Why do it if you can't afford it?

So, I think the title says it all! :)
Sounds like a harsh question, huh? But the reality is that many people are thinking this regarding our adoption fundraising. Some people have actually asked the question to us! Which, may I add, is not offending at all. In fact, it gives us the opportunity to explain a few things. So... here we go! :)

1) It's hard to think that adopting children that need happy, loving families should be limited to people of financial wealth. Why shouldn't a teacher and a photographer that believe in their hearts that their future children are coming to them through adoption be held back simply because they aren't sitting on an extra $20k to $35k?

The reality is that there is a strong percentage of adopting families that do fundraising in order to help out. It is not at all uncommon. In fact, we've run into several other families that have shared their fundraising stories and ideas. We've sympathized with each others' struggles, and shared in our victories. There are so many children in the US and across our planet that are looking for loving homes that it would be a total and complete shame to tell a willing and loving family that they can't adopt because they a) don't have the money and/or b) fundraising is illegal! (Off with their heads!!) :)

2) Yes, $20k to $35k is a lot of money, and almost all employers don't provide any coverage to offset those fees. If you were to compare the costs of child birth with that of adopting you would see that they are quite close. The difference is that your insurance coverage covers most of the costs of giving birth, but none of the adoption fees. Crazy? Maybe.. Maybe not. But it is the truth. :)

3) (side note: this one is full of the personal stuff we HATE talking about, but is necessary for the point.. blah!) For our particular situation, we've already paid over $10K out of pocket to fees related to adopting from Ethiopia. Those are funds that we are never getting back, so yeah, that kinda sucks and puts us in a bind. But, we march on!

4) We've looked into a variety of grants (okay.. Chelsey has looked into a variety of grants), but there are a ton of restrictions/fine print items that don't really apply to us.

• We are not adopting a child/children with special needs. 
• We are working with a private attorney and not with an agency (that's a kicker!). 
• We've already started our own fundraising. To list a few.

Alright. I hope that paints a better picture of what we are trying to do. We're really not asking a lot. Not even half of what we will ultimately put toward the adoption when you factor in all of the attorney fees, travel, lodging, clothes, furniture, diapers, and college (ok, went too far with that one, ha!). 

So, to sum it all up! How can you help? We've got only 357 puzzle pieces to go @ $20 a pop! :) I'll be posting a picture of the progress thus far. It's taking me a while to get all the names on the pieces and put them in place! Having fun with it though! 

And I also wanted to put a direct message out to all of MY peeps.. Hey! I'm feeling like a lame ass over here! Chelsey and her friends have made up over 85% of all donations!! I'm represented by all of two people other than my immediate family (Thanks Mommy, Daddy, Katie, and Kara! :: and my BB-you know who you are!). I'm looking for a little love from at least my Sigma Chi Brothers out there (excluding my CO bro and his fam)!! Hello? I may not have been around much lately... I live in Alaska! 

Thanks again for following our story. Your love and support means so much to us!

Sincerely-

Ken, Chelsey, PK, MG, and The Twins!

Just a simple question

Well, I'm sure you're all waiting for an update! It's been a few weeks since we've shared our amazing news with all of you, and in that time we've been extremely busy! We've had to start getting a nursery ready! There's this sudden need for a vehicle that can help transport a family of 6! Not to mention the end of the school year, a busy photo season, and the normal crazy that is our family :) Each day goes by in a flash, and we get closer and closer to holding our twins. We couldn't be more excited!

Also making it exciting, is the constant flood of questions about our story, how it all worked, and what can be done to help us out! We are always more than excited to answer all of these questions, and most of you know that if you get Chels or I in a conversation about all of this, we'll talk your ear off! :)

But for today, the main question that we'd love to answer is "how can we help you guys?" This is the hardest question for us, because neither Chelsey or I like being in the position of needing help. So, to cut to it, we are starting our fundraising efforts again. Here are a few ways you can help!

1) Back in December we held a huge auction that exceeded our expectations, and we were overwhelmed with the items that were offered to us for donation and the amounts we received. We do have a few items that have trickled in over the last couple of months, and we are looking for more! If you have any items that you would like to offer for an auction, please feel free to e-mail me at kjmachfam@gmail.com!

2) We introduced our Puzzle fundraiser back in January, click here. To sum up, for every $20 donation that comes in we are placing a puzzle piece with the name of the donor into a 500 piece puzzle! The completed puzzle will be framed and hang in the Twins' room. We are 377 pieces away from our goal! Please consider a donation to help us out.

So, I'm sure you're wondering what the funds will be used for. All of the funds will be used to help with legal fees associated with the adoption, and/or travel for Chelsey, the babies, and I. Each and every dollar would help us out a ton, and your help will be remembered for a lifetime... or two!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and pass this on! We can't believe how soon our babies will be with us!

Ken, Chelsey, PK, MG, and the Twins!

Catch-up time!

It's hard to believe so much can happen in two months! It's been two months since our last post (a few of you have kindly been reminding me of that) about the long crazy ride that we've been on. We discussed the pause we were taking with our agency, and we hinted at exploring other options. Since that time, so much has happened! So many paths were presented to us, and with love and faith we decided to turn away from international adoption. It was a terribly difficult decision. For over a year, our hearts were in Ethiopia, dreaming and waiting for a child. Our absence from the blog world was, in large part, related to the pain felt by changing paths. Our hearts were broken in many ways.

