ferry Rd., Martinez)

7:00 am-??

For more info, please contact:

Kristen or Jason

MakingLifeRICH@gmail.com

www.makingliferich.blogspot.com
*We will gladly pick up your items or you can drop them off at our home prior to May 5*

Thank you for helping us make a child an orphan no more!!

------------------------------------------------

Also, Sara Stokking, a co-worker of mine has taken the lead on creating these cool bracelets made out of military 550 cord. They come in different colors and she plans to have a bunch ready to sell at our yard sale. Check them out:

*UPDATE*  There has been some definite interest in the bracelets we plan to sell at the yard sale.  If you are interested in purchasing them, please let me know and we will find a way to get them to you.  They will be $5 for adults, and $3 for kids sizes.

OUR CHILD WILL REMEMBER ALL OF YOU!

Do you want to know what's awesome about this entire process?  It's that all of you who support us via prayers, donations, and ideas are investing in life!  I was telling Kristen recently that I plan to take the content from this blog and all of the paperwork for the adoption and create a hardcover book that we will give to our child.  All of your names will be in that book.  Our child will never forget you and your support to make this happen!

Here's a big thanks to:

Jeremy and Carrie Smith- Fellow Marine family and college best buds

James and Yvonne Smith (not related)- Renee Lamine's grandparents

Amy Hirtz Evers & Family- MCJROTC cadets & "Froggie Buddies" at NGCSU

Zane Raborn- A friend of the Pon Family & my brother's college roommate

Christy & Matt Knarr- Renee Lamine's sister and brother-in-law

Josh Davis- Kristen's high school friend

Donations thus far: $3,548!!!

I'd also like to give a big thanks to my high school friend Summer Boyd Vertrees who is donating 25% of all Thirty-One sales this month towards our adoption.  It's a two-for-one deal!  You buy something girly and donate towards our adoption at the same time.  There's still time.  If you'd like to take advantage of the deal, click the link above.

You can continue to follow our journey here:

Email us at: MakingLifeRICH@gmail.com

Our videos are here:  www.youtube.com/MakingLifeRICH

We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”

DON'T MESS WITH THAT PAPERWORK!

Home Study Preparation: Our background check required we send our fingerprints to the FBI & GBI

Hi Friends and Family,

      The Pon Family hopes you are well!  Kristen and I have been hard at work getting the adoption process started and feel like we are starting to gain some traction.  We have chosen to adopt through Adoptions Advocates International based on their ability to meet our top five adoption priorities and many informal recommendations whom speak very highly of their integrity and hard work.  This past week we started the home study process.  The home study is one of the many adoption requirements that determines the suitability of the parents physical, psychological, and emotional state to raise children.  So literally, they want to know if you are a couple of crazies living in a shack, or regular folk who have a safe home.  Here are a few of the requirements that are needed to complete the home study:

-Autobiography:  We had to write our answers to questions about who we are, and the quality of the relationships we have.  Questions such as: What is your parenting style?  How will you teach coping skills to your child?  How would you like to improve your marital relationship?  All great questions that require reflection.

-Meetings:  We have to meet with with a social worker a total of three times.  One of the three meetings is in the home, which we have scheduled for May 1st.  This past Tuesday and Wednesday, we all drove to Savannah, Ga to meet with our social worker.  These meetings fulfilled two of the three requirements.  The first day included detailed information about the home study and adoption process.  The second, was a meeting where Kristen and I had to sit down individually with our social worker, Tricia.  She spent about an hour with each of us as we expanded on the details we covered in our autobiography.  Overall, Kristen and I found the experience to be great.  We both feel that this process is becoming more real now that we have taken the leap and started the home study.

-FBI Fingerprints:  This is a criminal background check at the national level.  The processing time takes about 8-10 weeks to get a response back from the FBI.  An interesting note is that most of us in the military have pretty extensive background checks....I guess they've got to do it again!

-Georgia Bureau of Investigations Fingerprints:  Another set of fingerprints to have checked within the state of Georgia.

-Local Background Check: No worries everyone.  Everything came back clean!  We used this as a fun little trip to let Nate see some local Sheriff's cars.  

Quick Story:  It has been amazing to observe Nate (3 years old on May 2nd) as he begins to understand that he will eventually have another brother.  Just the other day, Kristen had been answering autobiography questions while Nate was taking his afternoon nap.  As Nate woke up from his nap, he scrambled to Kristen's papers, probably to make a small mess.  Kristen advised Nate, "Hey Nate, don't touch that paperwork, it's really important!"  Nate responded with, "Why Mamma?  So I can get my other brother?"  He gets it, and we're excited to see Nate, CJ and our third future child grow together!

Here are some pictures from our trip to beautiful Savannah:

After lunch, we found the Savannah Candy Kitchen.  The sweet smell of candy as we walked in was fantastic!

Nate enjoying the ice cream he picked out.

C.J. is just happy to be loved!

  

The boys with Ninny and Papa!

You can continue to follow our journey here:

Email us at: MakingLifeRICH@gmail.com

Our videos are here:  www.youtube.com/MakingLifeRICH

We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”