Mini-Golf Fundraiser

What a crazy few days we've had!  On Saturday, we headed out to Alabama where my sister Jenna lives with her husband Curtis and their baby Isaiah.  They co-own a putt-putt golf course (which they designed and built themselves!), and hosted an adoption benefit mini-golf event.  Jenna put in so much work: calling people, getting food donated, even going on the radio to advertise the event!

Many people from their church helped too, making desserts for the bake sale, coming to play a round or two, or making generous donations.  Curtis' family let us stay with them, and helped with the bake sale and other things as well.  It was amazing to see this community come together to help us bring our daughter home - and many of them don't even know us.  This is how the Body of Christ should be.

My aunt and her five kids came to help as well, setting up, manning the event, playing with my boys, etc, and beforehand helping to plan the whole thing (Uncle Randy was a great source of ideas for this part, too!).  And my good friend Lisa made a beautiful flyer for us.  Thanks everyone!

(Sam and Cory match!)

(Seth and Cory playing at the park before the mini-golf opened up on Monday)

What we did: a two-day mini-golf fundraiser.  People paid $3 per game, and at night, it was all blacklight.  We had free food for anyone who played, a bake sale in the back, and more Rwanda bracelets on sale.  Sunday was open to everybody, and Monday was a home-school day (although we wouldn't have turned anyone away!).

How much we made: almost $1000!

What we learned: somehow, we didn't get too many people from ads.  Most people who came showed up because they knew Jenna, Curtis' family, or someone else connected to the event.  So we could have saved money on advertising and just focused on spreading the news by word of mouth.  Having free food seemed to be a good idea, and the bake sale did great again!  The Rwanda bracelets are not selling well, unfortunately (so if you've been waiting to buy some, let me know as we still have plenty!).

(Lydia enjoying a hot dog)

(The bake sale)

Thank you to everyone who helped with this, especially Jenna, Curtis, and Aunt Steph!  We're that much closer to our goal.  Not bad for a weekend!

Cory got his first fat lip right before we opened the doors.  He was bouncing on a balloon, and it popped, causing him to crash into the cement floor face-first.  Poor little guy!  Ten minutes (and much blood, tears, and snuggles) later, I was getting the boys some lunch when Iain tripped, and - you guessed it - got a fat lip.  His wasn't nearly as bad as Cory's but it did bleed quite a bit and cause more tears and snuggles.  Man!  Two in one day!

 

(Cory with his fat lip - hard to see, I know.)

We had planned to leave on Tuesday morning, but because of good old tropical storm Ida, we stayed one more day.  A good time was had by all. :)

And while we were gone, five families who are adopting from Rwanda (with the same agency as we are) got their referrals!  I'm so happy for them and I can't imagine how wonderful it must have been for them when they opened that long-awaited email and finally saw their child's face.  Please pray with us that they can pass court before the end of the month, because the courts close during the whole month of December.  God can bring these babies home by Christmas and we're praying He will!