Our Fundraiser

While we were in Ukraine my mom began making a quilt for us to raffle in an effort to help raise money to bring Dasha home. I have posted larger pictures at the bottom of this post. Please read the post in its entirety as it explains the sentimental value behind this quilt. It's really more than just a quilt. At least to us and the people that know about the quilt collection and that knew and still love Chloe. If you are really in a hurry or share my dislike of reading, then I have put the meaning of the quilts in bold print so you can skip through. I know how it is to be busy!

Below is what I wrote in Ukraine about the quilt and our fund raiser. I copied and pasted it from my Word document so it is still in past tense, but the meaning is the same.

In an effort to raise money to bring Dasha home my sweet mother has offered to make a baby quilt for us to raffle off. I am so touched that she has volunteered to use the talents that God has given her to help us raise money for our little angel that we have to leave behind. For those of you that may not have been following along the entire time, Dasha has not waited out the entire length of the waiting period in order to be adopted internationally. She will not be available until some time in October. John Paul is already four years old and was already scheduled for transfer to the institution. Our facilitator, Yulia, made contact with the orphanage director and had him to hold John Paul for a little over two weeks in order to give us time to get to him before he was transferred. We were uncertain if we would be able to adopt John Paul from the institution as no one had ever adopted from there before. And as it was put to me the conditions of the institution that he was going to be transferred to were questionable. It is a miracle that God worked out the timing for our travel and kept John Paul safe until we could get to him. It was simply not an option to leave him there until October when Dasha became available. God said, “Go”. So we went. And I praise God for blessing us with this sweet little boy! As of Saturday he has waited out the ten day waiting period and no one came forward to contest our adoption of him. Tomorrow we will pick up the court decree and he is officially our son. God has really worked strongly through this entire process, even giving us our court date to adopt John Paul on July 8th, which would have been Chloe’s 3rd birthday. While she is in a place that is like a birthday everyday, God gave us a special birthday gift in our new son. I can’t begin to describe what a blessing that was and what a miracle John Paul is to us.

While we are experiencing great happiness with the adoption of John Paul, we are also very sad to leave Dasha behind. It is also posing further financial obligations on our behalf than we had planned. We were not planning on paying for two separate adoptions in a year. But we can’t leave her here and I believe in my heart that she is meant to be ours and we know that God will provide. We are getting close to meeting the amount that it will take, but we are also fundraising in an effort to gain the entire amount as we will not be taking out any further adoption loans.

We are going to be trying to raise money in various ways. The first way is through the raffle of the quilt that I mentioned earlier. This quilt was hand made by my mother and it is adorable. But you can see for yourself below in the pictures. The quilt will also accompany a card that explains the collection of quilts and their sentimental value. To me these quilts are just one more blessing that came from Chloe. Each print is a happy print that reminds my mom and I of her sweet spirit. The first “happy quilt” was made for Chloe while I was still pregnant. My mom said that every time she thought of her she felt so much happiness. Little did we know what a bundle of sunshine she would actually end up being. After Chloe went to Heaven my mom was unsure if she would ever make another one of the “happy quilts“, but I encouraged her to keep making them. So in Chloe’s memory my mom changed the name from “Happy Quilts” to the Chloe Bean Collection. Bean was Chloe’s nickname and just the sound of Chloe Bean makes us smile. This quilt is number four of the “Chloe Bean Collection” of quilts. The quilt comes with a matching pillow and will be accompanied with a beautiful handmade card explaining the Chloe Bean Collection and the quilt that you have received. It also comes from a clean smoke free home and will arrive packed in a plastic carrying case.

The price for each raffle ticket is $5.00. I will let the raffle run for one month and then will declare the winner at that time. Even if you do not have or are not expecting a baby, it would make a great gift! If it is given as a gift to someone else, the card will also raise awareness for Down Syndrome. You can’t lose with this! You will get a precious handmade quilt that has been made with much love and prayers for the baby that will receive it, you will be helping to bring Dasha home to her parents and big brother that love her, and you will be keeping the legacy of our first little angel alive. How much love could be in one quilt?