The time has come!!!

Hey team!  Olaf's last scheduled chemotherapy treatment is this Friday, January 23rd!!!  We'd love for you all to wear your shirts and post somewhere on social media (instagram or Facebook) your picture with the hashtag: #dropkickrhabdo .  If you don't have fb or insta find someone who does and have them take your picture and post it, it's an easy way to get all of the pictures together so we can show them to our sweet girl throughout the day:)  Feel free to send us your good thoughts and prayers as she gets pretty sick with these treatments.  So don't forget, this Friday, wear your shirts!!!

p.s. please remember DO NOT TAG ANDY OR HALEY with these photos...because she's in foster care, it's complicated...

p.p.s. we do have some extras...we have a couple 2XL's left and a plethora of mediums if you're still interested as well as some kids smalls and a couple xs:)

An unexpected new passion

As many of you know, our lives have changed pretty drastically over the past 4 months (if you aren't up to date check out older posts).  I am continually being molded and shaped throughout this process and continue to seek out how I can "care for widows and orphans" and be a part of social justice around the world.

I had the opportunity to host a Noonday party recently through a friend Erin Moffett as a way to raise money for our adoption.  Before I go any further, let's rewind for a minute...my whole life I have been VERY ANTI JEWELRY PARTIES (not totally sure why).  In fact when my sister originally asked me to co-host with her I said no because I didn't want to be a hypocrite.  But after researching the company a bit more I said yes to the party and my life was changed!  We hosted the party and I fell in love with not only the jewelry but the stories behind it and the company as a whole.  So much so that I have decided to partner with the company and become a Noonday Ambassador so that I can host the shows and educate others about how we are able to use our purchasing power for good.  The company helps lift people out of poverty around the world by paying fair wages and each piece comes with the artisan's story.  Not only that but if you or someone you know is adopting you can host an adoption show (how I fell in love with the company) where 10% of all proceeds go to the adopting family! 

I, myself, cannot believe that I'm doing this BUT I am so excited to embark on something that empowers women around the world (and admittedly has nothing to do with kids with cancer;).  I would love for you to join me in this journey by hosting a party or you can go to www.haleykoning.noondaycollection.com and check out the amazing things that people around the world are creating, there are some amazing things!

Olaf T-shirts (and some...)

Alright team, the time has come to pay for the Olaf t-shirts!  They are $20/t-shirt and will come with any instructions regarding social media rules and any special dates we'll plan on wearing them:)  There are a few ways you can make the payment:
1. Mail us a check (please e mail us for our address if you do not have it: haley.j.koning@gmail.com)
2. You can pay us via paypal (you will need to enter my e-mail or phone number).  If you do it this way please use the paypal "gift" option so that we are not charged a percentage for using the service).
3. Give us cash or check in person.

We are not totally sure when the t-shirts will be ready but they are being worked on now, we'll update you as we are able.

To clear up any misunderstandings, we wanted to clarify why we are fundraising.  We are loving Olaf during this time where she is being treated for cancer. We do not know for sure at this point if she will be a part of our forever family BUT we know we were made to love her and support her right now.  Because of this, life has looked different since getting her in August.  I have not been able to work as much as usual (related to court dates, hospitalizations, transfusions and out patient infusions) and generally, the days that I am taking off, I do not get paid (this is in the amounts of hundreds of dollars per day lost).  We are also having to pay a babysitter for more hours than normal to watch our other two between our two jobs and all of the appointments.  On top of all of this, we have decided for our sanity, that I (Haley) will be taking leave (family bonding) for 7 weeks so we can all take a deep breath before continuing on in this journey (I will get paid a percentage of my pay during this time).  The government does pay us monthly for foster care but it does not come near covering all of these expenses.  We will continue to do fundraisers and love and support this child either forever or until she goes back to her biological family (please understand that right now, it does look like she will be with us forever but we can never say that for sure until adoption papers are signed).

We want to be transparent through this process and hope to encourage others to get out of their comfort zone and do something that seems impossible or uncomfortable.  We have been blessed beyond measure by Olaf and this process and would not do anything differently if given the chance. Please come to us with questions or concerns and know that we would love to discuss all of this with you on a personal basis.

Tie-Dye Fundraiser

Hello friends!!!

