Late to the party - no problem

So you're getting to our blog today hoping you can drop some money to help out only to find that we've been there and done that.  We're all home and doing great and well now what?

Truax Adoption Adventure

It's never to late!  The Truax family leaves in a week - go check out their blog for details because what else is there to do with all that Xmas gift money taking up space in your closet?

We Skated the Night Away

 My hilarious brother in law found this photo of Van Halen rollerskating. He wanted to use it on the flyers for our skate night but it just didn't scream "help out some orphans" to me. It did make me laugh though! We had a GREAT night at Classic Skate. There was some hokey pokey, a chicken dance and even new carpet!!

Our family, friends and some total strangers were once again very generous and we made over $2,000! That put our total at over $40,000!! We are amazed by this. I cry every time I think about it. The skate night was our last fundraiser, at least for a few months, and we cannot say enough how much we appreciate all you have all done for us! (We were starting to get worried that if we had one more fundraiser you were all going to block our emails!) We are going to keep working on our goal of raising $50,000 but we are going to switch our focus on getting all our adoption paperwork in order.

On that front we got some good news this week  . . . our background checks are done and all that remains for our homestudy is the social worker coming to our home! That will happen this week and step one of our adoption will be officially crossed off the list!

Our other good news this week was that we got permission to call Sergei at the orphanage. We haven't been able to talk to him since he left. We have sent him packages and letters but it is difficult for the orphans to write back and get the letter sent off without an adult to help them. The phone call requires some strategy. We need an interpreter, we need to call during Ukrainian business hours and we need to hope someone answers. We tried a call last Friday and we were able to get through to the orphanage but Sergei wasn't available. We called back a few hours later but nobody answered. We will be trying again this week, we will keep you posted!

Thank you again - this is a daunting process and it has been made much easier knowing we have the support of all of you!

(Click here to see some photos of the boy's orphanage and read some facts about orphanages in the Ukraine)

Brush off your Hokey Pokey - Guest Blogger Dana

Where was the last place you "turned yourself around"? The last place I did it was at Classic Skate in Sandy. That was about 1986 (the glow in the dark carpet hasn't changed in 25 years!). Now we are using Classic Skate as our final fundraiser to "turn it all around" (clever, right?) for Sergei and Max.

The skating is FREE and the whole family is invited. Instead of paying Classic Skate, any donation you make will go directly to the Ukraine to Utah fund. So dust of your old rollerblades, bring your scooter or your old school skates and join us! (If you missed the 70s skates, the 90s rollerblades, and the scooters of 2000 you can rent skates at Classic for a small fee).

We will be skating, hokey pokey-ing, and limbo-ing on Tuesday, October 25, from 5 to 9 PM at Classic Fun Center at 9151 South 255 West in Sandy. Just tell them you are there for the Ukraine to Utah fundraiser at the window and they will get you right in!

This is our final fundraiser - we have Becky and Kevin in the home stretch now!! Check out that thermometer right below that photo of Sergei and Max - we are at $38,926!! That means we only have $11,074 to go! I am awed by that. Becky and Kevin have amazing family and friends! Thank you so much for your great support!

The Temperature is Rising! - Dana Guest Blogger

Usually this thermometer resides on the right hand side of the blog, right under the photo of Sergei an Max but today it is getting special attention - front and center - because (drumroll, please) we have already raised $37,176, approximately $13,000 of that came from the auction!! That is a crazy amount of money!! That could buy 50 new iPads, one new (nice) car, 7 trips to Europe, 5,285 meals at Cafe Rio - and we know that many of you have given up these very things up to help us get here.

The auction was amazing, people we coming out of the woodwork to donate things, and people were jumping to buy things. One friend stayed up all night bidding to help us earn the most we possibly could. One complete stranger kept buying all the jewelry. We thought, "this lady really likes diamonds" but when the auction ended and she claimed she "forgot" to bid on the four unsold items and she wanted those too we figured out she was more concerned about our auction total than she was about how her hands sparkled. We love and appreciate your enthusiasm and support and we hope you all got something you love. Next fall there will be FREE pear jam for all of you!

We started this fundraising with $16,500 from Becky and Kevin, which they came up with by getting a loan on their car and pulling out their savings. We had to raise $33,500 - it seemed daunting. We decided early on that we were going to do as much as we could in the month of October and then give everyone a break. Now, I believe we are going to reach our goal by the end of this month! You are all amazing. People have donated, and spread the word - we have people in the UK (thanks Stacy!), South America (thanks Gabriela), Russia, and all over the United States following this blog and it feels amazing to have that kind of support.

Next Tuesday is our final fundraising event. It is a really fun, FAMILY event at Classic Skate in Sandy from 6-9. Everyone can come, bring your scooters or skates (also available for rent there) and skate FOR FREE! Instead of paying to skate, any donation you make will go to the Ukraine to Utah fund. There will be some raffles and tons of fun. We can't wait to see you all there!

A Small Act Will Go A Long Way

Can you see the fortune taped to this $20? It says, "A small act of charity will go a long way." My cute cousin got this fortune at dinner and the next day she mailed it to me with a donation for our adoption fund. It made me smile and cry because it is SO true. What seems like a little act of charity to the person giving seems like a big act to the person receiving. All these little acts of charity are already adding up and will soon bring our two boys home to us. Thank you for all your acts of kindness, they are all large to us!