Our flights are all reserved!

We've reserved all 4 of our plane tickets now. Thank you to all who have donated, we truly appreciate it. Dallon and I will fly out of Portland on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving, then Chris and Jace will fly out to meet us on Monday December 1st. We were lucky enough to find some great deals on tickets. We are flying separately because of Chris' work schedule mostly--he'll be returning home on the 10th instead of the 13th of December also for work. we are flying into Columbus because the tickets were hundreds of dollars cheaper per person--so it means we need to stay in Columbus a few nights surrounding our arrival and departure dates. There are several decent but inexpensive hotels near the airport, and we will likely use priceline.com for a better deal.

A list of things we still need to pay for before training:
Hotel in Xenia: $1200
Rental car and fuel for 2 weeks: $800
Other expenses like food, shuttle fees to and from airport, and training supplies: $375
Hotel stays in Columbus: $450

Total: $2825

We started out thinking we needed to raise about $5000--with the good deals on flights and hotels we've gotten the cost down to about $4000 and we've raised enough for all 4 tickets and a about another $100! We've got about 1 month to go, and its sneeking up on us quickly because of the holidays.

Thanks again to everyone who has donated and helped us out in other ways--we are truly grateful!

Hotel Details

We have reservations from November 30 to December 13 at the Homewood Suites by Hilton. They gave us a fantastic discount and our rate is ony $85 per night. They include a daily breakfast, and dinner Monday through Thursday. They also donate $3 per night to 4 Paws! They are conveniently located practically across the street from 4 Paws, cutting down on our gas costs. We may end up changing the arrival date depending on our flights, but for now we are planning on arriving in Xenia on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We may need to move that date up or back, we'll see when we get our flights booked.

Other ways you can help!

If you don't have cash or gifts that you can donate for our travel expenses, here are some other ideas that could really help us out!

**Coupons or discount codes for a rental car
**Airline miles for United Airlines
**Coupons for meals at local restaraunts in Xenia, OH (you can google the address)
**Pass along our donation information and cause to local charities or groups--like Mason lodges, Elks Club, Kiwanis, etc.
**Ask if you can do a penny drive at a nearby business or school
**Pass along information to high school organizations like Key Club to see if they might be interested in doing a fundraiser/service project

We only have 48 more days to get our travel squared away. I'm sending letters to some local charities in hopes that they may be able to help us out. Also, if you are looking for a tax deduction for your donation, you can give the money to a charity who is willing and able to collect donations and send them on to us.

Every little bit counts! We've finished raising money for Bianca, now we just need to bring her home!