::Adopting A Sipek Auction::

Our first adoption online auction begins tomorrow at www.Facebook.com/AdoptingASipekAuction! 

We are very excited with many awesome items for bidding! The holidays are coming up and this would be a great opportunity for you to grab some goodies! All proceeds will go towards our adoption. Please spread the word! :)

Check out some new additional items below. You can check for further information on our adoption auction page!

Adoption Auction rules: 

To place a bid in the comment box on Facebook under the specific item you want, put dollar amount (no cents). Bids will only go up in dollar increments. Feel free to bid in dollar increments of your choice ($1, $5, $10, and so on).  Please keep checking on your specific item to outbid if you wish.

Must pay invoice within 24 hours of receipt. We will contact you via Facebook message—this is IMPORTANT to check your message box. If you haven’t paid within 24 hours, the item will pass to next highest bidder.

Method of payment: PayPal to BrookeASipek@gmail.com. If you have any questions, please contact us. 

 The bidding will CLOSE on November 2^nd at 4pm CST.  The auction page’s privacy will be turned on to prevent any further bidding. We will contact the winners.  

Have FUN! This is for a great cause, which is to bring a child home with us! Let’s not tarnish its purpose by being upset at lost bids, by a sending harsh messages, etc.

 

Have fun bidding!! :) Good luck!

oxoxo

Brooke & Brian

::Auction Items Preview::

Auction Updates:

Check out some of the amazing items that we have so far for our upcoming auction via Facebook on November 1-2! We are still gathering more donated items; if you are interested in being a part of our adoption auction, you can contact us at SipekAdoption@gmail.com! 

Our adoption auction link is at www.Facebook.com/AdoptingASipekAuction

Here's a SPECIAL thank you for those who donated towards our adoption! 

Freshly Picked

A Beautiful Mess

Pop Lab Chart

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Sora Designs

Fiksu Design

TrendyBubs

The Sprouted Arrow

Kerri Clark Designs

Julie Hochgesang

Rantz/Danon Teeters

Heather from Jamberry Nails

The Posh Pea Boutique

Your generosity is very much appreciated!

::love will move mountains::

Brooke speaking here:

I'm going to be frank here because I just want to show you the other emotional & raw aspect of the adoption process. 

I had.... let's say, a mini emotional meltdown a while ago. 

We received some disappointing news that the surgery didn't go well due to many post-op health complications with the little boy we were rooting for. Thus, we are not a suitable family for him anymore. Our hearts sank. It was VERY disheartening for us. I think I took it a little bit hard, because I had high hopes on that little boy.  I fell in love with the picture of the adorable boy, especially with his cheeky dimples. I kicked myself for having high hopes and I kept preaching to myself, "don't have high hopes, don't have high hopes!" Because anything could happen... like this situation. It's like when I want something badly, I absorb and soak in the entire experience, which is difficult for me to hold back and take it easy. I even questioned myself if the doctors in Colombia were as good as the doctors here in the United States? I felt like the surgery ruined the whole process for that little boy. I was mad. I was upset. We were this close to lock on this little peanut. We are more than ready to be parents. 

Back to square one.  I feel hopeless. Seriously, what's our next step?

"Difficulties are opportunities to better things, they are stepping stones to greater experience. Perhaps, some day you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction. When one door closes, another always opens, as a natural law it has to be, to balance."

True. We'll look at this experience as a stepping stone (fingers crossed) to something greater. It's difficult to stay optimistic because we do not have many who could relate with our experiences. However, we had a recent discussion with our adoption agency for their honest opinion on what we should do next. They are the experts in this field. We have waited for a year and nearly three months. Is there something we need to change? Our criteria? Should we look into adopting from another country? Our agency emphasized that Colombia is already a SMALL country to begin with, thus the amount of available Deaf children is slim. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

We are between a rock and a hard place. 

We talked with families and close friends about this situation and about possibly making a decision. What's the decision? It's looking more and more likely that we'll look into adopting from China. Our agency sent us several files on Deaf orphans there and we felt a glimmer of hope for us there. The orphans are ready and waiting. The country switch will not affect our expenses or lose our investments. Our agency is willing to transfer everything to China. There are some things we need to check with but this seems like our next move at this point.

There are a lot of buts. I'm thinking like...but we've invested in Colombia so much, especially with adoption fundraisers. Colombia puzzle, Colombia t-shirts, Colombia this and that. I feel like I'm a traitor for willing to consider about switching countries. Brian made a valid point, "It's all about giving a child a home no matter from where."  My mom pointed it out that those are just materials. We could look at those as stepping stones to guide us to somewhere else to reach our goal of giving and bringing a child home. We could easily transfer all the puzzles that people donated for Colombia to a new China puzzle. The shirts represent an important aspect of our adoption journey that it didn't work out, but it steered our direction to something greater. True. Although, I'm still having mixed feelings. It's difficult to consider this because I was truly mind set on Colombia with my whole heart and then... it didn't really work out the way we wanted it to be. I think I'm still struggling to grasp the fact that some things are not meant to be.  Like I mentioned, we are between a rock and a hard place. 