But with the hurt, we always knew the "Plan" was in full affect, and whatever was supposed to happen was going to. We looked into working with an agency in Utah, and gladly took a recommendation for an adoption attorney out of California to proceed with the possibility of a domestic adoption. We started by  working with the agency in Utah, and through the agency we were presented to 3 birth mothers. Each chose a different family, and with heavy hearts we trudged on. Then in mid-April Chelsey and I decided that we would try to work with Mr. D. Durand Cook out of Culver City, California (the attorney mentioned above). The reason? Simply his demeanor. His confidence. His kindness and sincerity. But honestly, we have to credit our friend that had worked with him to adopt her daughter. She praised him up and down and all around! Our hearts directed us, and we went full steam ahead!

We filed all necessary paperwork to proceed with Mr. Cook a week before Matayah's birthday (aka Tax Day). His office contacted us to let us know that we should hear from them some time in the next 6 months regarding a possible match. So, naturally, when our phone rang less than 3 weeks later (or last week, 4/27) we had no idea it would be Mr. Cook calling us about a potential birth mother match! We learned that she was expecting twins and that she was VERY close to her due date, so we had to move fast! We took all of the next day e-mailing, and texting back and forth with each other to discuss what we thought, and then by Friday, April 29 with our minds made up we booked our flight to Cali to meet everyone involved! You can only imagine how our heads were spinning! (And at this point, our parents and sisters were the only ones in the know.. okay, maybe my principal was clued in. I was going to be taking some time off of work!)

We left Fairbanks Tuesday morning and made it to our hotel room by 6:30 p.m. that night. We were exhausted, but jittery with nerves and excitement! Our meeting with the attorney and the birthmother was set for 11 a.m. the next day. We stayed up talking, eating Chinese, and watching cable tv! It was a great night.

When the alarm went off Wednesday morning, it was impossible for the smiles to come off our faces. We raced around getting ready. I had already used the GPS we were borrowing from Chelsey's sister Brittany and her boyfriend Joe to set our course to stop at a Starbucks and then onto the attorney's office! We left the hotel at 10:15 to make it to Starbucks where we sat outside enjoying the weather and smiling back and forth. We were both so nervous, but happy. We were both in a state of amazement that we were even in California! When I truly stopped to try to grasp it all, it was too overwhelming! So, I quickly learned to just enjoy the ride and appreciate each moment through the process.

At 10:45 we left Starbucks for the quick drive to Mr. Cook's office! Of course, even with the GPS, I drove past his office! But we enjoyed driving around the wonderful little neighborhood behind the office while we looped back. We finally pulled into the parking lot, and joked about parking our little rental next to all of the Mercedes! It was quite a sight! :)

From there, we held hands. Checked our breath. Discussed whether we should bring in our Starbucks. I got a reminder about some nose hairs (sorry if that's TMI.. remember I teach middle school so my boundaries are off!) and then we were entering the building! We were greeted almost immediately, and escorted back to Mr. Cook's office. We sat there looking around while we waited for him to come chat with us. There were multiple collages of baby faces, pictures, and Thank You cards all over the place. Everything just made us happy inside.

After waiting a short while, Mr. Cook walked in sporting a Bermuda shirt and a big smile! He quickly and calmly prepped us for our big meeting. He explained that she and her friend knew nothing about us, so she has no preconcieved beliefs as to who we are. We were told she would talk first and answer three questions that he had already prepped her for, and then it would be our turn to talk about us. He looked across the table and said, "Are you guys ready?" We said, "Yes." And we left his office and walked to the board room.

From there, things couldn't have gone any better. Chelsey and the birthmother (C) hugged right away. We sat and listened to each other. We all asked questions. There was laughing. Plenty of side conversations, smiles, and tears. After 45 wonderful minutes, Mr. Cook stopped us, and explained that he would like for us to take a break to have time to chat (Chelsey & I, and the birthmother with her friend). We walked back to Mr. Cook's office and immediately knew that we were ready and happy to continue. In our minds, we had found a match, so now it was up to C to decide if she would like to spend more time with us. Chelsey and I sat further admiring all of the great pictures in his office, and the nice tissue (we were, still are, fighting colds).

Mr. Cook walked back in and asked how we felt things were going. We were clear that we couldn't be happier! He said he was happy to hear that, and that C had a few more questions for us. He lead us back to the board room where C stood up and said how she would be honored if we would be the parents of her twin boys! As you can imagine, it was hugs all around with tears of happiness mixed in!

The four of us spent the rest of the day together. We went to lunch, to Santa Monica Beach, and then to dinner. We talked about so much. We did a lot of laughing, and getting to know each other. It felt at times as if we were old friends. The day couldn't have gone any better, and none of us really wanted to leave at the end of the day, but exhaustion left us no choice.



We drove home that night, stayed up that night, and flew back home talking about all that had just happened. That we are going to be the parents of fraternal twin boys! That they're due June 26th, but of course, twins come early!  Which means that we are seriously weeks away from traveling to be there when they are born, and to bring them home! That PK and MG are going to be so excited! And that life can be so amazing!

Well.. there it is. That's the story. Kind of crazy, huh? But through it all, you guys have always been there. Some of you silently supporting and praying for us. Some of you have been very active participants. And to each of you, we really want to say, "Thank You." For all of your kind thoughts, prayers, and everything else that has helped us get here. We seriously couldn't have done any of this without your love.

Thank you forever-

Ken, Chelsey, PK, MG, and the Twins!