Love Arbonne? Join Us for a Fundraiser Just in Time for Christmas!!

I am hosting an online Arbonne Party with a Purpose! Arbonne is a 30 year old Swiss health & wellness company with fantastic vegan products free of Petroleum, Phthalates & Fragrances. Arbonne marries current technology with botanicals to produce products that deliver results. Whether you are interested in skin care or cosmetics for yourself or holiday gifts for friends and family, your purchases will make a difference! Suzi Istvan, Independent Arbonne Consultant, will be donating 25% of all retail sales from this party to

help us bring Ramya home!  Suzi isn't taking any commission, and is donating all her commission to fundraiser for us!  How awesome!!  THANK YOU SUZI!

The instructions for ordering are below.  Please be sure to e-mail or message me and tell me you ordered, so that your order counts for our fundraiser.


To shop online:

1. Click Here: http://bit.ly/tS7WW8

2. On the bottom right side of the page, use Sponsor's ID number 19689391

3. Register as a "Client" (first choice) and fill out all info on this page.

4. Submit and get shopping!

5. After you've made your purchases, (email, message, FB post- Jamie insert how you want people to get in touch with you here) and let me know you did so Suzi can count your purchase towards this party.


This party will be active this Wednesday 12/7- next Wednesday 12/14. These orders will qualify for ground shipping to be received by Christmas! For gift-giving ideas or product questions, find Suzi on her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ArbonneWithSuzi.

Thank you for your support!!

Thankful for His Plan

God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.

-Peter Marshall

When we got the news about Ramya's transfer, we were very disappointed.  We were trying to be optimistic and see that this could be a good thing for her, but we were, quite honestly, feeling very frustrated and bummed about the news.  Then, we picked our heads up and did what we could.  We focused on the garage sale and the money we needed to make to bring her home.  Having our garage sale be so successful was really encouraging and reassuring for us.  The blessings haven't stopped there, though.  Kindness and generosity continues to pour in!  Today we went for a play date at our friend Emily, Dominic, and Mile's house.  We had a blast playing and when we were leaving, Emily gave me a check from her mother.  She has been following our journey and wanted to help us bring Ramya home.  AND, her employer will match her donation!!!  WOW!  We are so thankful for her and her love for Ramya!

When I think about how many people love and care for Ramya already, though they have never met her, it brings tears to my eyes.  Ramya is one special little girl, and every little child deserves to be loved and wanted this much!  We feel so blessed and are so thankful for the love and support Ramya is being given, and for each and every one of you.  THANK YOU!




And the Grand Total Is......

Just over $1,800 earned at our garage sales on Friday and Saturday!!  YEAH!  We earned just over $1,200 on Friday, then almost $500 today.  I had also forgot to total in a few checks, giving us a grand total of just over $1,800.  We couldn't be happier with how well we did.  This money is going to be a HUGE help with our recent round of adoption bills!

We couldn't have done this without the help of our amazing friends and family.  Those who donated items for our sale, those who baked items for us to sell, those who helped us price and sort, those that helped us run the sales, and of course, those that prayed for us! 

We are also very thankful for my parents, who were there to help price, helped set up both days, helped run the entire sale both days, and brought additional items to sell.  They are always so supportive and helpful, and we couldn't have done it without them!  They are so excited and anxious to bring Ramya home as well, and it's awesome to have such great support behind us!

There was a very good chance of rain on both Friday and Saturday, but we were praying BIG TIME that there would be no rain.  Both days, there were grey clouds and wind, but there was no rain.  On Saturday, we brought everything in after our sale.  About 10 minutes later, it started pouring down rain.  It was crazy!  It was as if God was reminding us that He is in control, and that He has our back :).

I'm also excited to say that this total does not include our two latest donations!  Today, my friend Mary, her husband George, and there adorable kiddos, Alena and Teague, dropped by the sale on their way out of town.  While they were visiting, Mary told us that instead of their usual Christmas donations, they have decided to donate to bring Ramya home instead.  YEAH!!!!  I'm so thankful for their friendship, and their generosity!!  They are always there for us, and it means so much!  I also got a note from my good friend, Sue, who has always been there to support us and somehow always knows just what I need to hear. She is amazing!   She told me she had some furniture to put up for sale and has decided to sell it for a donation to our adoption fund.  Whatever she makes on the furniture will go to help bring Ramya home.  YEAH!!!!  I am so thankful for such amazing friends!!

If you are reading this, and following our journey, thank you for your support!

A Garage Sale Update

We had the first day of our garage sale today.  We were PACKED!  We sold most of our big items, and lots more too.  We had some generous and amazing people who gave just to give.  One man bought one bag of cookies and gave us $20.  A group of three women donated an extra $30 and someone put a $20 bill in our cookie money jar as well.  Then, tonight, as I got on to post this, I saw that my friend, Monica, send us an adoption donation as well.  Wow.  I was touched beyond words! 

I just wanted to say a quick "thank you" to those of you who donated items, baked goods, helped us set up, prayed for and with us, and who have been there to support us.  We are so thankful for you!!!

So without further ado.....

Our total today was $1,200 in sales, and that doesn't include the donation from Monica!!!!!!!!! 