We will update you all with what our decision will be soon. 

Your thoughts and prayers will be very much appreciated. 

Much love, 

Brooke & Brian

::Donated Auction Items NEEDED::

Homemakers, Etsy shop owners, crafters, boutiques, store companies.....

Interested in helping? We are currently seeking for donated auction items and if you are interested in being a part of this amazing story, feel free to e-mail me at SipekAdoption@gmail.com with the following info: image of item, item description (with measurements if applicable), retail value, and your shop details so we can share the love! Gift cards are also acceptable! 

Once we gather enough auction items, we will announce and post the date of our "Adopting A Sipek Online Auction" on Facebook. :)

We will be sending out our adoption donation request letters to stores/boutiques to see if they will be willing to provide assistance as well! Wish us luck! 

Thank you! 

Brooke & Brian

::In time, all things will fall right in place::

It has been over two months since we have updated our blog......

So, here's a long overdue post. 

Many things have happened. Here's our quick recap: we had our family vacation in New Smyrna Beach earlier in August (we had a grand time there!); Brooke started her coaching position for high school volleyball team (she loves it); Brooke took a trip to the emergency room due to health complications (she's perfectly well now); both of us returned to work when school started (busy bees, we are).  

Eventually, we got asked to do an interview for DeafNation 360 News with Joel Barish to discuss our adoption process with another couple who have adopted two deaf children from China. It was nice meeting the adoptive couple and we learned about their success and struggles on their adoption journey!

You can check out the video on http://deafnation.com/dn360/adopting-deaf-children/  (Captioning is available)

Update: our Colombia T-shirt fundraiser turned out well! We raised a total of $324.76 towards our adoption! Again, many thanks for those who purchased and supported our adoption. We loved how our friends posted pictures of them wearing the special tees... keep 'em coming please! :)

Now, what else.. 

Ah, yes, we do have something to share, but... (yes, there's a "but") 

We cannot have high hopes. We are TRYING not to. It is highly possible that we may have found our child.....a little deaf boy in Bogota. His birthday is today. He's two now. We only have one picture of him (certainly waiting for more!!). He's such a cutie. He is currently in a foster family right now and we received his file two weeks ago. We have been waiting to get further information on his medical background. So far, everything else has checked out except for one pending information. We have to be patient. Our agency says that if we are 100% matched with this child, then our next immediate step is to send a LOI (letter of intent) to confirm that we want to adopt this boy. 

We have to wait and be patient. One day at a time. Things will fall right in place if it's meant to be. 

We'll keep you posted once more information comes in.. for now, keep us in your thoughts.

-Brooke & Brian

::Kindness in giving creates LOVE::

This is a very much needed story to share with you all!

A while back, we received one of the most moving and uplifting emails from Violet. We didn't really know who Violet was until she expressed her inspiring story about a little boy, Theodore, from Africa. Violet mentioned that since we opened so much about our adoption and that she felt she needed to share her story with us, too. She's such a sweet soul!

Prepare to be inspired! Here's Violet's story below:

"I am a Social Work graduate student at Gallaudet doing internship in New Mexico— the very last thing to do before graduating in May!  I find time to travel in between my studies— I grab every opportunity to go abroad during summer, winter and spring breaks. Out of all the places I've been, it’s with no doubt that I emphasize my love for (Togo) Africa the most.  It’s true, Togo has my heart.  It’s home.  Two of the biggest reasons for my heart for it: my African family and Theodore. 

Long story short: I first went to Africa four summers ago as a volunteer teaching at a deaf school, and I stayed with a host family for 10 weeks.  The host family became my family— they took me in as if I was their daughter all along.  They made every effort as possible to truly know and love me in so little time.  At the same time, while I was teaching at the school, I fell in love with Theodore, who was 7 then.  He was a troubled boy to many, but he was loving to me.  Though he may be sneaky, stubborn and handy at times, he’s also smart, sweet and protective.  I don’t know how to explain this in a better way, but it felt like he belonged to me.  I made sure that he was fed well, understood how important giving is, and knows that there’s more to life than what he knows of it.  It torn me apart when it was time to leave.  I honestly almost panicked— I was this close to taking Theodore with me to America.  Seriously, how could I just leave him behind?  I loved him as if he was my own.  I felt helpless especially the fact that realistically, I may never see him again.  

Violet and Theodore

During my entire stay, I dreamt of growing money to take my family and Theodore home— every single night… on every single star.  I’m not kidding but his family actually gave me their blessing to take the little boy.  Don’t get this the wrong way— they sincerely love him and he’s well taken care of along with his three siblings, but they saw how much I cared for him, how he was with me and mainly, they knew that he would be given a much better life here.  I promised them that I would take it into serious considerations.  The fact that I was only 20 years old then didn’t matter, or the fact that I was still a college student didn’t either.  I was so determined I’d adopt Theodore somehow.  Words can’t explain how devastated I was to have found out that I had to be 30+ year old to adopt a child from Togo.  And obviously, I needed a lot of money.  I grew anger against the system for a while, how cruel they were to make people pay to have a child.  In my case, Theodore’s family wanted me to take him— why was that not enough?  Instead of adopting, however, I did three things: I raised money for Theodore’s family to get a motorbike so that my little school boy can have a better transportation to school and I wanted the best well-being for the family.  

