A PERFECT 10!!!!!!

I started this post last night (Sunday), but kept falling asleep at the computer. :-) So, here you go! Better get to bed as I think we're off to Madison tomorrow to get our last document apostilled and hopefully pick up the other ones still sitting there. Field trip to the state capital - YAY!

10-10-10!!! What a perfect day! Elijah's benefit was today and WOW! What a day it was!!! We are overwhelmed, humbled, grateful beyond words, and quite honestly, I'm a little emotionally numb. I had to be otherwise I would have been a puddle all day long (church was bad enough!). A special offering was taken during church today and Pastor Dan had envelopes printed with Elijah's sweet face on them. Something about seeing all those envelopes in the basket with all his faces staring back at me really got to me. And our church family's generosity!!! Unbelievable...simply unbelievable. My heart (and brain) really can't comprehend it all right now.


I just want to make a feeble attempt to say THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU to everyone who came to the benefit, who donated $, who baked for the bake sale, who donated silent auction items, who bid on silent auction items, who helped organize the event, who put up fliers, who bought food, who made food, who served food, who brought appetizers to share, who ordered and picked up the cake, who decorated, who cleaned up, who brought the little kids to the park and who conceived this idea and brought the benefit to fruition in a very short period of time, whatever else I missed, and most importantly, thank you to those that prayed!!! THANK YOU!!! This isn't about us, but about saving an orphan from a horrific life in an institution and bringing him to his forever family so he can know and feel God's love for him, and be all that God created him to be. All glory be to GOD! I just can't express in words all that I'm feeling right now with this extreme amount of gratitude.

So, I will leave you with some fun photos of the event!



The whole family by the cake made for Elijah

Left to right: Sarah, Anna, me holding Rachel, Isaac, Pat and Rebekah
(And yes, I do realize this the first photo of me on the blog!
That really wasn't intentional, just the way it worked out.)



Isn't it beautiful???
It is so cool how they can put pictures on the cake!



Poor Michelle who was cutting and serving the cake...she tried so hard to not cut into his face! :-)

  

Eventually, it had to be done! (I know, it's a little freaky...sorry!)





Just a portion of the bake sale, which was donations only, no prices marked. I haven't heard any final tallies yet, but just from the bake sale jar, it was enough to pay for Elijah's passport! ($600!!! Unbelievable!)



"Miss Mae" holding Rachel while she checks out the jewelry/beads for sale

 

Sarah's display of "Handiwork for Elijah"! She worked so hard crocheting ALL these items. I'm so very, very proud of her! FYI - she still has lots of items for sale. Her blog link is on the right side bar. :-)



LOTS of appetizers brought by the church family and hot dogs and sandwiches - YUM!

The "kids table" plus a couple of adults. We brought games and some coloring sheets for those that weren't interested in the game.



Silent auction



More silent auction - Sarah's "Frosty" on the left



More silent auction - framed Packer prints and artwork

Yet more silent auction items! Can you tell why I'm so overwhelmed?!?

THANK YOU again to all those that had any part in the benefit - large or small. My favorite part of the day was visiting with lots of friends and family - some that I hadn't seen for awhile. We even had special house guests that traveled across the state to visit on this special weekend. How fun! Thank you to all that came and supported us! We love you all!

Eph. 1:16 - "I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."