We will go at it again tomorrow as well.  We won't have as much big stuff to sell, but we still have lots of great things.  A big thanks again to our village of support!

When Life Hands You Lemons....

.... Pray (and cry a little).  That's what we're doing right now, and we'd appreciate it if you would join us (though I don't recommend the crying part.  It's not too fun)!

I got some not-so-great news about Ramya that we are struggling with.  As we knew, Ramya's orphanage is trying to go to only offering domestic adoptions.  After the small amount of children they have now are adopted, the orphanage director is retiring and they are closing their doors to international adoption. 

Because our paperwork is taking so long, they have decided to transfer Ramya to a different orphanage.  The good news is that we can still adopt her. 

Unfortunately, this will, again, delay our paperwork as we will need to modify documents for our dossier.  Additionally, this will be Ramya's 3rd orphanage in her short years of life.  It, once again, severs any attachments she has.  When we do finally get her home, it will probably be hard for her to see it as "home" and not just another place she's transferred to, again.  My little girl just got out of a long hospital stay, where she was alone and probably very scared, and is now getting transferred to a new orphanage where she knows no one.  This breaks my heart.  I'm sure she will feel so sad and alone.  I just want to run and scoop her up and throw her on a plane, but I know they won't let me.  I wish they would send her to us and at least let us foster her until we can get her home, but they won't.  We are powerless to help her right now. 

There is, of course, one huge thing we can do for Ramya.  We can cover her in blankets of prayers.  Please join us tonight as we pray for peace, comfort, and understanding for Ramya.  Pray for a miracle in getting her home to us quickly.

Additionally, tomorrow is our big fundraiser sale.  Please be praying for no rain (I type this as it rains ;)), a great turn-out, and lots of mulah!

Basically, just pray a lot tonight for, and with, us!

For Those Who Asked to Donate for Our Adoption

I have to admit, this post has taken me a long time to write and I've been putting it off for a while.  Accepting money and help is something that I really, really struggle with.  I appreciate the hearts of those who have asked to give, though, and I am ready to admit it takes a village to bring a child home; not just financially, but with prayers, help, and support as well.  So, to our village, THANK YOU!

Here's the latest update on how you can donate, for those of you who have asked :)

1. You can give a tax deductible donation through Wacap in our name, which would specifically be for Ramya.  If for some reason our adoption was not approved, the money would not follow us, but would stay with Ramya for the family that was approved to adopt her.  If this happened, we would be more than ok with the money staying with Ramya, since her having a home, even if it isn't ours, is extremely important to us!  Wacap said the easiest way is to mail us a check, then I can gather all the checks, write a letter that they are for Ramya and our adoption, then mail them all in at once. 
1. Here is the response I got, with more information:  If you have several people that would like to donate money for Ramya’s adoption, it would be best if they could send the checks to you first and then you can bundle them all together and send them all to us. The checks can be made out to WACAP and should indicate on the check or in a letter from each family that this money is a donation for Ramya’s adoption. Then, when you bundle them together and send them to us, you can add a note that these checks are donations for Ramya’s adoption and that you are the family currently matched with her. Keep in mind that if for some reason your adoption of Ramya falls through, you will not receive the money since it would stay with Ramya for whichever family does adopt her. The people who make the donations should talk to their tax accountants for more information about how to apply this as a donation for their tax purposes
2. You can give a donation to Wacap that is NOT tax deductible, but that would follow our family in the event our adoption with Ramya was not approved.  You can mail the check straight to them, but you would just need to include a letter that it is for our family.  Here's the info I got about that...
1. If desired, the donator could write the check to WACAP and make it specific to your family’s adoption, regardless of which child you adopt. As long as you do complete your adoption through WACAP, this money will be applied to your fees, but the person who sent the money cannot write it off as a donation.
2. The address is: 315 S. Second St. Renton, WA 98057
3. You can donate through Paypal using the link below.  The money would NOT be tax deductible, and there are paypal fees (unless you give as 'personal' and 'gift', instead of as a donation), but it is an easy way to give!

Of course, you can also mail/give a donation directly to us.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me at jamie_lugo@hotmail.com.  For those of you who have donated items for our garage sale, donated your time to help us prepare/organize, are planning to donate, or who have prayed for us, THANK YOU for your support!  We love each one of you and are so thankful for you!

Our current goal is $10,200, due ASAP.  They have agreed to let us make a small payment, then send in more once our garage sale is complete.  Whatever else is left we will put on our credit card so that we don't delay the process.  Because we have already paid some of our fees, however, our overall goal is $30,000 and includes our trip to India to bring Ramya home.

A Leggy Update

Today Madi visited Dr. Segal, her orthopedic surgeon, for her 6-month check-up.  He said things are looking great!  I always worry about her hips, since they pop sometimes and she tries to w-sit a lot, but he said they were doing great.  He showed me some strategies for stretching out her "curly toe" and told me it was about time to get her HKFOs adjusted (again!).  He also said that her right knee is getting a little bit tight, so I am going to order her a knee immobilizer for her right leg as well.  She already wears one on her left leg at night while she sleeps.  Madi has decided that she loves Dr. Segal, so that is always helpful.  She didn't cry at all, and loved playing with him!  He is great with her too, which helps a ton.  Yeah for a good appointment!