Theodore's family

New motorbike for Theodore's family

I received donations in total of $1,366, a little more than what I needed, accomplished with the community’s help!  Secondly, I surprised everyone when I visited again last winter.  I had to fulfill at least a promise that I would go back, right?  It was until then that I realized that it was home— I had to always go back for as long as I live, even if that means saving money, making the time to go, and being patience with all the lost time together for a (very) long while.  But then again, nothing matters more than being in the arms of the people that you love with all of your heart in the end.  Thirdly, I have been celebrating Theodore’s birthday with a cake every year.  He’s now 11.  :)

I never get tired of sharing this story over and again.  It’s a bittersweet feeling, really— the whole thing.  My point of sharing this to complete strangers like you was to let you know that I have been following your blog for a while now, and again, you inspire me.  I admire your energy, determination and positivity throughout this whole process, so much that I don’t think you need my positive thoughts at all.  Though it’s with my hopes that you do realize that there are people like me out there that believes that you will take in your children as if they were yours forever like how my family did it.  This is a dream come true, and I wish I could make my own.  Whenever you feel frustrated and/or impatient at some point during the process, do take this as a reminder that you are going somewhere with the adoption compared to some who have failed to do so.  

 Remember my story.  It’s unfortunate but be happy for yourselves— obviously, this is meant for you. And lastly, the community is behind you all the way until the kids are in your arms.  I have never believed so much in the community until my experience, and you probably didn’t until you begun the adoption process, too." 

------------

My goodness! Doesn't her sweet email make you want to go out and sprinkle love on every child in need!? Yes! Awww. What Violet said about the unity in the community that contributed to meeting Theodore's needs really made the whole giving concept possible is very uplifting. You know the saying, kindness in giving creates love. :)

Thank you, Violet, for sharing your story with us. We appreciate people like you out there. 

Brooke & Brian

::Helping others is like helping yourself.::

Want to know my initial passion in helping others? How did I really get myself involved? You know the old cliche saying, "things happen for a reason.." Really, this was coincidental.

So, here.. I'm going to share my story. 

One afternoon (about a year or two ago), I was just stumbling across many DIY house renovation blogs because we love to do renovations around our house. We have done A LOT-- basically, flipping our house. It has been fun tackling so many house projects! Anyways, I happened to be reading my friend, Elisa's DIY blog; she posted about her brother, Alex and his wife, Alexa, who ran the Operation Deaf Orphans (ODO), which led me to read their blog as well. With my fascination and curiosity in reading more about ODO, I adored over the pictures of the deaf orphans in Africa and wanted to do something to help. I loved the fact that ODO helped to build fences around the deaf orphanage (Lance's Deaf Orphans) to prevent intruders and to increase the safety of the children and the staff there. ODO also raised sufficient funds to provide personal/medical essentials for the deaf orphans such as kitchenware, clean bed mattresses, clothes, water, and shoes. They even built a huge vegetable garden for the children to eat from and worked with an organization, "Humura House" to provide two baby cows to produce dairy for the children. After reading more about their stories, I even wanted to be there to help because I know with my crafty and handy skills (based on my house renovating experiences), I could build something functional for them, too! :) The whole concept of helping others was truly inspiring and uplifting. I felt like I was living through their journey by reading every single blog post and checking out all pictures of their mission in Africa. I've decided to donate funds to help ODO to provide more necessities for the deaf orphans. 

"Lance's Deaf Orphans has always been and still is the main organization that supports the orphans' needs. ODO gave them a boost, increased their monthly donations by $200, and brought a team twice with major projects/funding." - Alex. 
 

I also had this aspiration to check into adoption because the pictures of the children (from Lance's Deaf Orphans) said enough for me to bring them home! During that time, I checked into Lance's Deaf Orphans adoption information to read about eligibility. To my disappointment, I found out that I had to live in Kenya for 6 months in order to adopt one of the orphans, which at that time seemed to be unrealistically impossible for me. Instead, I donated some funds to make myself feel worthy knowing that I did something at least to help. Naturally, it made my heart warm. :) Giving is better than receiving. The sense of community compassion without expecting anything in return should be practiced everyday.

Back then when I first donated to ODO, I was getting their newsletters regarding their status with their missions to help deaf orphans. From there, it really pushed me to seek into helping others and the potential of adopting from somewhere else (and look at where we are now- in the process of adopting from Colombia!). 

I love how a random afternoon reading about house renovations would lead me to an amazing opportunity in helping others. Things do happen for a reason!