Care pkgs, new pics & TWO LESS JOY FEST tonight

Eli Oct 2012 is 4' 3" tall

Look at that smile!

 

 

He likes Transformers.

Classmate, Eli, Menmen (foster brother) & classmate

 

We're told he is excited about us coming soon.

care pkg we sent Eli

 

 



Dad's Skittles idea must be a hit with Kai.

Kai Joseph's turn for care pkg







Reading our card and family pic.



Tim Baker (founder SFCV) & Kai Joseph making his classic goofy face.



 

 



 

Look how happy he looks these days.

 PLEASE PRAY THE BENEFIT TONIGHT BE A HUGE SUCCESS & GLORY GOD!

Fundraising in overdrive

We are going to China to bring our boys home NEXT MONTH!

That means we need lots more money to get there and get back.

Please pray for God's provision and maybe do a little shopping...

So here is a list of our current fundraisers:

Scentsy Party until Oct 29th & the consultant is donating all her commissions, so we get 25% of all sales to help bring the boys home.
https://sparkleandshine.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=108958746

Thirty-One Party until Oct 29th & the consultant is donating all her commissions too, so we will get 25% of all sales for this party also to help bring the boys home.
http://www.mythirtyone.com/carissasanford/
Then click My Parties
Then Sherry Patton or Thirty-One Fundraiser for Kai & Eli http://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/catalog.aspx

Avon Party until Oct 29th & the consultant is donating all his commissions on sales for this month to help bring our boys home. I don't know what the amount or percentage is, but so grateful for the help.
http://rickybrown.avonrepresentative.com/

This beautiful necklace hand made by Stacy Richard, Jubilee Jewels, created especially for our adoption will earn $11 to help bring Eli & Kai home for each one sold.  http://jubileesjewels.com/adoption-fundraising/faith-believe-necklace

Adoption Bug & Show Hope t-shirt fundraiser earns $7 per shirt to help bring our boys home.  http://www.adoptionbug.com/adventure4eli/

Just Love Coffee raises $5 per bag of coffee sold to help our boys come home. https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/adventure4eli/

We also still have LOTS of puzzle pieces needing sponsors. Every $5 donation sponsors a piece. You get your name or whatever you'd like written on the back, so Kai & Eli will see who helped bring them home. Donate: http://adventure4eli.chipin.com/in-country-legal-fees 

And since the cooler weather is back, we are breaking out the scarves left over from the winter fundrasier. These are hand knit and beautiful. We’re asking donations be $10 per scarf, plus S/H ($3.50 for one & additional $1.50 per scarf). http://adventure4eli.chipin.com/in-country-legal-fees


M & M Green (approx 92” x 5 ½“)

Angel White (approx 84” x 5”)

Brilliant Blue (approx 84” x 5”)

Passionate Purple (approx 84” x 5”)

Sky Blue (approx 76” x 5”)

Olivine Green (approx 72” x 5”)

And finally, for those that just want to give and want to receive a tax deduction, please visit our Reece's Rainbow Family Sponsorship page http://reecesrainbow.org/42289/sponsorpatton

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I ASK YOU ALL TO PRAY!

Our TWO LESS JOY FEST is next Sat Oct 20th and we have been running all over town passing out flyers and trying to organize things to make it a great night to glorify God & help our boys home. And everyone is invited...

Thank you all, to God be the glory,
Sherry

Drum roll...

Our Article 5 is due to be picked up on October 23rd.

Yay!!!

According to the email from our agency: "You will usually get TA between 10-14 days after. So you are looking to receive TA somewhere between the first and 2nd week in November (estimated)."

We are still BELIEVING that God will provide speedy TA (travel approval).

Some from our agency have seen TA as quick as 6 days lately. So not only are ALL things possible with God, but it's happened recently.

So we are going to China NEXT MONTH!  :)

This short update is brought to you in the midst of MASSIVE fundraising efforts. Please be praying God continue to provide ALL the needed funds to get to China.

We have a benefit night of music & entertainment coming up & we need prayer for good turn out and it will glorify God, advocate for orphans and raise money to bring our boys home.

