Final Puzzle Fundraiser Update

We are extremely grateful to everyone who has donated to our adoption fund to help us bring our little guy home from Bulgaria.  We are so close to making our first trip and are getting very excited.  We love Bulgaria so much and can't wait to get back over there.  Of course we're most excited about meeting our son for the first time.

We have sold 702 puzzle pieces, so there are 298 pieces left.  As a reminder, pieces cost $1 each, and for each $1 donation to our adoption fund you will receive an entry into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.  At the end of our fundraiser, we will draw a winner.  (Donations can be made via PayPal by using the link to your right.)

Once our puzzle has been completed, my Dad and Grandpa will be making a frame for it with wood from my Great-Grandpa's fence.  We plan to hang the puzzle in our playroom as a daily reminder of the support we received to bring home our adorable little boy.

We have decided that we will close this fundraiser on May 31st.  We've had the puzzle on our dining room table for almost two months now, and we really need the space back!  We're praying that we'll receive donations for all 1000 pieces by the end of the month, but if not, we're okay with that.  We will not be posting about this fundraiser again, but we will announce the winner and post a photo of the framed puzzle once it has been completed.  We still have our fundraiser with CoupAide available for those who are interested.  (See link to your right.)

We are anticipating our official referral and travel dates very soon!!  Thanks again to everyone who has supported us in our journey.  Your financial gifts and prayers are much appreciated!!

Happy Birthday Nikolas!!

Nikolas turned four this past week and had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday.  We began the celebration last Saturday by opening presents and having dinner at Benihana.  Nikolas loves eating at Benihana.  Shrimp is one of his favorite foods.  After dinner we came home and had cake.  He had requested a blue cake, so I put some blue food coloring in a white cake mix and we had a blue cake!

Dinner at Benihana

With His Nabi Jr. From
Grandpa and Grandma

Eating Blue Cake

On Sunday we went to Cincinnati to celebrate Orthodox Easter with the Bulgarian Community.  We enjoyed visiting with the Martini family.  Their daughter Emilia also came home from Dobrich in 2011, and she and Nikolas had a great time playing together.  I'm sure he'll be excited to spend a whole weekend chasing her at the reunion next month.

Playing With Emilia

On his birthday he was so excited to take cookies to school to share with his classmates.  After school he had a surprise visit from Grandma, who stopped by to join us for a birthday lunch.  Nikolas has grown so much throughout the last year and we're so happy with the progress that he's made.  

We love you little guy and are so proud of you!!

New Adoption Fundraiser

We are excited to share an opportunity with you that will help us to fundraise for our adoption as well as benefit those who make a thoughtful contribution in our support. As you all know, we are working hard to bring home a second son from Bulgaria. Our dossier is complete and we should receive our official referral and travel dates soon. We hope to travel in June or July. International adoption is very expensive, so we are fundraising for our travel expenses. We'll need to travel to Bulgaria twice this year and will spend approximately one week in country each time.

In order to alleviate a portion of the cost, we have partnered with Coupaide to jumpstart a fundraising campaign that will give us the chance to reach out to family, friends, friends of friends, and so on. Coupaide offers $50 Restaurant.com certificates for only $20! Half of each sale will go towards our adoption, which has the potential to make a great difference in regard to the overall cost.
Restaurant.com offers certificates for thousands of restaurants in cities all across the United States. These certificates make great gifts (Mother's Day is coming up!), never expire, and can be used immediately upon your donation.

There are two ways you can support our fundraising campaign:
1.) Purchase a Restaurant.com certificate on our personalized Coupaide website.
2.) Forward this e-mail on to friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors – help us to share our story and bring our little boy home!

We thank you for your support and we invite you to check out our campaign!

www.coupaide.com/vanroekel-adoption-fundraiser

We also have around 350 puzzle pieces available in our puzzle fundraiser. The pieces cost $1 each, and each $1 donation gets you an entry into our drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Card. Donations can be made through the PayPal link to your right. Thanks!!