Sweet 16 #1: Introducing Abram!

Hello all, 
Recently, many people in the Reece's Rainbow community have decided to choose 16 children that really speak to their hearts, and do everything that they can to find those 16 children a family in the year 2017. 
Kellin and I have come together with an incredible group of other like-minded teens, and we'll be working together to help 18 special children (we couldn't quite keep ours to 16) be seen and come home this year! These are our sweet kiddos - I'll be introducing one child to you every 2 weeks. 

Hold onto your hearts, friends - these are some seriously adorable kids! 

So today, I'd like you to meet Abram. 

This picture was taken in January 2017

This sweetheart is only 5 years old, and he needs a family so badly!! This is literally a life or death situation. 
He was born with Hydrocephalus - a condition that could be managed if he lived in the U.S., but where he is he can't survive for much longer. 
Although we don't have any experience with Hydrocephalus, I can connect anyone interested in this precious boy with people who do! 

Abram lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. I'm not personally familiar with the process, but I know many people who would be more than happy to talk with an interested family! 

Please see the precious soul in his sweet hurting body and consider whether Abram is your son. 


If you feel that Abram is the missing face at your dinner table, please email us at theworldwillchangeblog@gmail.com, and I'll connect you with people who can tell you everything that you need to know!

Happy Birthday Kellin!!

As I went back through old drafts, etc., I realized that this never posted! 

On November 2nd, my sweet brother Kellin turned 15. 

We celebrated his birthday with a Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy cake for our beloved Douglas Adams fan. Mama felted him a character from the books to go along with it! 

That's 15 years of life with my loving, funny, chivalrous, strong, and lighthearted brother.

179.9 months with the person whom I call my twin (he was just two years late!).

782.15 weeks of jokes and joy. 

5,475 days full of all of the energy and laughter that Kellin brings wherever he goes. 

131,400 hours of laughing, crying, walking and talking together. 

7884001.5 minutes of knowing that no matter what, even when we're not on the same page about some things, we will always be there for each other. 

473040086.40865004063 seconds of living with both a comedian and a knight-in-shining-armor - in one awesome brother. 

4.73e+17 nanoseconds of Kellin.

Happy 15th to the person who is both a brother and a friend to me. 

Happy birthday Kellin - we love you so much! 

Wonderful News!

Thank you all so very much for your support in the praline fundraiser! We'll be back soon (very soon!) with some new things in that vein, but for now we wanted to share some amazing news! 

We are so incredibly excited to announce that....

Beautiful Emmaline (from this post) has an awesome family working hard to bring her home where she belongs! You can read her family's story and donate to help bring Emmaline home HERE. 

And, if that isn't exciting enough, someone else is coming to America! 

Kiran!!! 

Yes! This precious guy who is so close to our hearts is coming HOME! We have been so blessed to connect with his family, and we are planning to keep Kassi and Kiran in touch! They haven't reached the point in the process yet where we can let you know who they are, but we'll be sharing their fundraising link as soon as that happens! 

We are so thankful that these precious ones have been seen by their families! I know that both families would appreciate any prayers and support that you could give. 

SaveSave

Barrett Fundraiser - Pralines!

****Update****
This fundraiser is now over! Look out for more coming soon! 

We are so happy to have the honor of being "Family Warriors" for the amazing Barrett family! This means that we will be praying for, fundraising for, and supporting them in any way that we can on their journey to their beautiful little girl who is waiting for them in Ch*na! 

The Barrett family are fellow Floridians and they are eagerly awaiting their new daughter/sister - Maeleigh! Please go and read more about them and their journey (and see Maeleigh's picture!) here: http://reecesrainbow.org/111689/sponsorbarrett-3

I am SO excited because....one of you amazing people is going to get a real *taste* of New Orleans!!!

Have you ever heard of a praline? No? Well, a praline is type of candy that's often associated with New Orleans. It's a creamy (very creamy!), carmel-y base full of Southern pecans.
Is your mouth watering yet? :)

The ones I have for you today are from Loretta's Pralines (lorettaspralines.com) one of our two favorite types (out of all of the praline brands that we've tried - and that's far too many! ;))

Anyone excited to try a praline? Good! Because you can do just that, and help bring darling little Maeleigh home at the same time! How's that for a win-win?! 

