Experience the Magic and Mirth of Dave Chandler and ? for a one time only show this summer in Concord, NH!!! The night begins at 6 PM with the magic show set to start around 6:45 PM. The Live auction is set to start approx. 8:15 and closing the night around 8:45 with the last call for silent auction bids. The following are the sponsors and items we have collected so far:
Gold's Gym 1 yr. membership including tanning and childcare (Concord) $780 value
Pair of 2nd Row, Box-DUGOUT RED SOX Tickets!!! July 3oth Game $400 value
Oil changes- Concord Tire $28 value (each)
State Inspection and oil change- Shorty's towing $75 value
4 pack Manchester Wolves (lower bowl) $200 value
Gift certificates for:
Dos Amigos $20 value
Panera Bread $25 value
Bread and chocolate $50 value
Joe King's 2/ $25 value
Things are cooking $25 value
Cool Moose $15 value
Imagination Village 2 / $20 value
Dance Inspirations $50 value
Gill's Restaurant (Manchester) $10 value
Don Giovanni's 2 / $25 value
Concord Camera Store $10 value
Margaritas 2/ 2 Mexican Entrees
Massage (several) $60 value each
A Customized Facial Donated by Red Lotus Spa and Wellness $75 value
A five day pass to Raquet Club of Concord
Office Visit Weiss Chiropractic $40 value
Concord Lincoln Mercury- Full Vehicle Recon!!! $169 value
Have a room or two painted by a professional- Lori Jean Durand
One free session of Emotional Freedom Technique by Mary @ Hypnosis Solutions
Homemade dessert bar to be auctioned off as well
and just a reminder to check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ to get a sense of what you are in for. This is a professional magic show that is going to blow your mind and possibly create a few laughs as well!!!
We are thrilled to know how many people already plan on joining us for our big event, but we still ask that you invite friends, neighbors, family, etc. to join you so that we can be as successful as possible. Thank you and check back to see new items next week. We are still in pursuit of great deals and one of a kind opportunities for our friends and family!
Heidi
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Non-Objection Letters Received!
Hi everyone,
We received the non-objection stamped letters back from the Rwandan embassy last Friday and what a relief! So that step is taken care of. While there are still some approvals to be received that one was the first and it really has made this all become more real to Heidi and I. We continue to pray daily about this and our faith in GOD has really helped us deal with the anxiety and emotions that creep up on us from time to time.
Heidi worked really hard over the weekend to get all the paperwork (application to adopt) organized and into a binder for the Rwandan government. She mailed that out Monday to our contact in Rwanda who will hand carry it to the appropriate ministers office in the Rwandan government. We are incredibly thankful to have help over there and are truly blessed by that. In addition Heidi mailed out the application form that the US government requires today. That application has a nice little price tag attached to if of $830.00 plus postage.
So what happens from here you ask? Ok here is the deal. Both of the applications will, if all things go well, take approximately 6 weeks to process. That puts us into the first week of July. If we get approval then we work with our contact over there to move forward and contact the orphanage to pick the children and get them tested for HIV (we will have our contact have them tested for other diseases as well) . At that point then our contact will also look to get a court date set for the adoption and notify us of that. Then we have to start planning out trip in more detail.... There are other things involved with this process, this is sort of the boiled down version. I will update the blog when we get some more news.
In the meantime, we have also made great strides in our fund raising. We are having a Magic Show and auction at the Red Blazer here in Concord on June 14th from 6-9 pm. I will provide more info on this in the next couple of days including some of the items that will be up for bid during the silent and live auction! Once again, Heidi has done the majority of the legwork on this by going around to local businesses asking for donations for the auction. We have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of companies that are willing to donate. Despite how we are often perceived in the world this country is still the most giving on the planet and we are finding that out first hand. We are truly thankful for everyone that has contributed to date and will provide a list of the companies that have done so soon so stay tuned!
God Bless and have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!
We received the non-objection stamped letters back from the Rwandan embassy last Friday and what a relief! So that step is taken care of. While there are still some approvals to be received that one was the first and it really has made this all become more real to Heidi and I. We continue to pray daily about this and our faith in GOD has really helped us deal with the anxiety and emotions that creep up on us from time to time.
Heidi worked really hard over the weekend to get all the paperwork (application to adopt) organized and into a binder for the Rwandan government. She mailed that out Monday to our contact in Rwanda who will hand carry it to the appropriate ministers office in the Rwandan government. We are incredibly thankful to have help over there and are truly blessed by that. In addition Heidi mailed out the application form that the US government requires today. That application has a nice little price tag attached to if of $830.00 plus postage.
