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.

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:

Email us at: MakingLifeRICH@gmail.com

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

We stay connected here:  Facebook “Making Life RICH”

Paracord Bracelets Now on Etsy

Hey Everyone!

Remember those cool bracelets my fellow service member, Sara Stokking, sold at our yard sale a few weeks back?  Well, they were a hit.  We have had quite a few requests for them since the yard sale.  Not only are the cost of the bracelets supporting our adoption, but they are unique and fun to wear.  There is a great red, white, and blue one that would be great for the 4th of July!

If you are interested in ordering these bracelets, Sara is selling them on Etsy at: http://www.etsy.com/listing/100011168/550-paracord-bracelet?ref=v1_other_1

Final Home Study Visit

C.J., Kristen, Jason, and Nate pictured with our social worker, Trisha during our third home study visit

Hey Friends & Family,

On Tuesday, May 1st, we completed our third home study visit.  Just a few weeks ago, our family went to Savannah, Ga to meet with Trisha for the first two meetings.  For the final meeting however, Trisha drove from Savannah to our home in Evans, Ga.  We expected Trisha to spend most of the day observing how our family interacts, but she actually only stayed for about an hour.  Trisha needed to accomplish two tasks during the visit: inspect the home and expand upon the risks, challenges, and rewards of adoption.

The home inspection was simple and fast.  Trisha walked through the home, paying particular attention to where our children's rooms are located and whether or not our fire alarms were in working order.  They worked...

For the remainder of her short visit, Trisha reviewed the risks associated with adoption.  The most significant risk she mentioned repeatedly was that we can be offered a seemingly healthy child, and upon our return with the child, he may have physical, emotional, or psychological health problems.  Though it seemed Trisha discussed this same risk from every angle, it was obvious she was wanting to emphasize the lifelong commitment to adoption.  In addition to that, she did share some helpful tips about adoption:

- Celebrate everyones differences.  Among the many challenges associated with adoption, we will face three broad ones.  The fact that we are an adopting family.  The fact that we will have an interracial family (although we already are).  The fact that we are adopting from a different country.  Though we are excited about our adoption, our family will be tested occasionally.   The various social interactions and experiences with people who may not understand our story will be challenging at times.  It will be important to celebrate the fact that every member of our family is different.  I particularly enjoyed Trisha's advice that when children ask questions about adoption, that we make it so exciting and special that they wish their own family was as unique and special as ours.

- Parental preference.  Apparently, most adopted children will start their relationship in a family with a preference for one parent.  Trisha mentioned that this is not unusual, but why it happens is not completely understood.  It could be that the child can only emotionally attach himself to only one parent at a time, or that the parent may remind him of a person he knew in his orphanage or foster home.  Time often balances this challenge.  Trisha also recommended that the non-preferred parent get to do ALL the fun things early on in the relationship.

- Educate the family.  Some of the more obvious ways to educate our family on adoption is by reading books or articles.  The more unique ways include finding groups associated with Ghana, participating in Ghana celebrations and holidays, and attending church with a Ghanaian population.  We also intend to keep our family connected to Ghana by travelling to Ghana in the years following our adoption.

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”

C.J. Say's "Thanks Everyone!"

Hey Friends & Family,

C.J. and the rest of the Pon's would like to thank the following individuals for supporting our adoption.  Your continued outpouring of support is amazing.  THANK YOU!

Vicki & Bill Christensen- Renee's God Parents

Greg & Mary Jerrell & Family- Great Friends of the Pon Family

Kevin Smalts- USAF

Adam Lane- Uncle Ad

Shelly & Dan Smith- Renee's Aunt and Uncle

Raven Gibson- Friend

Kat Moore- Friend

Jason & Karen Labonte- Friend

Cathy & Sandy Cantu- Fun Aunt and Uncle in California

Jessica Austin- Friend

Phil & Maria Johnson- Genesis Church Friends and fellow Financial Peace Univ Grads

Lea Ray- Friend

Donations thus far: $6,920.18

"Thanks, everyone.  I love you!"  ~C.J. Pon

Genesis Church Yard Sale

Friends & Family,

Our yard sale turned out to be an amazing experience!  Not only did we earn an unbelievable amount of cash for the adoption, but more importantly, we had the opportunity to spend our day with some quality friends.  Kristen and I woke up at 5:00 a.m., loaded the cars and the kids by 5:45, and at 6:05 a.m. we were at Genesis Church setting up and ready by 7.  We had a huge turnout of support in volunteers, donors, and customers.  In spite of the 95 degree temperature, there was a steady stream of customers until  after 2 p.m.  

We would like to thank Pastor Chris Miller for allowing us to use the church parking lot, which drew in a ton of customers.  We would also like to thank everyone that donated their belongings and their time.  Everyone is extremely busy....taking the time to look through your belongings and coordinating to drop off your items are truly appreciated.  Thanks!  Additionally, the crew of 12 people that "hung-out" all day wheeling and dealing deserve a big thanks!  That was some hard work, and all of you smiled and had fun the whole time.  

At the end of the day, we had a truck-bed and Jeep full of unsold clothes that we gave to Goodwill.  After adding up the cash from the yard sale, we made a whopping $1,207.63!!!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Just a small portion of all the donations.

We had some great neighbors give us quality items to sell.

Alyson Kline (R) with her two daughters Mikayla (L) and Ashley (C).

Kristal helping set up as the sun rises on Saturday morning.

John and his daughter Gabrielle with the Pon boys.

Almost finished with the setup.

Brianna Allmon selling the bracelets we mentioned last week. 

The Losekamp Family (USMC) came for a visit and an electric weed eater.

Get your cookies!

Negotiating prices on a sale???

There was a steady stream of customers all day.  Just like you see in this picture.

The set up!

Nate had a great time the entire day....he's looking forward to meeting his newest brother.

The guys just hangin' out for a minute.

Taking a quick break.

Selling cold waters and fresh cookies!

Husband and wife team Tom Mullane & Brianna Allmon.  Thanks for your help!

"Man, it's hot out here!"  -Brian

John organizing all the kids clothes.

Alyson was the money lady!

Kristen and C.J. hard at work

Not sure what is going on.  Definitely not selling yard sale items though!