New Week, New Family

Hey Everyone,

Sorry to throw you a curveball with the families being on Monday now! I had always intended to do that, but started sneaking in Sundays and then it became the norm. But my Sundays got away from me too. So my first totally chill Sunday was really nice. Try it sometime. God totally knows what He's talking about. :)

You guys, we had an AMAZING week last week with the Hills! Nearly $6,000 donated towards their adoption. I love to see that!

Let's see if we can do that again! Let me introduce you to the Hendren family. Theirs is a bittersweet and beautiful story involving the loss of a child and the new life of another. Grab a tissue. It's amazing to see God's hand at work here.




They are now officially Habtamu's parents and are going to get him in June or July! Let's pitch in and see what we can do to help! Donate here. And follow along on their blog.

Feel Free to Forward to Your Husbands

***a quick little side note for everybody: i usually post the new family of the week on sunday, but it's started to eat up my sabbath, so this week marks the switch to mondays. look for the new family of the week tomorrow midmorning!***

Dear patient husbands,

This is a letter from a crazy woman on behalf of your wife. Mother's Day is coming up. It's actually next weekend. Some of you gentlemen already have birth kiddies so you know the drill. But some of you are waiting on your first little bundle of joy. I just want to save you some grief here. I need you to know that this Mother's Day totally counts. Maybe you thought it didn't if you're an adopter and maybe your newest little member is not in your home yet. Maybe you don't even know their name yet. Maybe you're still paperchasing. But Dad, regardless, we're paper pregnant and it totally counts. The crazy might not come from hormones, but it's deep, and we really need you to acknowledge our maternal bliss next week. Do you need some ideas? Ok, that's cool. We're big into Africa right now, so maybe a nod to our darlings home would be appropriate. Us chicks love Etsy. Here's some good finds. Click on the picture for the link (and order today and nobody gets hurt).

Giveaway Winner...

The winner of our giveaway, From Ashes to Africa by Josh and Amy Bottomly, is shellebo29!! Congratulations, and thank you for spreading the word about Give1!

Lindsay will email you to get your mailing address.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Hill Family Derby Pie Recipe

Fancy Hats. Mint Juleps. Yep, this weekend is the Kentucky Derby! I honestly don’t know much about the Derby, but this week’s Give1 family does. The Hills were both were born and raised in Alabama but have a parent that grew up in Louisville. They have lots of memories of watching the Derby on TV and have attended this legendary event (albeit before their adoption budget).  They even have a family recipe for Derby pie, which is served not only on Derby Day, but also throughout the year!



So if you want to get festive this weekend, check out this yumminess:

Derby Pie 

• 1 cup chocolate chips


• 1 cup walnut or pecan pieces chopped


• 2 eggs beaten


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 stick butter melted and cooled


• 1/2 cup flour


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 1 unbaked pie shell

Mix sugar and flour.  Add eggs and then butter.  Add nuts, chocolate chips, and then vanilla. Pour mixture into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 30-45 min.



As you enjoy this decadent treat, remember to donate! Every dollar helps the Hill family get one step closer to their daughter. And let me tell you, I’ve been following the Hill’s adoption blog for a while, and these people are the real deal. They are such a generous and loving family. They deserve every penny of your dollar.

Adoption-Friendly Workplaces

So Ashley Hill (from our family of the week) and I are both adopting mamas who work outside the home. (I chose my words carefully, because I fully understand that stay-at-home moms have a very difficult job...and paid time off, or even a sick day, are just urban legend/luxuries.) But what a lot of people sometimes forget, or don’t know, is that adoption benefits in the workplace are very different than maternity benefits.

Many employers offer paid maternity leave for childbirth. And a growing number of employers are offering paid paternity leave, often giving fathers a week or more of paid leave beyond their paid vacation or sick time. But at most jobs, adding a child to one’s family through adoption doesn’t qualify for maternity leave or short-term disability. Unless your employer allows you to accrue PTO and carry it over to a new fiscal year, you’re facing a number of weeks or months of unpaid leave during and after the adoption process.

The Family Medical Leave Act enables adopting parents to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave without fear of losing their jobs. But only companies who employ more than 50 employees for 20 weeks of a year must adhere to that policy.

Fortunately, many companies are beginning to offer adoption benefits for their employees. Some offer one to six weeks of paid leave for adoption. Others offer to reimburse employees for a portion of qualified adoption expenses in lieu of maternity leave (though these reimbursements may be taxed come tax season).  Some employers are doing both!



The Dave Thomas Foundation (yes, the Wendy’s Dave Thomas) is a great advocate for adoption and foster care. Their website includes a list of the best adoption-friendly workplaces, as well as a toolkit to help your employer understand the value of providing adoption benefits. The site has lots of other valuable resources, so check it out. Then, donate your $1, if you haven’t already, to make this adoption process a bit easier for the Hill family.

Doll Drives

Calling all crafty folks! I am so pumped about this. I get to make some more dolls! I'm such a freak about these tiny dolls! Anyhoo, there is a drive for dolls headed to Uganda and Rwanda. Make as many as you can!

There is a cool little blog called Dolly Donations that collects dolls year round and delivers them to kids all over the globe. They even have free patterns if you need one.  We all know what a new toy can do for a kid, right? Let's make some kids smile.



If you can sew up some dolls, pop over here for directions on where to send them. This batch is due by the end of this summer. Plenty of time to get started. I'll show you mine as they get done.

Did Someone Say Updates?

Thanks for all your recent feedback about the content you’d like on Give1! We love the family updates, too. So without further ado…

The Wayman family was one of the first families on Give1. Well, they are in Ethiopia, meeting their son as I type this! They began their journey in late 2010. They got their referral in January 2012, and they are now preparing to stand in court and accept him as their son.

The Whitis family is also one of the earlier Give1 families. Their family story is quite heartbreaking. But they’re all smiles now, as a family of four! They got pregnant just after starting the adoption journey! And exactly a year later, they got a referral of an adorable little guy they have named Eli. They just returned from Ethiopia for their court date. Check out the pictures and video…what a beautiful family.

Finally, the super sweet Hapner family got their referral for a boy in November. They’ve been anxiously waiting for their case to get submitted to court, so they could finally be a step closer to meeting their boy and becoming his parents. Well, it finally happened, and they should be getting on a plane in the coming weeks.



It’s so great to witness the mountains we’re all moving by supporting these families and their little ones…little ones who finally have the love they deserve. Thank you all for giving, praying, spreading the word, and spreading the love.

And one more update: the Hill family is now $1990 closer to their daughter. Incredible! That's one round-trip flight to Ethiopia! Can we get both Hill parents there?