Thanks for reading and following. This blog will document Ryan & Allie's journey to become parents via adoption. Please read posts below, subscribe via email on the right side of the page, and consider donating to our cause. We estimate costs to total close to $30,000 and we need your help!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fundraising Update

Just a really quick update on our fundraising...

Support Letters: We've had about $3,000 of donations from friends & family through the support letters we sent out in December. Thank you so much for your generosity! That will cover the expenses of the home study which we are going through right now. With our immediate financial need satisfied, we are feeling very relieved. The bulk of the expense is yet to come however...yikes! We have high hopes for our fundraisers (dates below) and grant applications but your help is certainly appreciated. If you'd still like to help us out financially, please do so through the Paypal link on our blog or by mailing a check to Ryan & Allie Veil, 2539 11th Ave, Anoka MN 55303

Grant Applications: As soon as a social worker signs off on our ability to be parents (prayers please), then we can begin applying for various grants. Some award money monthly while others semi-annually. Please pray that we will find grants that fit our adoption situation and that award decisions will be made quickly.

Mammoth Garage Sale: Our garage sale is going to be May 1st, 2nd, & 3rd and will be at Ryan's parents house: 2965 117th Ave NW, Coon Rapids. Mark the date on your calendars as we'd love to have you stop by and/or spread the word to all you know. ALSO, we are actively seeking donations of all kinds for the garage sale (baby clothing, other clothing, sporting goods, electronics, kitchen & house wares, games, toys, movies, furniture). Contact Ryan to arrange a drop off/pick up. Anything not sold at the garage sale will be donated to other good causes (vets, salvation army, etc).

Photo Shoot Fundraiser: We've received overwhelming response & interest so far for this. The dates are May 10th & 18th. We'll be putting out the sign-up website in early-mid March as it sounds like many are ready to start signing up! Remember, this is also something that your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors can join in on. Please spread the word once the sign-up is released!

Thanks again for your support and prayers. This process would be much more difficult without it

Ryan & Allie

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Setback, Praise, Relief

In 3 words....Setback, Praise, Relief.

About 3 weeks ago, we started noticing a pattern with the organization we were working with for our home study. They weren't returning our phone calls or emails in a timely manner (or at all). While this organization was the lowest price we could find, the service was terrible. There's lots of paperwork and we didn't want to mess anything up that would slow down our approval but they were completely absent when we needed support. Setback.

We decided to move on and seek out another home study organization. We quickly found Adopt MN (aka Wellspring Adoption). Someone has answered the phone each time we called and emails are replied within a day or so. They have been great and even though they cost a little more, we know this was the right decision. Praise.

Now, two weeks after starting over with a new organization, we are sending in our home study paperwork packet! It's taken far too much time and sweat equity to get this stuff done but we're so excited to be done with this phase of the adoption process. Here's to hoping we pass the background checks! Relief.