This weekend we FINALLY have had some downtime! This has given us a great opportunity to get some stuff done around here! When we moved in to our house almost 2 1/2 years ago, we pretty much spent every last penny on getting the inside all put together. The house was a foreclosure and needed a lot of work. Almost every aspect of this house from siding to counter tops to floors had to be redone! The good news is it made most of the house brand new!
The only thing we did not get done was the yard. It did not help that we bought the house in the middle of December either! By the summer of 2009 we had decided to adopt and so spending any money on our yard was not a priority. Same thing last summer. So this year, we are finally giving the yard a little TLC. I swear I could see the relief in our neighbors eyes when we have been out doing yard work this weekend! We got everything mowed, most of the weeds are pulled (and there were a lot of them). We hosed off the front porch and the back deck and washed windows. Today I hope to get some flowers planted and Peter is going to work on pricing out a new fence as he spent many evenings this winter out in the pouring down rain trying to tack the fence back up so it could make it through another storm. Our ultimate plan includes removing a few trees, putting in some pavers and planting a new yard, but for this summer we will focus on the fence and staining the back deck!
This weekend we got some updated pictures of our little sponsor girl in Ethiopia. We have discovered how much better it is to sponsor children through smaller organizations (although we do have one child through Compassion). For starters, it seems that the smaller organizations are able to stretch your dollar a lot farther and the other reason is that you can have a more personal relationship with your child through the smaller organizations.
This is a picture of our child who is in Ethiopia! We are sponsoring her through Children's Hope Chest and they really encourage us to try and go meet her. They are actually planning a trip to Ethiopia in April of 2012 and I told Peter he should go meet her :) Children's Hope Chest DOES currently have children available for sponsorship if you are interested!
Another great opportunity is to personally connect with a child in Uganda. I have a friend who has an amazing story of her journey to Uganda. She moved over there in December and started a school, got married, raised funds for the village to get a borehole, adopted a few kids and is now expecting her first bio child - talk about going full speed ahead!
We sponsor a little guy in her village and it is so awesome because we are really able to build a personal relationship with him! She sent me a video awhile back of him dancing with a group of boys his age (he is 4) and she is also in the states right now and I was able to send her a care package of toys, candy, and new clothes that she will personally deliver to him! How awesome is that!!! She is also looking for sponsor families and you can check it all out at http://compassinmyheart.blogspot.com/
I hope everyone else has had an amazing weekend!
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