AND THE WINNERS (finally!!) ARE...

What I didn't say in my nervousness I've said many times here.

To each and every one of you-
our family, our friends, the vendors, this incredible adoption community-
all who have brought us to our goal: we thank you.
For your donations, for your support, for your prayers.

We are so grateful.
Yours are the hands that have brought
us one step closer to our little girl.

Ellis.
Rock star.
Shining star.

Our girl.
We're coming to bring you home.

technical difficulties

So sorry guys... we have been struggling with this darn video (and apologize in advance for my dorkiness, which i will pawn off on my illness- surprisingly, i actually cleaned up nicely for how awful i feel~!)- we've been hammering at it for FORever... promise it is coming asap.

The final donations are IN~! And all of you have been incredibly generous. I honestly don't know the right words- thank you seems incredibly small- in just a matter of days we went from half way to our goal to reaching 93% of our goal!!! The total was $4, 665 for the chip in, $175 bid on the quilt and $45 for the Gymboree clothes... so I'm not that great at percentages, but that bumps us up closer to 96%, right? Either way, we are so very grateful for every single donation and blown away by how GENEROUS some of you were. Many of you have LOTS of tickets, so this drawing will be so much fun~!! We are frantically working on getting all the names and numbers cut and ready for the "hat" so we can venture out to do the drawing! I am still really under the weather but will attempt to be on camera at least half the time :O)

Thanks to each and every one of you for helping us bring Ellis home.
We can't say it enough.

We will try to have the drawing up by 8pm tonight, but hopefully much sooner!

I will add a FEW MORE HOURS

For some reason the Chip-In now says the end date is August 11th (I did NOT change it!!), which is so strange!! So, since you can still donate, we'll let it go until 12 noon today since we are SO close to our goal. That should give us enough time to get everyone's names/numbers cut and put into the hat for the drawing and have it posted on the blog by tonight. I, unfortunately, am sick so it might be Garth in front of the camera today- we'll see :O)

I can't thank all of you enough for helping us bring Ellis home. She truly IS such an inspiration and I've no doubts that the prizes had little to do with why each of you clicked on that Chip-In. I think it might have something to do with her amazing smile and courageous spirit...

How anxious we are to finally meet her and at last begin this "family of 3"~! You are part of the reason it's possible.

We are so grateful.

RAFFLE ENDS AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!!

See prizes in the post below and how you can help bring
our beautiful little girl home!

Help Bring Ellis Home! (new GRAND PRIZE added!)

This is Ellis Gao Mei. Our little rock star. Our shining example of courage, strength and joy! We can't wait to bring her home, and we need your help to make that happen! Thank you to all of our amazing friends and the vendors who so generously donated many of the items to this raffle- we have been truly humbled by the outpouring of support from each and every one of you, and hope we can continue to 'pay it forward' as we share this part of our journey to Ellis with her one day, showing her that it is in giving that we truly receive.

You will see the Chip-In is up once again in my sidebar, just to the left of this page. The suggested donation for a ticket is $10, which will buy you one ticket- and buy as many as you like- that will only increase your chances of winning one of these amazing prizes!!! Of course, you don't need to donate in order to enter a chance to win, you can also just leave a comment in this post and I will add you to the drawing. Drawing will be held AUGUST 9, 2009!

There are also 2 auction items up for bid at the bottom of this post so check them out as well~!

And, in order that you can keep track of the fundraiser there is a "button" (you'll see that under my Chip-In) on my blog too and a separate fundraiser blog set up just for Ellis- be sure to save it to your favorites! That site can be found here and is called "Bringing Ellis Home".

And now for all the PRIZES!!!!

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GRAND PRIZE!!!
YOU CHOOSE!!!

A Canon Digital Rebel 12.2 Megapixel XSi Camera!





OR

An Acer Laptop Netbook PC
AND
The Flip Ultra 60 Minute Camcorder together!

When the winner is called, just let me know which prize you prefer, and that is the prize you will be shipped~!

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2nd Prize!
A 3-Charm Necklace
from Suzanne Myers!