So what happens from here you ask? Ok here is the deal. Both of the applications will, if all things go well, take approximately 6 weeks to process. That puts us into the first week of July. If we get approval then we work with our contact over there to move forward and contact the orphanage to pick the children and get them tested for HIV (we will have our contact have them tested for other diseases as well) . At that point then our contact will also look to get a court date set for the adoption and notify us of that. Then we have to start planning out trip in more detail.... There are other things involved with this process, this is sort of the boiled down version. I will update the blog when we get some more news.
In the meantime, we have also made great strides in our fund raising. We are having a Magic Show and auction at the Red Blazer here in Concord on June 14th from 6-9 pm. I will provide more info on this in the next couple of days including some of the items that will be up for bid during the silent and live auction! Once again, Heidi has done the majority of the legwork on this by going around to local businesses asking for donations for the auction. We have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of companies that are willing to donate. Despite how we are often perceived in the world this country is still the most giving on the planet and we are finding that out first hand. We are truly thankful for everyone that has contributed to date and will provide a list of the companies that have done so soon so stay tuned!
God Bless and have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
April 27, 2008
Hi everyone and God bless!
We sent off some of the required paperwork to the Rwandan embassy in Washington, DC on Friday. We hope to hear back within a week and if we get this first step of the approval process we can then start with the other paperwork that needs to go to the Rwandan government and the US government to seek approval to do an international adoption. We will keep you all posted as to how that goes.
We have been talking with our girls more and more about the adoption, answering their questions and talking about what it will mean to have one or two more kids in the house. While we understand that Macie and Asia Grace don't fully understand what this all means we do feel it is important to make them as much of this process as we can. To date they are both really excited about it and have been all smiles when we bring the topic up. Heidi and my biggest concerns still or at least our biggest area of anxiety is around the travel required and the potential to have to be away for up to 3 weeks to pull this off. But, we pray daily and know that GOD has placed this on our hearts for a reason and each day we become more resolved to follow GOD's will on this. With GOD all things are possible.....
Also we have been fortunate enough to get a dining room at the Red Blazer restaurant in Concord on Saturday, June 14, 2008 for our fundraising event. The event will run from 6-9 pm. Thank you to the Red Blazer! Also I was able to line up a friend of mine who just happens to the be the best magician around to be the main entertainment for the night, his name is Dave Chandler and you can check out his website at http://www.davechandlermagic.com/. You will not want to miss this guy in action, he is truly amazing! We will be holding a live and silent auction throughout the night and have already got some great donated items for the event, the biggest being TWO 2ND ROW BOX DUGOUT SEATS TO THE BOSTON REDSOX LATER THIS SUMMER! YES THESE ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST TICKETS! They are literally the 2nd row behind the dugout and should get any true Redsox fan excited!!!! We are extremely grateful for Aramark food services for donating the tickets to our fund raiser!
I will update the list of auction items as they come in so people can stat planning on what they will want to bid on, so stay tuned!
Take care everyone and god bless,
Pete
We sent off some of the required paperwork to the Rwandan embassy in Washington, DC on Friday. We hope to hear back within a week and if we get this first step of the approval process we can then start with the other paperwork that needs to go to the Rwandan government and the US government to seek approval to do an international adoption. We will keep you all posted as to how that goes.
We have been talking with our girls more and more about the adoption, answering their questions and talking about what it will mean to have one or two more kids in the house. While we understand that Macie and Asia Grace don't fully understand what this all means we do feel it is important to make them as much of this process as we can. To date they are both really excited about it and have been all smiles when we bring the topic up. Heidi and my biggest concerns still or at least our biggest area of anxiety is around the travel required and the potential to have to be away for up to 3 weeks to pull this off. But, we pray daily and know that GOD has placed this on our hearts for a reason and each day we become more resolved to follow GOD's will on this. With GOD all things are possible.....
Also we have been fortunate enough to get a dining room at the Red Blazer restaurant in Concord on Saturday, June 14, 2008 for our fundraising event. The event will run from 6-9 pm. Thank you to the Red Blazer! Also I was able to line up a friend of mine who just happens to the be the best magician around to be the main entertainment for the night, his name is Dave Chandler and you can check out his website at http://www.davechandlermagic.com/. You will not want to miss this guy in action, he is truly amazing! We will be holding a live and silent auction throughout the night and have already got some great donated items for the event, the biggest being TWO 2ND ROW BOX DUGOUT SEATS TO THE BOSTON REDSOX LATER THIS SUMMER! YES THESE ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST TICKETS! They are literally the 2nd row behind the dugout and should get any true Redsox fan excited!!!! We are extremely grateful for Aramark food services for donating the tickets to our fund raiser!
