Blessings of Brat Fry Fundraiser!

On Saturday, May 26th, our sweet friends at Mama Z's Bakery hosted a brat fry fundraiser to help us raise money for our adoption!

It was from 11am-2pm. We were surprised to find out that a girl volunteered to do face painting! A wonderful suprise!

The brats, hotdogs, and hamburgers were fantastic. Mitzi made the buns herself and they were delicious. :)

People bought raffle tickets for gift baskets that community members and businesses put together!

They drew winners at the end of the get-together.

We were humbled when we were gifted from two of the raffle winners. That's right. People bought raffle tickets for specific baskets/gifts, won, and gifted us with their prize!

Colin and I are just so thankful for the generosity of our friends and community.

So. Thankful.

A gift:

Close-up:

Back side:

 Yes! We were gifted with a baby quilt! A beautiful one. To have this in our home while we are waiting means the world to us. It is a precious reminder that one day, our babies will be home.

Second gift:

We saw this in a gift basket and shared that it was our life verse. Someone won it in a raffle gift basket, and gifted us with it! It now sits on our kitchen table.

A God-ordained meeting: During the fundraiser, we saw a van pull up. Colin recognized the man that got out, but couldn't place who he was. During our last fundraiser--a garage sale--we got connected through the sharing of a phone number with a couple that lived within an hour from us that had adopted their son from Ethiopia. We called them and also connected through Facebook.

Guess what? This couple and their three children were camping in the area and just happened to be driving down the road our brat fry was on. They saw a sign that said "adoption fundraiser" and pulled in, thinking it could be us, but having no idea we were having the fundraiser.

We got to meet the whole family, including Addis, their Ethiopian son. He was so precious. I think this made it so real to Colin and me! Addis is going to be welcoming a sister to the family this summer, also from Ethiopia! Please be praying for them.

We packed everything up at 2pm, and would you believe that as we started for home, it began to rain. We knew all day that scattered thunderstorms were possible--which I do love!--but God held out until just after our fundraiser.

He sure has been into giving us surprises!

Yesterday, we found out that our proceeds were $750! We were blown away. I think we blew all the way to Ethiopia. Wishful thinking. ;)

To everyone involved: the hosts, the volunteers, our community, friends, and new friends, thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Your love and generosity are something we thank God for every day! We are blessed.

P.S. a gift of $750........an application fee of $600.....=God knows what He is doing!

Also, yesterday? God gave us a double rainbow.

It.

Was.

Beautiful.