Our sweet host girl will not be here for another 43 days (not that I’m counting), but we have so much to do to prepare for her arrival.

Of course, at the top of the list is fundraising. We have $1120 left, plus the additional cost of her flight to our airport.

Two quick FYIs:

1. Our auction ends tomorrow at 10am PST. Please go check it out and bid!
2. I added some new photos this week AND I’ll be sending print orders to the lab tomorrow as well. If you’ve been thinking about ordering, now is a great time! Here’s the link to Moose Prints. 

If you’d just like to donate, here’s a link for that as well.

So, what else do we have to do?

Well, hosting involves a bit of paperwork. Not too bad compared to a Russian adoption, but a bit. There’s also a lot of training that goes along with it. There is much required and recommended reading, and then we’ll also have a full day of training in June.

We also have to prepare her room. We are fortunate to have a guest bedroom, but it is set up for an adult guest. We’d like to do a few things to make it better suited for a pre-teen. And shopping– wow. She will very likely come with only the clothes on her back, so we need to get some clothes for her, as well as a toy or two. We may try to get her a bicycle as well, as bikes are a common summer activity here. Of course, the challenge is that she’ll have to learn how to ride it, too!

Lastly, we’re just prepping ourselves. We recently started a new devotional with the kids, a routine that we know will be an important routine to include her in when she is here. And praying, praying that we will be prepared to welcome her here and that she will be prepared to let us into her life.

Any great advice from previous host families on how to prepare?