Ready to go!

We've worked out all of our funding issues, and today I am making the last reservation. We are so blessed! A trip that was originally supposed to cost more than $5000 is now costing us just $3000. We have been able to work out every problem. It has been amazing to see so much generosity from everyone around us. We are so lucky to know such amazing people. On Sunday several people at church gave us donations, and we went home with over $700.

One family who has 4 children and have been struggling with a job change gave us an envelope that said, "We wish you the best of luck with your training. May the Lord bless your family. After hearing about your needs, our children rushed to their banks to contribute. Thanks for this wonderful opportunity to share." Inside was $108 and several quarters, nickels, and dimes. That family moved to Boise on Monday. They were in the middle of a lot of their own problems and stress and they took some of what they had and shared it with us.

Dallon and I fly out on Friday afternoon. I am anxious to get going. I'll try to find a computer to post to while we are in Ohio to keep everyone up to date. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has helped us on this journey. We are overwhelmed by how blessed we are to have been able to accomplish the the task of raising over $15,000 in only 8 months. We will never forget this experience and the lessons it has taught us about faith, gratitude, service, love and hope.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Dallon

Each child going to training receives a letter from their dog. We were the only special needs placement, so we were the only ones to know who (and what) our dog was before yesterday. We were the last in our class to receive our letter, which was fine because we already knew who our dog was. This is the letter we received late last night from Bianca.

Dear Dallon,
Finally. I thought it would never be my turn. Well I guess someone had to be last but really those guys sure took their time! I am so excited that finally I will get to meet you. I have been dreaming about you every night. Really it has been cool because while everyone was waiting for their matches I kept humming to myself and thinking there are advantages to being special like knowing who your match is months before the rest! I am so glad you looked at me and decided to accept me as your partner. I am so blessed to have you. I have been working extra hard because every time when I am working I am thinking, I am doing this for Dallon! Now all that hard work is coming to an end and we will be together and all will be perfect. How cool is that! I think you already know I am a Black Lab and my birthday is 4-18-2007 and I am a girl. I don't have to ask if you mind because you picked me just the way I am so I know you do not mind I am a girl. See ya really soon, up close and personal and a kiss in your face! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Bianca

A Few Changes

So with only 9 days till Dallon and I fly out to Ohio, and with $1500 left to fundraise we began digging deeper for more ways to save money. We ended up being steered toward a low-cost housing option in Xenia. There is a convention/retreat center a couple miles from the training center which has some dormatory style housing available. It is very cheap! For the full 2 weeks of our stay it will only cost $270! This saves us a massive amount of lodging costs. The best part we found was that the room is really a suite. It has two bedrooms (one with a queen bed, one with 3 twin beds) and a private bath for your suite. There are no meals provided, but there is a fridge and a microwave so we can keep breakfast/lunch items there easily. This will increase our food costs, but we figure is saves us about $500 overall.

So we have about $1000 left to raise in 9 days. We still need to rent a car and come up with our "other" expenses like food, gas, training supplies, etc. We are going to contact some church members in Ohio to see if we could possibly "borrow" a vehicle for a much smaller price than renting one. The cheapest rental car that will fit our needs that I've found is $675 (without the extra insurance or taxes). Keep your fingers crossed that we'll be able to find something for much less. If we can decrease that cost, we won't need to raise as much in the end.

Thanks to everyone who has helped us out. We are almost there! Only 12 more days until training begins! All of our arrangements in Ohio have really come together better than I had anticipated, and for much less! At this point (if we still rent a car) the trip is costing just less than $3500. The original estimates we were given was $5000-6000!

In total to date, we have raised about $15000 in just 8 months! Thank you!!!

Time is closing in!

I can't believe how fast the last 90 days have gone by! We leave for Ohio in 16 days. We are still needing donations. Just a few dollars will help, coupons for food or travel, anything you can do will make a difference. Thanks for all of the love and support from eveyone thus far--and we are almost there!

Getting Closer!

Sorry its been so long since I've posted an update. A couple of weeks ago we received a very generous donation from someone at church--$1000! Thank you so much Jeff and Lori! So with the other donations we've recieved, we are up to about $1100 out of the $2800 we still needed to raise. We have just 3 weeks left till we leave for training, but we have almost enough to pay for our hotel stay. We do need additional nights in a hotel in Columbus near the airport for our arrival and departure days. We still need to come up with money for a rental car, and that is our last big expense after hotel.

Thank you all for the support and donations! We're getting there, slow but sure. We're getting very excited about having Bianca finally be home with us.