So…we're doing a little show your support/fundraiser for our sweet "Olaf" girl.  She still has a very long road ahead of her with chemo (minimum 22 weeks).  In order to show her our love and support we're making "#%*¥ Girl" (sorry, her real name will be on the tshirt, just not the Internet:) t-shirts and would love for you guys to buy them.  They'll be between $15-$20 (will be collected at a later date) and will really make her feel special.  Here is the info I need from you by Thursday the 30th:

-size (they'll be unisex)

-color (options are tie-dye or plain white, I'm suggesting the tie-dye)

They will also be available in kids' sizes, just not sure what color they will be-definitely order them for your littles, she'll love it!

Please email your orders to haley.j.koning@gmail.com

Feel free to pass this on to anyone and everyone, the more support the better!  Thank you in advance:)

Can't wait for us to all be in our "Olaf" shirts!

-Haley

Where we are today…a family of 5.

I don't totally know where to begin this post so I'm just going to dive in.  For those that don't know, we have a new kiddo!  She has been in our home for 3 weeks now and is such a little love and a blessing.  It all started about 4 weeks ago…we were still waiting on a sibling set we thought we were getting but I heard of a little girl about Myla's age who needed a home and was kind of everything we said no to….

Actually…lets rewind even further…about a week before 4 weeks ago (so five weeks ago:) our great friends Kaitllyn and Justin Campbell were in town from southern CA with their son Jackson (one of the cutest kids you'll ever meet).  Their church has been going through a lot lately and we had some really great, really deep discussions about what we want our lives to look like and how we want to live radically and differently and want to make a difference in our world.  Andy and I have felt convicted about the way our world, particularly the San Ramon Valley solves problems; we feel like we (as in the greater we) just throw money at problems.  Kids need water in Africa?  Send money through World Vision.  Hurricane tore through homes?  Send money.  People in Mexico need a home but we don't have any more vacation time because it's all spent going on real vacations?  Send money.  Don't get me wrong…Andy and I support a child through World Vision and sending money is good and necessary etc., we just feel like we could be doing more, that maybe God calls everyone to do more (even though that might look different for everyone).  Kaitlyn got on this beautiful soapbox one night we were hanging out about radical living and what if God's intention for the church wasn't just to go to church on Sundays, hang out with each other in between, and send money off to people in need, what if it was so much more?  I couldn't help but leak a little bit (that's what my dad calls crying:) because I couldn't agree more.  No, I don't know what this looks like and no I don't know what it means for everyone.  For Andy and I, it meant saying yes more.  It meant saying yes when things were uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and didn't seem to make any sense.  Someone in my life that has exemplified this has been my Dad, from what I knew as a child, he always said yes!  Someone needs a home?  YES they can stay with us until they get on their feet.  Someone needs a job?  YES you can work for DVM if you work hard.  A week later, we were presented with an opportunity to say yes and a week after that, our lives were changed forever.

We said yes to a little girl with serious medical issues who had recently been removed from her biological family.  There were so many things about this that seemed irrational:  firstly, we have been using our agency all the way out in Modesto to avoid this exact situation, we didn't want to get involved until parental rights had been terminated so we would not bring a child into our home only to have them go back to their bio family, she did not meet this criteria.  Secondly, with her medical issues we are at the doctor Monday-Friday as well as at least one additional visit per week, in-patient stays at the hospital at least every 3 weeks, etc. which we didn't want to do, I always said, "I'm a nurse at work, I don't want to be one at home to."  Ha, I was wrong, I'm doing more medical procedures at home than I ever thought possible!  Despite these things and many more, we couldn't be happier about our decision to say yes.  It's messy, it's hard, I cry a lot, I haven't taken time off work because we're not sure if she's our "forever child" or not so I'm tired, we just take it day by day and work together as a family.  The Lord's blessings are amazing to see, the smile that she brings to our faces and those around us is unmeasurable.

As of yesterday, we're 3 weeks into being a family of 5 and the "newness" and excitement is over.  The girls (as in my bio kids) are over it, our newest addition is over it, she doesn't always like our house rules and it's a hard adjustment coming from where she came.  I got to a point last week where I felt like yeah, we're blessing this sweet little girl but are we totally messing up our bio kids?  Myla has regressed…she isn't talking like she used to talk, potty training is no longer an option, and she screams A LOT.  Avery is doing better than Myla but her sass (which she already had a lot of) has grown exponentially and she has outbursts unlike she had before.  I called my friend Crystal when I reached my breaking point who I met through this adoption process and who has (as of last Tuesday) officially adopted her sweet little girl Brooklyn and she gave me such wise advice, "it's hard now, but think of the amazing people we are helping them grow up to be".  Such amazing words…yes it is hard, Jesus never said it was going to be easy, but Avery and Myla are going to grow up knowing how to love people differently than those around them.  They're going to know how to love more like Jesus loved, when it was uncomfortable and hard and unpopular and people didn't get it.  They will be better people because of this time, whether we end up adopting this sweet little girl or not.

