Dallon's Elk

Some how Dallon timed it right. Just before leaving on his mission he shot his first elk with his bow. He was in South Africa for 2 years and one week and yet he only missed one hunting season. This year he, and his uncle Steve, drew the Book Cliffs late elk hunt. Dallon shot this 6 point yesterday.

From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours

I LOVE this song. Funny thing, I've loved it since I first heard it as a teenager. I just had no idea what it would mean in my life someday.



Michael McLean also made his song into a book along with 5 other awesome adoption songs and there is a CD included with the book. Everytime I play the CD hubs declares that I need to dusty because clearly it's the dust in the room that makes his eyes water. Actually that could be a very valid point, I hate to dust. But he only delcares the room dusty when I play adoption books so I think he's trying to hide the fact that he feels emotions strong enough to make him cry. (But he only cries when it's adoption related, the rest of the time he's a big tough man.)

A Call to Action

The adoption tax credit is set to expire next year. This credit is how a lot of families finance their adoption. This credit is our backup plan for child #2 (and #3 if we decide we want another one). Some of the best finance advice I have been given is when you get this tax credit back, lock the money up until you are ready to adopt again and then use it. Wouldn't that be nice? I wouldn't have to do more fundraisers when we wanted to add additional children to our family.

I'm asking EACH and EVERYONE of you to contact your congressman and ask him to support the H. R. 213: The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee. It will make a difference in so many lives.

Thanks to Mrs. R for posting the following on how you can make your voice be heard.

RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ENSURE THE ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REMAINS PERMANENT

Private and independent domestic adoptions can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000, and expenses for intercountry adoptions generally total between $7,000 and $40,000. Domestic adoptions out of foster care are typically much less expensive, usually costing the adoptive parent $2,500 or less.

Congress introduced the Adoption Promotion and Stability Act in 1996 to “help families defray adoption costs.”

Unfortunately, while the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) made the adoption tax credit permanent, the provisions which raised the amount that adoptive families can claim and increased the income eligibility phase-out range will sunset on December 31, 2010. Thus, beginning in 2011, the amount adoptive parents will be able to claim under the adoption tax credit will revert to the pre-EGTRRA levels of $6,000 per special needs child and $5,000 per non-special needs child. Additionally, adoptive families reporting $75,000-$115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be restricted in the amount they can claim, and those reporting more than $115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be prohibited from claiming the tax credit at all. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to repeal the sunset and make the EGTRRA reforms of the adoption tax credit permanent.

At the center of this debate is a recent Treasury Report which found that parents who adopted children internationally account for a disproportionately large number of adoption tax credit recipients, while parents who adopted children from foster care represent a disproportionately small number. More specifically, international adoptions accounted for 34 percent of all adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up only 15 percent of all adoptions in the United States, while domestic adoptions out of foster care made up 18 percent of adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up nearly 40 percent of all adoptions in the United States. This finding has led some to claim that the adoption tax credit is not fulfilling a primary goal of promoting domestic adoptions out of foster care. Some advocates have suggested that the federal government should therefore eliminate the adoption tax credit and redistribute the funds saved to other pro-adoption programs.

The Adoption Promotion and Stability Act of 1996 had two purposes, first among which was “to defray adoption costs for families seeking to adopt” by establishing the adoption tax credit. The bill made no distinction between adoptions out of foster care and any other type of adoption.

Increasing subsidies to adoptive parents has been one of the most effective ways of boosting the adoption rate.

Most importantly, the EGTRRA provisions to the adoption tax credit due to expire in 2011 should be made permanent.

For 2009, the maximum adoption credit has increased to $12,150. This amount is phased out if your modified adjusted gross income is between $182,180 and $222,180. You cannot claim the credit or exclusion if your modified AGI is $222,180 or more.

For information on Special Needs Adoption Tax Credit for 2009 go to North American Council on Adoptable Children.

To take the credit or exclusion, complete Form 8839 (PDF), Qualified Adoption Expenses, and attach the form to your Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF).

See irs.gov (topic 607 adoption credit)

“The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213.” Written to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs. This legislation will make the tax credit permanent. Unless legislation is passed, the Federal adoption tax credit that allows many adopting families to take a credit of up to $12,150 (2009) is scheduled to expire in December 2010. (For information on other legislation involving adoption go to adoptioncouncil.org/policy/fed_leg.html.)

Help Make the Current Federal Adoption Credit Permanent by Writing to your Representative

Here is how:

Find the name and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators at http://www.congress.org/. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or Congressperson’s Web site.

Next, log on to THOMAS (Library of Congress) to find out whether your Congresspersons are already co-sponsors of the legislation. Here is how:

On the THOMAS opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213. Then click on “Bill summary and Status.”

On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors,” “Text of Legislation,” or “All Congressional Actions” to follow the progress of the bill.

If your representatives have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so. Tell them how important the tax credit was to you when you adopted your children, or how much you and other families you know are counting on it to be available in the future.

Act today, your efforts make a difference.

Birth Mom Missions

I have yet to meet a birth mom that I don't like so I know when we finally meet ours we are going to totally hit it off. I've started a new category in my blog roll (because clearly I don't follow ENOUGH blogs!) for birth mom blogs. I hope that my blog can become a wealth of knowledge on all things adoption.

The newest birth mom site I found is Birth Mom Missions. It's pretty cool. My favorite post (so far) is A Birth Mom's View of Adoptive Parents Profiles. I realize that it all boils down to finding the right family, but I loved some of the points. When we first started our profile, I'll admit, we were lacking in the picture department. We've already taken some of the points, like action shots and pictures with our nephews. I never really thought about doing pictures with kids. I had tons of pics of our family, but that is just me and Josh. But we now have a few pictures with our nephews and I think it adds a lot to our profile. Good thing I have such cute nephews to really dress up our profile!