I will update the list of auction items as they come in so people can stat planning on what they will want to bid on, so stay tuned!
Take care everyone and god bless,
Pete
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Passports back! April 8, 2008
Who says the government works slow?! We were expecting to wait another week or so for our passports to come back but yesterday both of them came in the mail so things are rolling! We paid a little extra to get them expedited and it was well worth it. Now we have to continue to put paperwork together and fill out forms to send to the Rwandan embassy in Washington to get approved to adopt and we also have to file some paperwork with the US government as well to do an international adoption. Of course there are costs associated with both of those filings.
Heidi continues to do a great job doing a lot of the research on things with of course a lot of guidance and help from Tina. A lot of phone calls, internet research and driving around, it requires quite an effort but Heidi is really getting after it, she deserves a lot of credit. I am truly blessed to have her as my wife. We talk daily about the status of this or that and it is nice to see progress almost everyday. I don't think either of us realized how mentally and emotionally taxing this was going to be. I guess that comes with the territory when you take on something this life changing...
We have started to look into other fundraising opportunities and are looking seriously at having a silent auction at a local restaurant as an option.
This past week we opened a bank account a the local bank called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund so we can keep track of any donations we get (See bottom of blog). We also have the donate button at the bottom of this blog which goes into a Paypal account and then will be transferred to the bank account. We have been truly blessed to this point and have already recieved over $1000.00 dollars in donations. This takes a lot of stress off Heidi and me since the expenses are already starting to add up. Heidi did some research and got some pricing on flights and by all accounts it looks like we are going to be in the $2500.00 range each for our round trip flights. That does not include the extra tickets we will have to get for the boys we adopt. We continue to say a lot of prayers and have faith that GOD will provide for us in this area. Again, thanks to all of you who have contributed to this point!
Our girls (Asia Grace and Macie) are getting excited about the possibility of having more kids in the home. We talk alot about moving the bedrooms around and arranging things to accommodate the new little ones. It is all very exciting. One of the things that Heidi and I have started to prep them on is the fact that we are going to have to be away for possibly 3 weeks. Asia Grace can grasp this to a certain extent but I don't think she realizes just how long that is. Macie really has no understanding and basically thinks it is like going to the store and back..... Being gone for that long is really the biggest struggle for Heidi and I and we continue to prepare ourselves for it and pray a lot about it.
well that is it for today. Thanks again everyone and thanks for reading! Stay tuned and take care, GOD Bless!
Pete
Heidi continues to do a great job doing a lot of the research on things with of course a lot of guidance and help from Tina. A lot of phone calls, internet research and driving around, it requires quite an effort but Heidi is really getting after it, she deserves a lot of credit. I am truly blessed to have her as my wife. We talk daily about the status of this or that and it is nice to see progress almost everyday. I don't think either of us realized how mentally and emotionally taxing this was going to be. I guess that comes with the territory when you take on something this life changing...
We have started to look into other fundraising opportunities and are looking seriously at having a silent auction at a local restaurant as an option.
This past week we opened a bank account a the local bank called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund so we can keep track of any donations we get (See bottom of blog). We also have the donate button at the bottom of this blog which goes into a Paypal account and then will be transferred to the bank account. We have been truly blessed to this point and have already recieved over $1000.00 dollars in donations. This takes a lot of stress off Heidi and me since the expenses are already starting to add up. Heidi did some research and got some pricing on flights and by all accounts it looks like we are going to be in the $2500.00 range each for our round trip flights. That does not include the extra tickets we will have to get for the boys we adopt. We continue to say a lot of prayers and have faith that GOD will provide for us in this area. Again, thanks to all of you who have contributed to this point!
Our girls (Asia Grace and Macie) are getting excited about the possibility of having more kids in the home. We talk alot about moving the bedrooms around and arranging things to accommodate the new little ones. It is all very exciting. One of the things that Heidi and I have started to prep them on is the fact that we are going to have to be away for possibly 3 weeks. Asia Grace can grasp this to a certain extent but I don't think she realizes just how long that is. Macie really has no understanding and basically thinks it is like going to the store and back..... Being gone for that long is really the biggest struggle for Heidi and I and we continue to prepare ourselves for it and pray a lot about it.
well that is it for today. Thanks again everyone and thanks for reading! Stay tuned and take care, GOD Bless!
