Jun 25, 2012

JOIN US SATURDAY FOR SOME 80's FUN!

Hey Friends and Family,

We wanted to remind you about the 1980's themed fun-run and grappling seminar this Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m.  We are already expecting a huge turnout and are looking forward to seeing some big hair and bright colored clothes.  There will be a bounce house for the kids to have fun in while the older folks get to running and grappling.  Check out the updated schedule below and we will see you there!



You can continue to follow our journey here:


Our videos are here:  www.youtube.com/MakingLifeRICH
We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”


Jun 24, 2012

Happy Birthday Rich!!!

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY RICH!!!  
You are an awesome brother and uncle.  We miss you!
Born Sunday June 24, 1990 @ 7:00 a.m.

Rich in his early days lounging with his girl, Sarah.  He always loved his dogs.

Rich back in the United States shortly after his return from Ghana in 2009.    Notice the baseball picture-button on his shirt of himself!

Jun 22, 2012

An Anonymous Challenge


Friends & Family,

We hope you are doing great!  As we wait for the referral of a child, Kristen and I have had to focus on completing more administrative tasks: ordering original birth certificates, preparing our I-600A and our dossier.  All of this info is a mandatory part of completing the adoption.  We will post more about what the I-600A and dossier consist of later.  

As we have moved along through this process, we have been introduced to new and old friends who have supported us.  To be quite honest, the outpouring of love has been both surprising and inspiring. Just recently, we have become close friends with a family who has a heart for adoption.  They are wonderful people and have offered up a challenge to support our efforts.   They have also asked to remain anonymous.  Please read their challenge below.

      Our family has recently gotten to know Jason and Kristen Pon and discovered we share the same heartbeat with them for adoption.   We see what good parents they are with their biological sons and know that they will be wonderful adoptive parents. We strongly believe that the Lord has truly given Jason and Kristen this passion for the fatherless.  As our family has prayerfully sought the Lord in how best to help them, we were inspired by God to present a financial challenge to others. Therefore, we would like to challenge friends, family, and even strangers to respond to the Lord’s plan for the Pon’s planned adoption from Ghana.  So for every dollar contributed  between now and July 31, we will match dollar-for-dollar up to $1000.00. So if you have been waiting on supporting this worthy endeavor – answer the call now – and become a financial supporter now.  May God richly bless you for your compassion and love for the orphans of the world.

You can continue to follow our journey here:

Our videos are here:  www.youtube.com/MakingLifeRICH
We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”

Jun 8, 2012

From Rich's Blog: Photo Update of My Recent Travels!


Hey Friends & Family,

I was thinking about finding some interesting facts about Ghana to share with you.  As I was searching, I ultimately found myself back at my brother, Rich's blog.  The great thing was, Rich lived it.  He knew the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of Ghana while he lived there in 2009 as a foreign exchange student.  No better place than Rich's blog post titled "Photo update of my recent travels!"  to give us an idea about life in Ghana.  I went ahead and copied/pasted his post right into my blog.  Rich made this post on Friday May 1, 2009, which would have been the latter half of his exchange.  Enjoy!

*Click the photo's to enlarge the image.

Photo update of my recent travels!

The pictures are a bit sporadic, but so is Ghana. Nonetheless, enjoy!


Unloading a ferry.
Another colorful sunrise.

Our luxurious sleeping arrangements. I slept on the bench nearest to you. Queen sized beds are overrated!

The lake was endless.

Yams.

You can't get much better of a sunset!

The bull's "I wasn't ment to be a seaman" pose.
The Yapei Queen on the Volta Lake.

Mole National Park.

Me and the Ghana.

A Warthog. Who knew Ghana had such an influence on Halo?
Baboon.

Elephants.

Ghana versus Benin, March 29, 2009.

Celebrating after the victory!

Baba Yara Sports Stadium:Kumasi. Ghana versus Benin in a World Cup Qualifying match. Ghana-1 Benin-0
National Pride.

Selorm, my host brother for the weekend in Accra.

The Monkey Sanctuary in the Volta Region.

Guys will laugh, maybe not the girls. haha.

Belgian Joris, Wesley, Me and Boris from Belgium as well, on the Volta Bridge.

The usual stampede of vendors trying to sell their goods to people in a trotro.

The Volta Bridge; it's on the back of a 1 pesewa coin.

The House Of Parliament in Accra. We watched the budget reading: quite an experience.

Me, Ama, my long lost host sister Rebecca(I call her Adwoa) and Kwame ti so (his head size is disproportionate to his body, so I like to call him Kwame big head, it's all in good fun though!).

Boris, Wes and I on our way to Yeji to catch the ferry which took us to Akosombo.


Jun 4, 2012

Totally Awesome 80's Party!

Hey Family & Friends!

We hope you are doing well.  First, I will update you on the adoption progress.  Today we were sent the final draft of our home study.  It is an 11 page, 7000 word document about each member of our family, our parents and siblings, details about our upbringing, how we raise our children, our personal finances, our neighborhood & community, and recommendations about our ability to adopt.  

With our homestudy nearly complete, our adoption agency, Adoptions Advocates International, let us know that we are OFFICIALLY on the waiting list for a child!  We are extremely excited about the progress we have made in just a few short months.  The next step is to wait for the referral of a child....and of course we will keep you updated!

With that good news, we would like to tell you about this "Totally Awesome 80's Party" we will be having on June 30th.  Most of you know that Kristen enjoys exercising and I enjoy martial arts and wrestling.  In the past two months, we started attending just that, a fitness center and grappling team.  Kristen and I have become friends with the owners of Three B Fitness and Grapplers Unlimited, Bonnie  and Brandon Cunningham.  After learning about our intent to adopt, Bonnie and Brandon offered to do a fun run and grappling seminar as a fundraiser to help us.  It is going to be a blast and we would love to see you there.  If you live in the CSRA or are interested in coming, grab your headbands and short-shorts and come out for the 80's Fun Run.  ****Please no short-shorts during the grappling seminar*****  :)

Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support!


You can continue to follow our journey here:

Our videos are here:  www.youtube.com/MakingLifeRICH
We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”