Let the little children come unto me...

"Let the little children come unto me...for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I can't see to type this blog...damn tears! We are in awe of the love and charity we have been shown by precious children who are helping us raise the money to get Max and Sergei home. When I first saw our thermometer goal ,even I was thinking  "this is never going to happen" and it is MY thermometer!$50,000.00  ...how could we ever raise this amount of money?

Faithful children who have written us sweet, pure, innocent letters and have given us their hard earned money have faith that takes my breath away. They never thought their $10, $5, or $1 donations wouldn't help...they just mailed it because they had faith that it would be enough. These kids, these children make me want to be better. Their faith, their prayers and their money are changing our lives. Their faith is proving that every penny counts. To all of these children who haven given so freely to us...we are forever in your gratitude. Thank you for your unshakable faith and examples that reminds us God is so great and we see him everyday in the faces of our children.

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!

YOU ARE THE AUCTION WINNER!!!!

Sergei showing off his BMX trophy at Aunt Dana's house.

I know what you are asking..."How much much did we raise with the online auction?!" We need a few days to process the payments but we can tell you we raised  A LOT - like 5 figures a lot!! It was truly a miracle.

Thank you to everyone. The sponsors, the wild and crazy bidders, the spammers who sent this to everyone they had ever e-mailed in their lifetimes. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. The donated items made this auction a reality. There really are too many stories to tell but I want to share a few.

Someone emailed the auction offering to donate candles. None of us knew this woman but she had heard our story, and we were happy to have a few more items to put on the auction. As I was at her home to pick up the candles, we talked about these kids in the orphanages who are so alone. We cried together and she handed me her candles - and a check for $500! I didn't know what to say...she took my breath away. This mother who had already been so thoughtful donating the candles, also gave us this huge donation to get Sergei and Max home. We will be forever grateful to this loving and charitable family, thank you!

Dr. Silcox, who never met me until a few days ago donated 1/2 off braces...1/2 off braces is $2,500!!!! This one donation raised $1,900 for the auction. How do I say thank you to this? It was a huge donation and a great testament to Dr. Silcox's reputation that it sold in mere minutes.

How do I say thank you to all of you who have worked hours and hours to help me do this auction, who emptied their purses and rummaged their sock drawers for gift cards we could have. To the many strangers who called to give, give and then give some more? To our dear friends who bid on stuff they really didn't need because they want these orphan boys home and they want to squeeze them as much as we do! To the pear jam bidders, to the jewelry and condo addicts, to the family who quilted for a straight week.....We know you did it all for love, thank you. Thank you from the bottom our our hearts for your help to bring these orphan boys home. If they only knew how many people love them. They have been in the orphanage for over a year and a half with no calls, letters or visits. Imagine how many hundreds of people are actually bringing them from Ukraine to Utah, they are so love, we are so loved. Thank you with all that I have, thank you.

Were you a winner? Need help figuring out payment? Have questions about your items? Feel free to call Dana 801-891-4480. We will be delivery things today and we are excited to see you all.

Don't Miss Another Deal of a Lifetime. Auction Closes Tonight!

You missed this at $2.75/share in 1980:

You didn't invest in this (it just seemed like a bad business model)

No more regrets. Don't miss this - retail $699, starting bid $100:

AUCTION ENDS AT 10 pm TONIGHT! CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS ITEM AND MUCH MORE!

We Believe in Adoption and Pretty Teeth - Bid!!

Click here to get your pretty smile (And Everything Else at the AUCTION!)

Becky's sister Dana here - and that is me up there too! This is circa 1985, 8th grade at Hillcrest Junior High. I am only wearing one earring in this photo and my best friend, Stephanee Love pierced that ear in the bathroom about 5 minutes before this photo was taken. Try to look past the earring, the hair and the eyebrows (did we not have tweezers in the 80s?) and concentrate on the teeth. Yes, my friends those are braces and I had them on for 6 years! You will not suffer the same fate if you check out one of the newest items on our online auction - 50% off a full set of braces (up to a $2,500 value!) at Silcox Orthodontics. Dr. Silcox is funny, smart and has a great office staff that is going to help you make your kids want to follow their ortho plan so they can have straight teeth a lot quicker than I did! Dr. Silcox is a very popular orthodontist (because he is a very good orthodontist) but this one is for new patient families only.

There will be new items daily until the auction closes Tuesday at 10 PM, check them out under "New Items" on the left side of the auction site. And if you want your ears pierced before your family photo give me a call. All I need is an ice cube and an earring. :)