Pete
Saturday, March 29, 2008
March 29, 2008 - Update on the process!
Hi everyone and GOD Bless,
Heidi and I applied for our passports yesterday and paid the extra money to get them expidited. Cost was $161 apiece. They should be here within 3 weeks but we are hoping sooner. We were going to get the girls their passports since you need them to go to Canada these days but based on our budget we decided to push that out.
Up to this point we have been doing a lot of the leg work to get this process rolling. Fortunately we have a virtual "adoption team" that has been helping along the way and that GOD has put in place for us to use. First I want to give some up front credit where it is definitely due. We have had some really great guidance from Brock and Tina, a couple that goes to our church. They adopted a little boy from Rwanda last fall and have been an invaluable resource to us to this point. Tina and Heidi seem to talk everyday and Tina has provided us with a lot of information that will hopefully make this whole process go a lot smoother and faster. She has provided us the contacts we need and is always available when we have questions. In addition to that she has given us advice on virtually everything we need to consider when we actually go over, including clothing suggestions, baby supplies, etc. Thanks Tina!
We have also begun email correspondence with the missionaries in Rwanda that we will probably be staying with while over there. That takes a lot of weight off us to know we have people on the ground over there so to speak. In addition, we received an email from the gentleman who will be helping coordinate a lot of the paperwork on the Rwandan side and act as our "Power of attorney". Again, another gift from GOD. So we are starting to build our network and feel that things are moving quickly. If things go smoothly and we can get all the approvals that are required we are projecting to be heading over to Rwanda in late July of this year.
I must admit a lot of things have been streaming through our minds while Heidi and I have been going through the decision making process regarding whether to adopt or not. Actually it wasn't really a question of whether to adopt again but more of a question of where to adopt from. We have both felt a calling for a while but really struggled with whether this was what "we were supposed to be doing" or was it just our selfish interests. How would this affect our other two children? Can we afford it? Do we have enough room in our house? Will Heidi have to change her work schedule? Will I? All these questions swam around in our heads. And I am sure in the heads of our friends and family who we have told to this point. Everyone sort of has their own idea of how much is enough and having a family of four these days is not the norm.
So we sought feedback from friends and Godly council from others within our church, Brock and Tina, and also one of the associate pastors (Mark) that have been on several missionary trips to Rwanda over the last few years. We also, of course, prayed endlessly over this to GOD and in the end both Heidi and I felt confident this was something we are indeed supposed to do. What it really came down to in the end was our own fears of going to Rwanda for three weeks and leaving our girls back in the states with relatives. What if something happened? Who would take care of them? Those types of fears. Mark really nailed it though when we had dinner with him and his family recently. He said that fear is really not an excuse to not do this. In fact using fear as an excuse was basically saying that we didn't have faith in GOD that HE will take care of our daughters. If we really did feel that GOD was calling us to do this then surely GOD has a plan for our daughters regardless of what happens. When he said that it all made perfect sense. Of course GOD will take care of everything, he always does.... On the way home that night in the car with our two daughters laughing and chatting away in the back, Heidi and I decided that this was something that we were going to do. What a great feeling! Let's do it! With GOD leading the way all things are possible. I can only think that GOD already has the one or two little boys picked out for us and at that exact moment across the world in Rwanda the light shined on those boys and the connection was sealed.
Thanks for reading and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi
Heidi and I applied for our passports yesterday and paid the extra money to get them expidited. Cost was $161 apiece. They should be here within 3 weeks but we are hoping sooner. We were going to get the girls their passports since you need them to go to Canada these days but based on our budget we decided to push that out.
Up to this point we have been doing a lot of the leg work to get this process rolling. Fortunately we have a virtual "adoption team" that has been helping along the way and that GOD has put in place for us to use. First I want to give some up front credit where it is definitely due. We have had some really great guidance from Brock and Tina, a couple that goes to our church. They adopted a little boy from Rwanda last fall and have been an invaluable resource to us to this point. Tina and Heidi seem to talk everyday and Tina has provided us with a lot of information that will hopefully make this whole process go a lot smoother and faster. She has provided us the contacts we need and is always available when we have questions. In addition to that she has given us advice on virtually everything we need to consider when we actually go over, including clothing suggestions, baby supplies, etc. Thanks Tina!
