Called our kids in Ghana!

I have to admit I was so nervous to call our kids in Ghana. However I have been really hoping to get some pictures and it just hasn't worked out so instead the opportunity to call our kids was presented and how could I say no. But I didn't know how much they knew about us, or if they had seen a picture, or how confusing it could be for us to call them. So I prayed, and prayed to find peace and comfort and that our kids would be blessed with the same. It was so "SWEET" to hear their little voices and their accents. Not much was said or needed to be after our first question. They asked us, "how are you". We replied, "good". And then asked Sarah and then Kingsley, "If they would like to join our family". To hear them say, "oh, YES"! Was AMAZING, so real and emotional. I lost it, I was bawling. My mind was spinning. We had the phone on speaker so our kids could listen, we also passed it around to say who they were and whatever they wanted to say. It was a HAPPY DAY! That night I wished we had talked longer, asked more questions, but I just couldn't think past them wanting to join our family and I guess that's the most important after all, right?

Need to give a huge shout out of THANKS!

Many of you supported us during our Fudge and Salsa fundraiser. "THANK YOU"!!! I am so pleased to announce that after all the money we spent putting into our supplies we still cleared a profit of $335.00 plus one check sent for $40 and one for $50! I am so HAPPY to be able to write out a check to Luckyhill for a grand total of $ 425.00 towards our adoptions costs! Thank you so much for all your LOVE and SUPPORT. I am in awe how AMAZING you all are!. This completely exceeded my expectations and then some.

I AM EMOTIONALLY SPEECHLESS!

WE just had the most "AWESOME'EST" thing done! We heard a small knock at the door. I thought the kids were playing and paid no attention to it. Casey was in his office and got up to check it out. When he opened the door no one was there, but he noticed someone had left a quart size jar on our porch, Casey picked it up and then looked around to see who left it, he noticed someone in a hoodie walking away. Casey said THANK YOU, and the person kept walking! SO Cas came inside and immediately I heard my name called. He was yelling throughout the house, HON look what someone just left us! It was a jar filled with MONEY that had a note attached that read CHRISTMAS JAR! Oh wow, what a blubbering baby I am right now. I have such a grateful heart, that someone, or some family thought to save their money up until right before Christmas and then to deliver it to us! I am speechless and overcome with emotion. It's so powerful to see that so many people do live and celebrate the true meaning of CHRISTMAS, being a true example of our Saviour, giving and sacrificing all for the sake of someone else benefit! Wow, my heart is FULL!

I have longed to write this past week. I really have been so overwhelmed with the kindness and thoughtfulness that some many have shared with us as we are fundraising for our adoption. I have neglected to write because I don't want to make anyone feel that their kindness was less than as important as someone else's, if that makes sense. To know that someone, so many have been willing to sacrifice at this time right before Christmas to help us raise money towards our adoption is humbling and amazing. When I put it out there that we would be making fudge and salsa for fundraising I was so stressed that we wouldn't recoup our costs or break even. I am so happy to say that we have exceeded BOTH! We've had many orders for fudge and salsa, one amazing order was 32 fudge and 26 salsa. We have had 2 checks show up in the mail with no desire for anything in return, one was from a highschool friend that I haven't seen in 13yrs but just got reaquainted with through facebook and the other was from a person I have never met face to face but have enjoyed getting to know through facebook and blogs, both sent a note that said they wanted to do what they could to help us bring our kids home. Each night I go to bed anxious to offer "THANKS" to my Father in Heaven for the amazing friends he has blessed us with and for their willingness to support us and love us! I wish I weren't so speechless as to how it feels to be the recipient of such " INCREDIBLE BLESSINGS!" My prayer is gonna be a long one tonight :)

TO EVERYONE: IF YOU HAVE CALLED ME, EMAILED ME, FB ME, ORDERED FROM ME, OR SENT ME A CHECK IN THE MAIL. "THANK YOU" FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME. YOU HAVE EACH TOUCHED ME IN SUCH A MEANINGFUL AND SPECIAL WAY! I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!!!!

Tempt your TASTEBUDS this holiday season!

ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARDS OUR ADOPTION FUNDRAISER! Thanks for shopping.

FUNDRAISING UPDATES-Donations of services and goods!

If you would like to help by donating your time, talent or service, you can contact me by email or leave a comment on this post!

If your new to what we are doing, please start with the 2nd post down, that explains all about our fundraising efforts! Thank you!

