FUNDRAISER!

March already?!  Time flies when you're raising money and preparing for an adoption, I guess?!  We wanted to start by thanking all our family and friends that have asked us questions and prayed for us.  You are an amazing source of encouragement for us.  There are so many days where we look at the bassinet in our room and think, "Its too big for us.  It just will never happen."  Through your faithful prayers, words, thoughts, and questions, however, we are motivated to keep on keeping on!  God is moving and faithful to bring our little one home to us....

Our next BIG fundraiser is Sunday, April 11.  The owners of Mountain Mike's Pizza in El Dorado Hills are friends of ours and have graciously offered to donate a portion of their proceeds to our adoption fund!  Tell your friends, family, neighbors, teammates to stop by! Mention "The Cain Family Adoption" when you order and help inch closer to our next financial goal of $6000.  Eat in and take-out orders placed between 12-8pm will benefit our adoption.  We'll be there in the afternoon from 12-3ish so stop by and visit!

To recap:

Cain Family Adoption Fundraiser

PIZZA NIGHT!

Mountain Mike's Pizza

2201 Francisco Dr, El Dorado Hills

Sunday, April 11, 12-8pm

Mention "The Cain Family Adoption" and a portion of your order will benefit our adoption fund!

Cain Photography will also have a small booth set up with a Family Portrait Special.  See sample images and sign up to schedule a portrait session at a special price.  100% of the profit from Cain Photography benefits our adoption!  Taking a family portrait this summer puts you ahead for Christmas cards!  Visit: www.cainphotography.blogspot.com

Thank you again for your support.  By reading our blog and staying informed, you ARE helping!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  We can not bring home our child without you!

February Update

We have had a lot of people ask about our adoption recently - things have been relatively quiet on "the outside" so people start to wonder.  We are moving right along!

As an approved family through Bethany we are waiting to receive our completed home study document.  This is a large, 14 page study about our family: finances, relationship, safety, etc.  Once we receive the home study from our social worker, we are sending in applications for 3 different adoption grants.  Our hope is to receive some substantial grant monies to help with the remaining $15,000 we need to actually finalize the adoption ($5000 for the waiting list, $10,000 at placement).

Our birthparent letter is finally done!  It was tricky to put into words the deep emotions we feel, but the Lord was gracious is helping us to be clear and heart felt.  Our social worker is looking over our letter and will let us know about any renovations she might recommend.  I am still sorting through photos to use for our "profile" (similar to a scrapbook about our family).   My hope is to print these out and have a "scrapbooking assembly line" during the next few weeks!

Everytime we walk by the bassinet in our bedroom we are reminded of God's goodness.  He has placed this burden for a new little one on our hearts and we know He is faithful!  We have been meditating on the promise of Psalm 16:8:  "I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."  Our prayer is to align our will with God's!  We know that His plan AND timing are best!!

Thank you for your prayers.  We are deeply grateful for your encouragement and support!

Home Study....CHECK!

Hard to believe it, but our home study is done done done!  We had the last step of our approval process this afternoon: the home safety check.  While we over-prepped (in a BIG way), our extra-preparation made the home visit very stress-free and quick.  As Ethan said, "Our house is very safe for babies."

We have two more steps before we can be chosen by our birthmother.  First, we need to compile an adoption family profile.  This profile is a mini-scrapbook about our family.  It includes a birthmother letter, a run down on who we are, and pictures that show the essence of our life.  A huge task when you consider how many pictures we take in our family!  It is staggering to think about writing a letter to the woman who is/will be carrying our child - we love her already for her sacrifice and soft heart.  Plus, how in the world are we supposed to condense our very full lives into neat, little paragraphs?!  *whew*  We continue to enjoy the process!

Secondly, we need to finish raising support for our next financial deadline.  We need just over $6000 to reach our next goal.  Despite the HUGENESS of these types of deadlines, we are confident that the Lord will provide: He has already through meeting our regular monthly needs PLUS these extra adoption needs.  Very exciting.  If you are willing to help us with a game night, bake sale, or silent auction, please let us know!  We will also be sending out applications for different adoption grants in the next few weeks.

Please continue to pray with us!  Our God is gracious and good.  We don't know exactly what His plan is for our family, but we know it will be best!

Year at End

Can you believe its almost 2010?!  We are amazed at the blessings and changes the past year has brought and can hardly wait to see what the new year will bring!!!!

Our last set of interviews went very well.  We really enjoy our time with our social worker, Rhonda.  She is a delight and so encouraging!  After our interviews, we were able to take advantage of Bethany's yearly open house and snoop around the office and Bethany house (housing for birthmothers who are in need).  We continue to be impressed by the staff and focus at Bethany - just another confirmation that we're working with the right people!

Now that our various Christmas travels are over, we have thrown ourselves into overdrive to prepare for our Home Safety Check on January 8.  Rhonda will come out to make sure our house is "safe" according to California's foster home checklist.  There are only a few "big" items that we need to carve time and money for (pool safety, fireplace screen, cleaning supplies/medication re-housing).  We are trying to take the opportunity to reorganize the house in general!  *whew*

Thank you to all our family who continue to express support and encouragement.  It is a joy to share our journey and we depend on your prayers!  Thank you thank you thank you!

Interviews On the Horizon

This Friday, Ben and I will be heading down to Modesto again for our last round of interviews!  Our last interview was joint, but these will be individual interviews lasting about 1.5-2 hours each...whew!  While the process is intense, we have really enjoyed working through some of the questions Bethany Christian Services is asking.  "What did you first notice about your spouse?  What attracted you to him/her?"  "How is your marriage different now that you're past the honeymoon stage?"  "What events in your life helped shape who you are?"  "What are your family goals?  What are your personal goals?"  Very thought-provoking and valuable areas for us to wander through after 6 years of marriage (almost....6 year on 12/27!).

As we mentioned, the other big praise is that we have all of the $2500 we need for our next deposit.  PRAISE THE LORD!  In fact, we had so many people spontaneously give out of their generosity, that we have some money to spare and set aside towards our next payment!  Our God is a BIG God.  Thank you for helping and supporting us.....

We'll keep you posted about how the interviews go this Friday.  Pray that the weather is clear enough for us to get out of our driveway (its still icy from Sunday night's storm!) and to drive the 1.5 hours safely to Modesto.  Pray for our birthmother as she may be conceiving our child any day now (doesn't that give you GOOSEBUMPS?).

Merry Christmas from the Cains!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Thank you for supporting our family through this adoption journey.  We are thankful that the Lord has placed each of you in our life!  May our Gracious Father bless in the new year!

Love, Ben, Ashley, and Ethan

The Lord Provides

We are overwhelmed.
Things are coming together!  The checklist is getting smaller and our troop of prayer warriors is growing.  We sent out an update to ask people to pray as we tried to meet our next deadline on Dec. 11.  The biggest hurdle is that we need an additional $1000.
We shouldn't be surprised, but God has provided the money!  It is so humbling to receive such generosity from friends and family...THANK YOU!

Our home study should be complete by January.  Two exciting things about its completion: we will be an approved Bethany adoptive family (YAY!  we can get on the waiting list!) and we can begin applying for adoption grants!  While we will still need to pursue fundraising, we are praying that the grants will help us meet the next two financial deadlines.  They are quite a bit heftier than our previous deadlines so we are thankful for the option to use help!

Thank you for your prayers and support!  Keep praying....God is faithful and good!