Mary Clair is 1

Can it really be that one whole year has passed???  

Our sweet, precious, darling, wonderful girl is ONE! ! !

Pizza party and cake at the park.

Fun facts about Mary Clair:
~Named after her great grandmother, Mary Anne (and all the other Marys in her life..), and the beautiful song, Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy.
~She was born on Memorial Day.
~She has a passport and made a trek to England at just 5 months old for her Auntie Mez's wedding.
~She will eat anything you give her...
~She can play the kazoo and the recorder very well. ;)
~Most popular nickname: Tiny.

Originally, we were planning on finishing up our adoption before having more kids, but God, in his perfect timing, brought Mary Clair to us.  And what a blessing she has been to our family!  Everywhere we go she brings a smile to peoples' faces.  She is loved by so many people and I'm thankful for the friends and family she has to look up to.

We look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with her!

Here are some cute pictures from over the past year...(I could do more...but I won't bore you ;) )

First moments with MC

Summer!

She eats the entire thing...including the leaves.

These kids love taking baths!

First airplane ride (on the way home from UK)

Kissy lips.

Sibling love.

One place they get along surprisingly well.

This is pretty typical...

And this is everyone's favorite!

Baby Model.

Lifesong for Orphans--Matching Grant

If you read our last blog, you know that in recent months we have been able to raise a considerable amount of money for our adoption.  Our goal is to be able to adopt without any debt, and thanks to many of you reading this blog, we are almost to that goal!  So, thank you!

One of the grants we recently applied for is from Lifesong for Orphans.  They are a really neat ministry that desires "to mobilize the church, His body, where each member can provide a unique and special service: some to adopt, some to care, some to give."  They have been willing to help us adopt by doing a matching grant of $2,000...so that means we write letters, blog, Facebook, etc. to raise the first $2,000 and they will match it!  That totals up to $4,000!

So we were wondering if anyone out there would be willing to help us meet this goal?  Our goal date is June 17, 2014.  That gives us about one month to rally together these funds.  

Here's how it works...
If you are willing to give, you can give two ways:

o Checks should be payable to “Lifesong for Orphans. In the memo, note "Parham/#4400" to assure it goes to the correct account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744. Lifesong has been blessed with a partner that underwrites all U.S. administrative and fund- raising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.

o To pay online go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family.” Complete the online form and fill in “Family Account Number” (#4400) and “Family Name” (Parham) fields. 
**Note PayPal charges an administrative fee (2.9% + $.30 USD per transaction). Your donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee. 

(“Individual donations $250 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $250, will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.)

We will probably send out another update about this before June 17, 2014.  If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!  And please spread the word!!  We are humbled and grateful for such supportive friends and family!


In other news, time continues to fly...Mary Clair will be ONE in a week!  This has been a great year with her.  She is so spunky, laid back, cute, and wonderful (and according to her Daddy she's never done anything wrong...just you wait, Jake!).  I'll just have to do a birthday blog next week in honor of her ;)  So stay tuned!

Daddy's girl!  Sporting their strawberry shirts :)

Raising Support While We Wait

Hello Everyone!  The days and months seem to fly by and here it's been two months since updating everyone...so here we go...

We have moved up on the waiting list!  We are rejoicing that three children were placed with families last month through our agency!  We are still a pretty high number on the list but the process is being slowly changed to a more efficient and ethical process.  So hopefully we'll be able to rejoice with you in getting closer and closer each month!  

Towards the beginning of the year we applied for about three different grants.  Today marks the day that we have heard from all three AND have received grant money from each one!!  Wow!  It pays (literally and figuratively) to take the time and effort to fill out those lengthy applications.

The kind people of ShowHope, Families Outreach, and Lifesong for Orphans are the ones who are making this adoption possible financially by giving us approximately $9,500!  

We are almost to our goal of paying for this adoption without any debt!  

Stay tuned for more about Lifesong for Orphans and how you all can help us get even closer to raising all the money we need for this process!

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"For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this:

that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves

but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

2 Corinthians 5:14-15