Go check out this Birth Mom Missions site and if you have any great birth mom blogs you follow, leave their link in the comments section so I can add them to my list.

Adoption and Abortion

Finding Faith Friday - Birth Mother

On my Infertility Blog, each Friday I do a Finding Faith Friday. It has been a great way to help me move forward and to find the comfort I need from my Savior. Since it is National Adoption Month I have choose to highlight the article, The Gift of Adoption, from the February 2009 article. I know I talked about this article when it came out, but it's such a great article I feel the need to talk about it again. It is broke into 4 sections; today I posted some parts from the Birth Mother. Click HERE to view it.

When we first started the adoption process, our birth mother was the first thing on our minds. She is going to give life to our child. We quickly learned that with open adoption, we are very likely to have a great relationship with her. We are excited for that. There is nothing wrong with more people loving your child.

We have yet to experience it, but in visiting with those who have adopted, it looks like Placement Day will be the best and worst day of our lives. Great, because we will finally be parents, but worst because we are going to watch our birth moms heart break. I don't think it is something we can prepare for. We already love our birth mom so much, I hate to think about us being the reason her heart breaks. But I do know that the Savior will carry us all through. I'm just so grateful for open adoption.

Our fundraising efforts

Can I be frank? Adoption is expensive. Nasty rumors aside (I still haven't confirmed them), we need about $6,000 for our agency fees. Then when we can finalize we will need another $2,000 to finalize. Sadly, we are no where near those two amounts. Personally, I blame the college student, but he's gotta do what he's gotta do to better his life for his family.

This summer we had a yard sale where we raised just over $400. But our efforts didn't stop there. I also have a PayPal button in my side bar to the right where people can donate. (Thanks Wendy!)

Recently I vamped up my efforts and I am now an official seller on Ebay. A great friend (thanks Kelly) pointed out that fact that we need to decide what is more important in our lives; our big campers we only use a few months of the year OR the child we so desperately want. While I don't have a big camper or boat to sell, I have other valuables. Two weeks ago I started selling my barbie doll collection on Ebay. My efforts are slow and easy, I only list a few a week. But in those two weeks I have made almost $500. I hope to increase that amount to at least half of what we need for our adoption fees. (I just need to figure shipping rates out because they are KILLING me!)

Want to donate? I've already had one friend send me her doll collection, she won't even let me reimburse her for shipping (thanks Christine, and if you change your mind, I'll pay you back.) I'm so glad for my infertility and for the friends I have made.

Not wanting to count on Ebay alone, and because this is so easy to do, I also set up a coffee shop. Yes, me, the non coffee drinker, now sells coffee. Check it out HERE.

It's a great way for the coffee drinkers in our lives to get their caffeine fix AND contribute to our adoption. Its a Win - Win situation. They have different flavors and packages to choose from. It cost us NOTHING to set up with them and each month they will send us a check for the sales from the previous month. We have a savings account set up just for adoption funds and we will hope that between this and other money raising efforts we can be able to cover the costs of our adoption when a situations does come up.

And now I step off of my fundraising soapbox and hope to see my efforts (and preaching) pay off (literally).

Mrs. R at Women's Health

One of my favorite bloggers was recently featured at www.womenshealth.gov. You can view the article HERE. My personal favorite points were:

* Because something is a second choice, doesn't mean it is second best.
* Adoption is not a cure for infertility. Adoption is a cure for childlessness.
* The hardest part of adoption is about giving up control.

Spreading the good word of adoption

We were in the paper this week. I was really hoping to get a family to volunteer to do their adoption story, but then I decided it was just as important to address the waiting that comes with adoption. You can read our story HERE. My favorite part of the interview was visiting with the two sisters as they talked about their family and their birth mom. It was amazing to feel the love they have for a birth mom they don't know, but it makes me so grateful that adoption has changed and we can have a relationship with our birth mom.

The R House Couture

If you don't already know it, I am a huge fan of the r house. She is the biggest advocate for adoption that I have ever met. So during November I'll probably be using her wisdom, talents, and other goodness from her website.

She has set up an Etsy shop to help raise money to cover the legal cost for their youngest boy. To celebrate National Adoption Month she has added shirts.

Aren't they cute? Even if you don't buy a shirt, go check out the models in her store, because they are just delish!

Welcome Home Elder Christensen

Wow, what an amazing day yesterday. Dallon came home from South Africa. I can't believe it's been two years since we saw him last. Here is my view of all the excitement.

Getting to the airport. Preston was so excited to ride the bus and see airplanes.
So much nervous energy. Barbara had such a hard time sitting still.
Preston thought it was great fun to ride the escalator. When daddy got tired, grandpa would take over and back and forth. He always jumped off at the bottom.

Visiting with family while we wait for the plane to land.

Is that him?There he is! This is where the security guard had to remind us to stay right there, they were coming to us.

He is finally home! So many happy mothers last night.

We did it. He lasted two years in South Africa, and we made it two years without him.

Meeting Tyler for the first time.

Preston can be so camera shy.

Some of his friends came to meet him.

Talking with his grandparents.

Preston quickly taught Dallon Swing Me 1-2-3.

Welcome home Dallon, it's good to have you back.

November is National Adoption Month!

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR ADOPTION!

November is National Adoption Month. I thought all the fun was over after Halloween until I learned that Adoption gets an ENTIRE month to celebrate it. How cool is that!

I make no promises, but I am going to try and blog everyday this month about adoption. So be prepared to get bombarded with adoption related info.