A very special thanks to Suzanne Myers for donating one of her 3 charm necklaces worth $140 dollars to this fundraiser! Her work is without question absolutely stunning- just browse her website and you will see what I mean. I cannot begin to tell you how overwhelmed I've been by the outpouring of support by vendors and friends that have donated so generously to help bring Ellis Gao Mei home!

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3rd Prize!
The American Girl Doll or The Biddy Twin Dolls (you choose!!)

Thank you Hayley for offering this amazing prize- and the choice is up to the winner! From the American Girl Doll collection, you can choose either the "Just Like Me" doll pictured above or the Biddy Twins- and they have sets of girls, boy/girl of several cultures- you can browse their website HERE! Hayley, you have gone SO far above and beyond with ALL of your support, the gifts you've bestowed upon our daughter- the wealth of advice, and helping me set up this entire fundraiser. Thank you from my heart.

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4th Prize!
TWO T's from Wild Olive Tees!!

A huge thanks to Stefanie, Colleen and Amie from Wild Olive Tees for donating not ONE but TWO of their fabulous inspirational t-shirts to my fundraiser to help bring Ellis home~ (sample above)! Stef and I go back about 5 years and she was very excited to help out in any way she could and immediately suggested I auction the clothes she gifted to me all those years ago as well (see below). Thank you to everyone at Wild Olive and especially to Stef who has been a great friend all these years!! Go and check out their website! The winner can choose any of their shirts from their beautiful collection (they have both fitted T's and classic T's) with many uplifting phrases from scripture.

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5th Prize!
A Deluxe Blog Makeover
with Danielle
from
the design girl~!

I can't say enough wonderful things about working with Danielle from the design girl~ who just finished my blog! And this next prize, if you are a blogger, is fabulous- a deluxe blog makeover valued at $90! Danielle has really perfected her artistic talent and has so many extras to offer on her website! So, for those of you looking for an updated look, even if you don't win this amazing makeover, pop on over to her site and check out what she has to offer!

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6th Prize!
The Lexie Diaper Bag Tote!

Thank you so much Krista for donating the coveted Lexie Diaper Bag tote from Fleurville ~! This particular color is no longer available and retailed for $165, is still in it's original packaging and will be shipped to the winner! Wishing I could buy my own ticket because I think this bag is gorgeous. Be sure to check out Fleurville's website as it describes their bags in detail~!

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7th Prize!
This beautiful print, signed, by Suzanne Woolcott
"Cupcakes and Giggles"

Suzanne Woolcott is a Scottish Artist, living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. She is a full time fine artist, and regularly exhibits her work in galleries around the world. I can't thank her enough for donating this beautiful print, Cupcakes and Giggles, from her shop on Etsy, which she will sign and ship to you should you win this prize! Her work is absolutely beautiful, thank you so much Suzanne!

8th Prize!
A regular colored or white short-sleeved
t-shirt from Lisa's Sugarbelle Shop!

Thank you Lisa for contacting me and for offering to donate one of your tees to help bring Ellis home! She has a huge selection on her website for adoptive families- and some great political tees as well, so if you are the lucky winner, be sure to browse her wide selection before making your choice! Thanks again Lisa!

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Auction Items!

Number ONE!

52x52 100 GOOD WISHES QUILT

Thank you so much Robin for donating your services to our cause!! Your work is absolutely stunning!! To see her amazing quilts, check out her shop here on Etsy. And if you have your squares sitting around in a heap (as I do) and have been neglecting putting your 100 good wishes quilt together, then bid on this item! Maryellen can attest to her work, as her daughter's quilt is pictured above and was stitched together by Robin :O)

Bidding starts at $60, and that is way below what Robin is worth!! Don't forget to leave your bid in the comments and how you can be reached!

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ITEM NUMBER 2
Gymboree Bumblebee Collection

These brand new Gymboree outfits were a gift long ago from a close friend that many of you know, Stefanie from Ni Hao Y'all~! I am sad that I won't be able to use them, but thankfully they will be put to good use here and I can pass them along for one of you! They are from Gymboree's Bumblebee collection, and each still has all their tags in place with price, and are between 12-24m for size. Bidding will start at $30, and all 5 pieces will go to the highest bidder! Please leave your bids in the comments with a way to contact you!!