We have also begun email correspondence with the missionaries in Rwanda that we will probably be staying with while over there. That takes a lot of weight off us to know we have people on the ground over there so to speak. In addition, we received an email from the gentleman who will be helping coordinate a lot of the paperwork on the Rwandan side and act as our "Power of attorney". Again, another gift from GOD. So we are starting to build our network and feel that things are moving quickly. If things go smoothly and we can get all the approvals that are required we are projecting to be heading over to Rwanda in late July of this year.
I must admit a lot of things have been streaming through our minds while Heidi and I have been going through the decision making process regarding whether to adopt or not. Actually it wasn't really a question of whether to adopt again but more of a question of where to adopt from. We have both felt a calling for a while but really struggled with whether this was what "we were supposed to be doing" or was it just our selfish interests. How would this affect our other two children? Can we afford it? Do we have enough room in our house? Will Heidi have to change her work schedule? Will I? All these questions swam around in our heads. And I am sure in the heads of our friends and family who we have told to this point. Everyone sort of has their own idea of how much is enough and having a family of four these days is not the norm.
So we sought feedback from friends and Godly council from others within our church, Brock and Tina, and also one of the associate pastors (Mark) that have been on several missionary trips to Rwanda over the last few years. We also, of course, prayed endlessly over this to GOD and in the end both Heidi and I felt confident this was something we are indeed supposed to do. What it really came down to in the end was our own fears of going to Rwanda for three weeks and leaving our girls back in the states with relatives. What if something happened? Who would take care of them? Those types of fears. Mark really nailed it though when we had dinner with him and his family recently. He said that fear is really not an excuse to not do this. In fact using fear as an excuse was basically saying that we didn't have faith in GOD that HE will take care of our daughters. If we really did feel that GOD was calling us to do this then surely GOD has a plan for our daughters regardless of what happens. When he said that it all made perfect sense. Of course GOD will take care of everything, he always does.... On the way home that night in the car with our two daughters laughing and chatting away in the back, Heidi and I decided that this was something that we were going to do. What a great feeling! Let's do it! With GOD leading the way all things are possible. I can only think that GOD already has the one or two little boys picked out for us and at that exact moment across the world in Rwanda the light shined on those boys and the connection was sealed.
We would also like to thank "Mike", one of the Pastors at our church for being our original contact when inquiring about the orphanage in Rwanda and has been so helpful in leading us to amazing contacts for this process.
On another note, one of the things that is a reality of doing this is the cost associated with it. One of the big things of course is the cost of the flights not only for Heidi and I but for the boys when we come back. There are also a lot of fees and other costs that come along as well. All in all we are probably looking at a total cost of around $12,000 to $15,000 to make this happen. As most of you know we can get a great tax deduction for this in the coming years when we file taxes but we have to come up with the money first. As you can see on this blog site I have added a "donate" button at the bottom of this blog. It is straight from Paypal and according to their website it is a secure way to make donations to our cause. We are setting up a separate bank account that we will use for all the money we receive towards are adoption. The account will be called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund. All the money we raise will only be used to help us with the costs assocaited with the adoption. So with that being said we are asking that anyone who wants to give please do so. Big or small, we appreciate them all! Every little bit will help! We intend to hold other fundraisers as well and will keep you all posted via e-mail and this blog. Also please feel free to send the link to this site to anyone you know that may be interested in following along on our journey!
Thanks for reading and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Ok everyone, here we go! We have a calling!
Happy Easter! Heidi and I have felt for some time now that we have been called by GOD to adopt (again). Specifically through the way God has used our church, Grace Capital Church (http://www.mv.com/ipusers/gcc/) in Pembroke, NH to help the children of Rwanda. We are blessed and honored to answer the call! Please join us and come along for the ride, even if only by visiting this blog.
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 (NLT)
But you, O God, do we see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14 (NIV)
At this time we are looking to adopt at least one if not two young boys from Rwanda. We would prefer to have them younger than 3 years old and at least 1 year old but that may change.
We invite each and everyone one of you to join us and to please forward the link to this blog to everyone you know that may be interested in following our journey.
Thanks and God Bless!
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 (NLT)
But you, O God, do we see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14 (NIV)
At this time we are looking to adopt at least one if not two young boys from Rwanda. We would prefer to have them younger than 3 years old and at least 1 year old but that may change.
We invite each and everyone one of you to join us and to please forward the link to this blog to everyone you know that may be interested in following our journey.
Thanks and God Bless!
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