We're donating the box of pralines (and let me tell you, it took a LOT of self-control not to devour them all instantly), so all of the profit is going straight to the s! 

Here are the details:  

What: One box of 6 delicious pralines!

When: The giveaway starts now and will end on Wednesday at noon (Central Time!). 

Where: The comfort of your own home! :)

Why?  You can be a part of Maeleigh's amazing, beautiful story!
And also, pralines. :P

How?  

All you have to do for a chance to win is donate $5 to the Barretts Reece's Rainbow page:
(http://reecesrainbow.org/111689/sponsorbarrett-3)
Then, email me at theworldwillchangeblog@gmail.com with a screenshot of the receipt you'll get when you donate.
At noon on Wednesday, we will randomly select an entry using a computer program. We'll then mail the winner their pralines!
Every entry is $5 - so the more you donate, the more likely it is that you will be the lucky praline recipient! 

And also - even if you don't want any pralines - would you share this, please? Sharing is so important and so easy!!

If you are interested in becoming a Warrior for an adopting family, please check out this link: http://reecesrainbow.org/familywarriorprogram

There is absolutely NO financial commitment - all that you're promising to do is to support them and share fundraisers. You certainly can create your own fundraisers for their adoption, and donate if you feel led to do so, but it is not a requirement at all! This is such an amazing program and there are families waiting who have requested a Warrior but not received one - so please consider whether this might be something that you could do! 

Updates!

Oh it has been a crazy few weeks! Let's see if I can get you all caught up and then we can move on to new things! (Blogging regularly, for instance...and some exciting fundraisers - not for us this time!)

We packed and packed and packed through most of the beginning of December. Sadly, I was sick for most of that, and with everything else it was barely controlled chaos! Some days, it was just plain chaos.

We left on the 20th of December, with a trailer (and 12-seater van) full of Cogan paraphernalia. We made it to New Orleans.....at 1 a.m. on the 21st! We had to take the trailer back to the rental service early the next morning, so we had to have everything unpacked that night! We were completely unpacked by 4, and slept until 11 - when we woke up and the boys dropped the trailer off while the girls packed overnight bags to go to Kassi's Shriner's appointment in Shreveport (which happened to be at 9:30 on the 22nd)!!

We headed to Shreveport and made it just in time to get a couple of hours of sleep, and headed to Shriner's...

We did learn that Kassi will probably not be able to have her foot surgery and casting done there, which wasn't quite what we were hoping for, but we are trusting and knowing that there is an amazing plan behind all of the crazy, and we are going to do whatever it takes to get our girl walking!

After the appointment, we went off in search of lunch. We looked up places to eat in Shreveport and found this little place, which made us all smile - Mama's maiden name is Strawn and she is probably related somehow to the Strawns who owned this place!

We walked in, sat down, ordered....and the waitress came back a moment later and whispered something in Daddy's ear.

"The family who just left paid for your meal."

What a sweet sweet gift and a beautiful reminder of the amazing people that there are in this world, and the amazing God who made them! That was such a blessing to us and we are so grateful!!!

We came back to NOLA on Christmas Eve, and wound up having to move across the hall. So we moved everything over and had...no power until the 29th! Phew! 

Since then, we've been revisiting favorite spots, exploring New Orleans, and having fun together! 

If you look at the sidebar, you'll notice that Kassi's picture has changed. We took the others here in New Orleans while we were here last spring - just a couple of weeks before we knew that Kassi was a Cogan! Now, we all have matching pictures and we're so incredibly glad that she's here with us!! 

Yes - there have been rough days, but it has been a much easier transition than we were expecting. We're so thankful for this opportunity and so excited for the next few months!!! 

At Café Du Monde - seconds before everyone was covered in powdered sugar!

Doing schoolwork in the apartment.

Walking in the park on a gorgeous day!