THANK YOU!

Thank you for what you have done and what you are doing. We feel in the last week like a giant weight has been lifted of our shoulders and we have so many people to thank for it. Your financial support and prayer make us feel like we can take on the world. Honestly, truly and sincerely...thank you for being a blessing.

My thank you list!
Disclaimer: While said party (Nicole) has made every effort to remember and document all the parties her family owes a huge amount of gratitude to, she reserves the right to grovel at the feet of anyone she has inadvertently missed due to missed organization, simple oversight or lack of sleep.

OK...moving on...

FOOD:
"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." - Sophia Loren 
A HUGE thank you to the Olive Garden for providing the pasta, sauce, bread sticks, salad & dressing.
We also bow to:
Karen Karls and Gin Torkelson for the fabulous cakes.
Charity Lutheran for providing the facility, lemonade & coffee.

Our hospitable HOSTS:
"There is no hospitality like understanding." - Vanna Bonta  
Dawn and Kevin Kindel

Our beautiful WORKERS:
"God bless the good-natured, for they bless everybody else." - Henry Ward Beecher 
Danay Engbrecht
Hilary Hovdenes
Jan Jordan
Karen Karls
Mike Lehmann
Kris Magstadt
Tiffany Milligan
Jen Severson
Donna Thronson
Tara Ullrich
Beth Peske
Pam Peske

The hip MUSICIANS: 

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" - Duke Ellington

Mark Herold

Kim Kaul
Bob Peske
Tim Peske

The amazing SILENT AUCTION donors:
"You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." - Winston Churchill
Kevin & Dawn Kindel
HuHot
Midway Lanes
Kemmesets
Beth Peske
Lauri Desir
Kathy Kinnischtzke
Kathy & Laif Olson
Jamie Schaeffer
Ron & Gin Torkelson
Dakota Zoo
Denny's
Tires Plus
Walrus
Bob & Pam Peske
Papa Murphys
Box Office Video
Jan Jordan
Ramkota
Perkins
Sam & Sarah Coleman
Kristin Barth
Bernie Belzer
Jana & Dave Wisthoff
Wes & Danay Engbrecht
Chelly Bosch
Justin & Tanna Torkelson
Scheels
Tesoro
Sleep Inn, Minot
BHS Multi-media
Cumulus
Vintners
Radisson
Amber Hill
Sarah Herold
Eckroth Music
Brook Spotts, Image Makers
Jen & Jeremy Severson
Michelle Zajac
Hilary Hovdenes
Janet James
Clark & MariJo Van Horne
Heather Austin
Michelle Farnsworth
Paul Noot
Grand Theatres
Carino's
Paula Seeberg
Emily McKay & Ted Cash
Jim & Aleycia Gerlach

A huge THANK YOU to Sarah Herold for calling and collecting and to Dawn Kindel for connecting winners with their new treasurers.

Do you see what we mean?!? BLESSED, I tell ya. Ridiculous. We love each an every one of you and are so grateful you are on this journey with us. Please continue to pray for our little girl(s) and we will continue to pray for you.

Unbelievable!

Oh my! Oh my! I have so few words that convey the gratitude Rob and I are feeling over the benefit on Sunday.

375 of you showed up to eat Olive Garden spaghetti, listen to some great live music and bid on a great selection of silent auction items. We feel so loved, so supported, totally filled with hope and extremely grateful. Everyone should have the opportunity to be part of an event where only their champions show up. No negative people, no people who "just don't get it." Those people just weren't present.

We pray that God will bless your family with more blessings than you know what to do with.


So we completely ran out of sauce. The extra salad and noodles? Well, this is how God is present even in the small details...last night just happened to be pasta night at the church so all the leftovers could be used all quick-like and nothing went to waste. We didn't even make the connection until Sunday night and the timing was perfect.

So, I have a mountain of people to thank, but I think I'll do that in the next post.




ADOPTION UPDATE:
In the beautiful hecticness of Sunday, we had a pretty amazing week in our adoption as well. On Friday we sent off our I800 to the US to get approval to bring our daughter(s) back into the US and this week we were also able to send all our notarized dossier documents to the Secretary of State's office to be authenticated. After that, we send our dossier to our agency to be translated to Bulgarian. The translation and US approval will hopefully take no more than six weeks and then all our paperwork will be heading to Bulgaria.  I hope the Bulgarians like us.