Blessings,
Sherry

Godspeed



This is a Patton blog, it had to reference super heros at some point.

We have been cabled...

 and computers of course too, right? ;)

Yep, got out pdf letter from National Visa Center today

We received our I-800 approval on 9/26 and are now passed the US side of the steps.

Next step: our adoption agency sends all our paperwork to Guangzhou, China by Fri, delivered Mon; their contact drops off our Article 5 at the US Embassy, earliest will be Tues.

Then we wait exactly 2 wks (only part of the process that we KNOW the wait), after which  
time it gets picked up and sent onto Beijing to the adoption affairs office.

Then we WAIT for the last approval... travel approval called: TA

Once we we have TA, we schedule our consulate apppointment (last stop in China)

and book plane tickets.

Keep praying folks... we need more favor and more money. But our God is able!

Little news on the boys...

We sent gifts to Joseph (Kai) with a family adopting one of his little friends... Henry.

Here is what Henry's mom posted on their blog after giving the gifts to him -

"...we gave Joseph the gifts we brought from his family and although he loved the clothes he kept having me read the card that came with it that said he was loved and that he should keep up hope. I told him his family loved him very much and would be there soon and he tucked the card safely inside the sweatshirt and smiled"

Gretchen told me -

"Joseph is going to be so happy to see you. He had me read your note over and over :) then tucked it safely away"

  *I wrote wording for the note before he was told he had a family and we were it...

 But he knows now! :)

BATMAN! 

 More super hero stuff...

Thank you Gretchen & Hill family for the pics!

Joseph with his friends Henry & Elizabeth

  I was told by SFCV staff member -

I saw him... He was wearing the sweater-shirt you got for him, he was pretty proud and told me "my mama got me this!”

Look at him being a good big brother... We are so blessed to call him son!

And last but certainly NOT least... Eli

Today marks 11 months since we first saw his cute face and his adorable self on that advocate video. (see his youtube video on left side of blog)

Now he is in Grade 1 and hard at work on his math homework.

  

He is also learning to write his ABC's in... English!

Wow! Pretty good for just being introduced to the American alphabet. I can not wait to get this boy home and see how smart he is!

 

Look how proud he is... We are blessed to call this boy son too!

 Won't be long now boys...

 

We are BELIEVING we will be in China

NEXT month...

Wow, just typing that feels soooo good.

 

Again, Thank you everyone! We can not say it enough...

Thank you for the prayers, the support and the help, the pics and the encouragement.

We still have LOTS of money to raise. We are waiting to hear back from Show Hope about if we are blessed with a grant from them. In the meantime, we still have lots of fundraisers going on.

In His Joy,

Sherry

 

 

Moon Festival

China is on holiday for the next week.

Taken from the Families with Children from China North Texas group:
One of the most important celebrations in China, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is an evening celebration when families and friends gather together to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the full moon when it is at its roundest and brightest. In China, this full moon is symbolic of a bountiful harvest and the reuniting of family, much like the American celebration of Thanksgiving.

To read about the traditional Chinese Autum Moon Festival go to: http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/Midautumn.htm

We are going to Dallas tonight to celebrate with fellow adoptive families. We've been looking forward to this for a month now. And I can't help but wonder what the boys are doing in China...

Maybe taking a walk and finding butterflies which give them hope of their new lives...

 Maybe singing songs of celebration...

Or being loving and kind to fellow orphan brothers and sisters.

Whatever they are doing, I pray they are enjoying their holiday and making memories to last a lifetime. I pray God is preparing their hearts to leave China, their homeland, all they know. My heart longs to hold them and tell them it's all gonna be ok, and I HOPE they accept me to be their mamma to do just that.

Praise report, was we had enough in savings and funds raised to pay Eli's orphanage donation fee and both boys' visa fees. Kai Joseph's orphanage donation fee will be paid by two grants: $2,000 Brittany's Hope grant and $3600 from Reece's Rainbow funds. Thank you all for your generous gifts.