I know that this is somewhat of a vague update but because it's the internet we have to be careful:)  We covet your prayers during this time, specifically for Andy and I's strength and perseverance through all of these late nights, early mornings, continuing our jobs, Doctor's appointments, etc.  We also ask that you pray for Avery and Myla as they're adjusting to so much (they both started school this week which I think will help:).  And lastly pray for our newest addition; pray that the treatment she is going through heals her, pray that she doesn't get too sick in the meantime, and pray for her to have strength to make it through it all.  I look forward to the day when I can tell more of her story and post a picture, until then, thank  you for your support and prayers.

Oregon

Long story short we were on track to getting a sibling set of kiddos at the end of June which didn't happen, then in the middle of July which also didn't happen so we decided to escape reality a little bit and head up to Oregon.  The adventure was twofold… one was to visit Andy's family who lives up there and secondly to have a mini college reunion (one roomie and her family were heading up so we went up, 2 came down from seattle, and one lives in beaverton:)  It was such a fun adventure because we got to explore Portland unlike we've done before, see friends, hang out with family, etc.  Andy and I got to go out on a date and the girls loved their time, win win win:)  Here are some shots from the week up there!

It is a really long drive to Portlant…this was our lunch stop for peaches and taco bell:)

Myla was having a hard time but we eventually discovered "adventures in odyssey" which saved out trip!

We were driving up fast to make it in time for Papa's birthday party and we did it!  Aves added a little spice to the party and we had a paper airplane competition:)

Andy and I with the birthday boy!

The Portland Children's Discovery museum is possibly my favorite kids museum ever…myla could not have been more thrilled about it, she loved grocery shopping!

We got to hang out a lot with the cool Replogle kids who taught us things like singing a prayer and how to have fun in any situation…they're the best!  Thanks Maija and Evan for playing with us!

Andy and I got out on a date night where we went to a really cool brewery for happy hour and got to try 15 different beers!

We then discovered the best ice cream i have ever had in my whole life…literally.  Salt and straw in portland is where it's at people!

The next day we adventured with the replogles and katie p to maltnomah falls!

the 4 kiddos:)

roomies!!!  so fun...

these kiddos couldn't get enough of each other...

we stopped somewhere random for lunch and caught maija and aves telling jokes to each other, it was too cute!

the kids celebrating that they got cookies for dessert.

I love trying to get 4 kids to smile for a picture…it just never happens.  we let them watch frozen before bed one night:)

then michelle joined us from seattle!!!  

in dirty turner style anne joined us via private jet late saturday night...

We took the opportunity Sunday morning to go out as just ladies, no husbands, no kids and it was so fabulous and refreshing.

Grammy got out a box of Andy's old hats (apparently he collected them:) and the kids had so much fun with them!

"Ay ay captain!"

Auntie Anne had fun with them too:)

more cookies!

and cookies for the ladies:)

Our last adventure day together started off getting yummy donuts!

then we took a ride on "the bean" to visit the hospitals on the top of the mountain (so so so so so so nice!)

Our last evening we made the rounds with family again…we stopped by Tia and Gam's house where the we played the piano and wrote on the white board.

So much fun!

We went to aunt Julie's for dinner…the kiddos love their Grammy!

Who could resist that face?

Millie and Aunt Julie…she's going through a hands in her mouth phase:)

Great Nana, Papa and the girls.

So hard to get all the people to stop moving and look at the camera!:)

Aunt Julie and Uncle Don just finished re-doing their backyard and we got to sit around the brand new fire pit!!! Looks great guys!

Daddy and Aves playing wiffle ball…she was quite good at it!

oh millie

the drive home…millie ate so many blueberries her whole mouth turned blue!

the treat at the end of the trip was starbucks for all!

The Shaws had our dog so we stopped in Antioch to pick her up and Erica made us a delicious dinner…myla was in charge of watching nora and thought it was the funniest thing when she fell over:)

Thanks for spending time with us everyone, we love seeing you all!