REMINDER: THERE IS NO SMALL ACT OF SERVICE!!!

I will be making this an on going post, always updating, with a list of all the services or donations that have been offered. Please help us get the word out to anyone you know in these areas.

WASHINGTON
SEATTLE WASHINGTON AREA-Danielle Weathers Photography www.danielleweathersphotography.com

Danielle-would love to donate my photography services if someone is interested or is in the Seattle, Washington area and could utilize my services. My session fee for a family of 4 is $150 and $25 for each additional person beyond the 4. My session includes my time for the session and editing of 20-25 images from the session. Prints and digital images are an additional cost but I would like to donate the digital images from the session which is a $150 value. The total value would be $300 for a family of 4 including digital images from the session. You can refer people to my website and blog at www.danielleweathersphotography.com

IDAHO
BURLEY IDAHO AREA(Can be order from out of the area) WeedOptic Design
http://www.weedop.com/

Lyndsey-will donate the first 5 hours of any design work for as many clients as are interested. This could be christmas cards, business cards, posters, flyers, static websites, photo restoration, logos...you name it! This is a $100 value. In this case, the printing would be the clients responsibility, but I would assist in finding a good printing source. My website is http://www.weedop.com/ .


BURLEY IDAHO AREA-
"The Food Coach" Marianne Mallory BS CHES
208 431-1853 or email @ marem@safelink.com

MARIANNE-will donate her time for some weight loss/food coaching. A session is usually 35.00 each...if you buy 4 they are 100.00. Four is a good idea...I walk you through everything and follow your progress. My clients usually lose at least 15 pounds the first month(depending on how much they NEED to lose)...
I am also going to China in a couple weeks to get our daughter and will take orders for those really cute "squeaky shoes" for little girls. I will donate all the profit to the Hermansen kids in Africa. Let's say 15.00 a pair? That's a screaming deal for some cute shoes and you get that satisfaction knowing you are helping 2 kids in a BIG BIG way:)
btw...I hope to be back before Christmas ....in case you want them for gifts..."


BURLEY IDAHO AREA(Will ship Fudge anywhere)
Taste Buds-Gourmet Fudge, Fresh home made Salsa, Fresh homemade cinnamon rolls

The Hermansen Family- We will be once again offering our Holiday Taste Bud Temptations.

*Homemade Fudge-We specialize in Cherry Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Maple Nut Fudge, and Peanut Butter Fudge(most popular). Cost is 1/2 lbs @ $6.50 + cost of shipping.

*Homemade Salsa- Made fresh, can deliver as is or canned for longer shelf life.
Pint size jar $5. We will deliver locally!

*Homemade Cinnamon Rolls-These are large, juicy, gooey, and very yummy cinnamon rolls!!!!
1/2 dozen @ $7.50. We will deliver locally!


UTAH
UTAH COUNTY-SEQUOIA BUILDING AND DESIGN is donating finish carpentry work!

Jason and Dalan Perry-would like to each donate a days worth of labor towards some finish carpentry. Crown molding, baseboards, doors, basement finish. To give you an idea of what their time and work is worth they typically charge $50/hr. They are donating up to 20 hrs of labor anywhere within an hour of Saratoga Springs.

As a family "OUR HEARTS ARE FULL", we feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family that are willing to help us and support us with our adoption.

Our hope for how the FUNDRAISER will work!

FIRST OFF, PLEASE KNOW THERE IS NO SMALL ACT OF SERVICE!!!

Do you have a special talent such as (ie. Hair bows, hand bags, purses, jewelry, home décor, candles, etc...) or a special service (ie. Photography, babysitting, cooking, Christmas lights etc..) Would you like to offer your talent or service in exchange for a donation that would go towards our fundraising efforts? If so, please list your service/talent, quantity of donation, donation value, with a direct link to your blog, or facebook acct. If you do not have a blog or fb account please send me a detailed description and I will advertise it on my blog and fb account and will list your contact info.

Here’s how we would like the process to work: 1. Buyers will contact you to guarantee service or product and quantity 2. The buyer will then make a donation by Pay Pal(casey.hermansen@gmail.com), Check (payable to Luckyhill-the orphanage in Ghana) or Cash and they will list who they are buying from, and quantity(send to Hermansen residence. 882 E. 100 S. Declo, Id 83323). We will contact you, confirming the donation has been made and your services or goods can be rendered.
*If you feel if would be easier for you to just send your donation to me(ie. hair bows, bag, etc. and you don't care if you get traffic to your blog or business. Than I would be more than happy to handle it from there!