Update: Both boys' I-800 was approved by USCIS and we are awaiting the National Visa Center's approval and then they will cable GZ, China. After we get that approval, our agency will submit our Article 5. That takes two weeks. Then we await the BIG letters... TA... Travel Approval.

In the meantime, we are preparing the boys' bedrooms and packing. We have lots of fundraising still going on too, because we have lots of travel expenses still to pay and the in country legal & medical fees.

Please check out our Faith Believe Necklace, Adoption Bug & Show Hope t-shirts, Just Love Coffee fundraiser, Reece's Rainbow is still accepting tax deductible donations, and we still have LOTS of puzzle pieces left.

Plus, our big TWO LESS JOY FEST benefit to bring Kai & Eli home is Sat Oct 20th at 7pm.

Prayers are needed and apprciated. Thank you all for your continued support.

Last week was a very emotional week for me. You'd think I was pregnant... crying at the drop of a dime. All I could think about was the boys and needing that LOA and how were we gonna get them home. I know God is my provider and He has certainly provided a lot to be thankful for.

THANK YOU!

Sherry & family

LOA

 

 

We are doing the happy dance here....

 

We have LOA for Kai Joseph!!!!!

 

Hallelujah!!!

Good news is good news

We just received the following email from Brittany's Hope:

"Congratulations... your family has reached your Seedling Gift grant goal!" ... Thank you SO MUCH for going “above and beyond” to help more precious waiting children find their forever family"

Woohoo! Praise God we not only reached our $1,000 goal, we exceeded it, raising $1,255 to help more orphans! Thank you to those that gave & may God bless you tenfold!

Brittany's Hope will award us a $2,000 grant to our agency when travel plans are in place. Hallelujah!

Also, we had the wonderful opportunity to Skype with Kai Joseph

Wow! What a blessing!!!

He is such a great kid and we are so blessed to be called his family. We just fell even more in love with him as we watched him and he us. He wanted to meet everyone and see everything. He was so proud of the photo book we sent him, he had to show us every page. It was so sweet!

He asked "When you coming?"

Oh, broke my heart...

Well, yesterday we received word from our agency that our USCIS officer called and said that hehas and is holding our I-800 paperwork, waiting for a signed copy of Kai Joseph's LOA.

Yay! That saves us two weeks time when LOA arrives. Thank you Jesus for a wonderful USCIS officer. Please bless him Father!

Our agency also said they are hoping to hear about our LOA very soon...

Praying

Believing

China celebrates one of it's most important holiodays this weekend: The Autumn Moon Festival. This will shut China down for a week I am told...

So Lord, we need Kai's LOA this week... Please Father, in Jesus name!

After we receive his LOA, we will email it to our USCIS officer. He will approve our I-800 and forward it to National Visa Center and the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China. That takes approx 1-2 wks for approval, and we wait for Article 5, which is estimated at another 2 wks.

That all goes to Beijing for TA (Travel Approval), which takes about 2-5 wks...

But after we get TA, we will be making travel plans,hotel reservations & buying plane tickets to leave in 2-4 wks!!!

So if you add it up... If we get his LOA this week, we could be traveling to China in 6-8 wks...

Which would put us in China in November, which has been our goal all along.

Praise God ALL things ARE possible to those that BELIEVE!

Speaking of Believe, we are believing God to continue to provide the much needed funds to complete both these boys adoptions and our travel to get there and bring them home. So please check out our Faith Believe Fundraiser

http://jubileesjewels.com/adoption-fundraising/faith-believe-necklace 

 

 

We also have Adoption Bug & Show Hope T-shirt Fundraiser

 

http://www.adoptionbug.com/adventure4eli/

 

We also still have lots of puzzle pieces that need sponsored. You can use the chip in

 

http://adventure4eli.chipin.com/orphanage-fees

 

 

There are also still two different ways to make tax deductible donations. Reeces' Rainbow & I Care, both info and links are on the right side of the blog.

 

We are so appreciative to everyone for the prayers and donations. We know God is using HIS people to bring both these boys home. We are just grateful to be a part of the great miracle God is doing.

 

Anxiously waiting three letters, L. O. A.

Sherry