::outcome of our adoption auction::

We want to share with you all about the outcome of our adoption online auction via Facebook. We figured the auction would bring in about $900, but in our little dream world, we secretly hoped it would bring in closer to $1,500. :)

The grand total of the online auction was $1,697 including a few surprise donations! Far exceeding our expectation and our wildest dreams. We want to sincerely thank the bidders & winners for participating and supporting! The auction was fun and intense, especially in the final hour! We are fortunate to have incredibly generous people in our lives! It was an amazingly successful auction!

Of  course, we want to give SPECIAL THANKS for the donors' generous support and their willingness to be a part of our journey! 

Here is a list of awesome items that were auctioned off:

• Pop Chart Lab: The Very, Very Many Varieties of Beer poster
• Freshly Picked: a pair of moccasins 
• Puj: Puj Flyte compact infant tub 
• Sprinkles Cupcakes: A gift certificate for a dozen freshly baked Sprinkles cupcakes
  
• Heather Ruiz from Jamberry Nails: a stylebox
• The Sprouted Arrow: a toddler black sparkle infinity scarf
• The Posh Pea Boutique: a bib & burp cloth set
• Karina Pedersen from Stella & Dot: two necklaces and a pair of earrings
• A Beautiful Mess: a signed copy of their book, "Happy Handmade Home"
• Julie Hochgesang: Thousand Origami Cranes
• Fiksu Design: Custom Stenciled Art
• TrendyBubs: A custom pair of leggings
• Rantz & Danon Teeters: Distressed/Shabby Chic Wooden Candle Lantern
• Kerri Clark Designs, LLC.: A 25-photo session with Kerri Clark Designs
• Sora Designs: large hexagon hoop earrings
• Kassapanola Handmade: handmade pillow cover
• Hello Apparel: a tee shirt
• With Love Accessories1: aztec earrings set
• Haven Paperie: set of 5 beautiful cards
• Bumblesoaps: a gift basket
• OhSugarButtons: a necklace
• Rochella Jones: two jars of homemade strawberry jam
• CrochetGallery: chunky crochet slouchy beanie hat
• bink & boo: a pair of baby booties
• Megan Burgess (donated by Rachella Shepard): "Guard Your Heart" artwork
• HandmadeByJennn: a crocheted chunky wrap
• mimosa by m.e.: ASL sign language custom name bar necklace
• Housebroken: a tee shirt
• CakePop Envie: a dozen of cake pops
• The Fickle Felt Tree: a 5ft garland
• Dyan Sue Kovacs from Premier Designs: "It's a wrap" bracelet
• Lucy Darling Shop: a "Every Little Thing" art print
• Kelvin & Marlene Etkie: 8 lbs. of organic venison & pork meat
• Brooke's Bits and Pieces: a southwest burnout scarf & a clutch purse   
• Jessica Schmidt: three homemade bath salts with dōTERRA essential oils

Since this was a huge success, we are seriously considering about possibly hosting some kind of an auction dinner in the spring. Meanwhile, we still have our on-going fundraiser via Brooke's Etsy shop which will continue to fund our adoption process. Last week, we received a letter from USCIS with their approval for us to adopt in Colombia! However, we still have to go through some changes if we are still interested in switching countries.  So. Much. Red. Tape!

We will blog again soon to show you the breakdown of the prices and funds that we have raised so far... and where we are right now with all of our expenses. 

Again, thank you for your generosity! We are humbled. :)

Much love, 
Brooke & Brian

::World Adoption Day!::

Today is World Adoption Day.... the first ever worldwide celebration for adoption!

You can check it out at http://www.worldadoptionday.org/ for further information. 

Where? 

All over social media and anywhere else you choose to celebrate! Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Instagram, Pinteres, while shopping at the mall, or lounging on a lazy Sunday afternoon– anywhere you connect with people near or far. 

What can you do? 

Draw a smiley face on the palm of your hand, and share your love for adoption on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, or Instagram. Tell the world why you think adoption is awesome! When you post, invite people to join us in celebrating #WorldAdoptionDay by: 

1. Tagging someone who has adopted, is adopted, or is adopting in the photo or link 

2. Posting an open hand smiley face selfie on exactly 11/09/14 using the hashtag #WorldAdoptionDay 

3. Make a #WorldAdoptionDay donation to a family who is in the adoption process 

(find us via Instagram at BrookeATX)

oxox,

Brooke & Brian

::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