Are you someone that is looking for a service or goods and don’t see it. Please post what you are looking for and we will see if we can link you together with someone that can provide it!

We have some exciting news to share!!!!

WE HAVE SOME NEWS!! The Hermansen Family is adopting again! We are super excited to be going through the process again and look forward to adding to our family. We are working with an AMAZING orphanage in Ghana, Africa named Luckyhill.

For those that are familiar with adoption or those that have adopted, you’re probably very aware of all the fundraising that goes into it to help offset some of the costs involved. For our fundraising efforts I have find it very hard to ask for donations without you getting something in return. So we have come up with an idea that is a little different in hopes that everyone will be able to benefit. With Christmas only being 5 ½ weeks away, it is our goal to get this up and running by this Monday, Nov 23rd!

Do you have a special talent such as (ie. Hair bows, hand bags, purses, jewelry, home décor, candles, etc...) or a special service (ie. Photography, babysitting, cooking, Christmas lights etc..) Would you like to offer your talent or service in exchange for a donation that would go towards our fundraising efforts? If so, please list your service/talent, quantity of donation, donation value, with a direct link to your blog, or facebook acct. If you do not have a blog or fb account please send me a detailed description and I will advertise it on my blog and fb account and will list your contact info.
Here’s how we would like the process to work: 1. Buyers will contact you to guarantee service or product and quantity 2. The buyer will then make a donation by Pay Pal(casey.hermansen@gmail.com), Check (payable to Luckyhill-the orphanage in Ghana) or Cash and they will list who they are buying from, and quantity(send to Hermansen residence. 882 E. 100 S. Declo, Id 83323). We will contact you, confirming the donation has been made and your services or goods can be rendered.

Are you someone that is looking for a service or goods and don’t see it. Please post what you are looking for and we will see if we can link you together with someone that can provide it!

Hopefully this will be a win/win for everyone involved! We understand that times are tight for people financially, so we are super grateful for any help or support that you can lend! Thank you so much. Love The Hermansen Family

HOPE

My hope for this blog is to help me stay focused on my goal of uniting my family through our different cultures and heritages.

First off, I must explain where our family heritages come from. Casey's ancestors came from Scandinavian countries. I am still learning more about my heritage. I do know my grandmother came from Czechoslovakia so that's where I will start. Our son Elijah's heritage is African American. For the longest time I struggled with how we would learn and celebrate his heritage and culture. I studied, trying to find ways that African Americans celebrate their heritage and culture in the states. Kwanzaa and Martin Luther King day were the only holiday and info I could find. I feel it is very important for Elijah to learn and celebrate Martin Luther King Day (which we have always done) but as he grows older we will help him understand its meaning as his age allows him to grasp it. Then for me a light went off. Casey and I are Americans that were born and raised in the states, however when it comes to finding out our family heritage and cultures we look to the present and the past, to where our families originated from. Since I can't look to present for Elijah, I must look to the past. At that very moment I knew we would celebrate Elijah's hertiage and culture from Africa.

I have started off by making a detailed list of ways that I can start implementing our cultures into our daily lives. Here it goes:

*history, music, and musical instruments, dance, food, geography, clothing, games, holiday's(how they are celebrated), art, jewelry, decorations(household), books, poetry, movies ( including national geographic), Roots, languages, reasons for immigration, daily routines, school, education, famous people and decorations(holiday's)Christmas tree and Nativity set.

After our move and once we are settled in, I plan on dedicating one evening per week to recognizing and living one of these cultures; African, Czech, Scandinavian. I will cook a meal from that region, play music, or learn a bit of history(current or past). I have already bought a cook book from each country and I am looking into music now. Later on down the road I would like to add clothes into the evening. I also would love to find others people that would have a lot of knowledge and experince to offer us(grandparents, college students, foreing exchange students, return missionaries, anyone that could come share in an evening at our home.

Casey and I sat down and decided that we are going to celebrate Kwanzaa this year. Dec 26-31. I am so excited. I have already study up on it and it's a very positive holiday to celebrate. I look forward to making this a yearly treat. We've already ordered our Kinora set.

I am so excited I have finally made a start. I know we have a long way to go but the beginning is the only place to start.