ALTERNATIVES IN MOTION
NEWS LETTERS
September 2005
A
LETTER FROM JAN…
Dear Friends and Family,
I usually find myself “back on track”
at this time of the year. With three teenagers at home, summers
are a mixture of chaos, boredom (so my kids say), and growth.
When I watch them get organized and leave for school in the
mornings, I wonder what happened to those “summer”
children who couldn’t get out of bed until noon, ate
everything that didn’t move, and called me ten times
a day to find out where I hid the channel changer, their clean
underwear, and the peanut butter.
Like I said, I usually find myself back
on track at this time of year…but this year I had no
time to get “off track”. We have been excessively
busy since May. We have been so busy that it completely slipped
our minds that we had reached the ripe old age of “21”
in July. WOW! Twenty-one years. Twenty-one years of blessings
and miracles.
To celebrate, we are hosting an open house
to sneak in an extra opportunity to reminisce with you about
memorable events that have taken place over the past 21 years…and
be reminded of some forgotten moments. We have photo albums
of our annual social events that date back to 1986…our
first Christmas Party. The party was held in one of our early
family’s home and hosted 10 families. A few of our 20
year olds were in diapers and crawling around on the floor.
Read about the open house inside of this
newsletter and make plans to stop by for a few minutes. But,
don’t mention age. I will say things like, “you
haven’t changed a bit.” Please consider similar
statements about me.
Love,
Jan
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TIME IS RUNNING OUT…
You have a short while left to send us your email address
so that we can forward our newsletters electronically!
AFTER JANUARY 2006, WE WILL NOT MAIL NEWSLETTERS VIA
U.S. MAIL UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED. |
As mentioned in previous
newsletters, we spend thousands of dollars every year
on ink, paper, time, postage, etc. sending out our newsletters
by snail mail. In today’s era of technological
wonders, a newsletter can be forwarded to you at no
cost through email. We have 500 responses from you…which
leaves approximately 800 persons who have not responded
to this idea. What are you waiting for? Send your email
address to aim_news@aimadoptions.org
In addition to the newsletters that are published 3-4
times a year, we also send out little newsy messages
ten or so times a year. Stay in the know!
If you do not have access to email,
please let us know so that we can continue to send you
our newsletters in the traditional manner.
RE-OPENING YOUR OPEN ADOPTION
In recent months, the requests for
first-time-contact for adult adoptees and biological
families or renewed contact between adoptive families
and biological parents has increased. Although we knew
that some of our adult children would want to make a
contact, we were surprised at the number of requests
that come in from parents of children who are searching
for answers for their minor children. Today, openness
is in its true form; however, in the first 15 years
of our existence, the majority of adoptive families
and biological families had minimal or no contact. Families
and birth parents often “went on with their lives”
and lost contact. Today, true relationships are beginning
at placement.
If you want to re-establish contact in your open adoption,
initiate the process through Anne at:
alandry@aimadoptions.org |
ANNOUNCING
OUR NEW ARRIVALS
We are proud to announce our participation
when the Lord was blessing our children with loving
parents. Join us when we praise Him for giving…
Chris & Lisa to Jedah |
Matt & Kim to Logan |
| Terry & Tricia to Elizabeth |
Jim & Caroline to Rebecca |
| Stuart & Connie to Sadie |
Tim & Connie to Daylon |
| Richard & Gretchen to Rowan |
Scott & Georgina to Kathryn |
| Luis & Vivian to Luis |
Dan & Peggy to Lottie |
| Rich & Debbie to Hadley |
Brian & Katie to Olivia |
| Brian & Traci to Kade |
Patrick & Maria to Jada |
| Matt & Stacia to William |
Steven & Jodi to Kyle |
| Doug & Andrea to Avery |
Daryl & Melody to Reid |
| Mike & Patty to Brooke |
David & Holly to Andrew |
| Darin & Cherie to Max |
Alex & Michelle to Nicholas |
| Todd & Jeanne to Francisco |
Cliff & Rose to Matthew |
| John & Kathrine to Emily |
Brian & Collette to Haddon |
| and |
| Jerry & Gina to Violet &
Vincent |
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MAKE PLANS NOW FOR THE
A.I.M. ANNUAL FAMILY HOLIDAY PARTY
Even though the weather is a tad
on the warm side, we know that in a few weeks we will
be planning the holiday festivities. Two of our “biggies”
are the Family Holiday Party and the Birth Parent
Holiday Party. Traditionally, the family party is
held on the first Saturday of December. This year,
that would be December 3rd. Mark your calendars and
plan to attend. It is a wonderful opportunity to show
off your family and renew old relationships.
Our adoptive parents host the birth
parent party at a church in our area on the 2nd Saturday
of December. Approximately 100 clients with friends
and family attend. The large fellowship room is decorated
festively, a meal is served, gifts are given, there
is a huge free garage sale, and lots of fun and fellowship.
It is an awesome event and has consistently
been a blessing to a large number of birth parents
every year. Please be prayerfully considering how
you can be a part of this event.
GRANT PROPOSALS
Financial concern is a big part of every non-profit
organization. Fortunately, there are many opportunities
to enhance our services through grants and other awards
offered by the community that we serve. Some are from
large churches and some are from companies that employ
our adoptive parents.
Two of our families have presented
us with opportunities to present grant proposals to
their church in the past year. This provided us with
a wonderful opportunity to seek funding to try out
new services or to tweak established services. In
the past few years, families have also found opportunities
within their place of employment where annual grants
are awarded to non-profit 501©3 corporations.
We welcome any opportunity to apply for available
funds to provide services to the community. Please
contact Anne at alandry@aimadoptions.org
or 281-209-9372 with ideas.
Grandchildren abound in our office.
Dee, Denise, and Jan all expect to welcome little
ones in the next six months…Anne and Ron have
already added two grandbabies to their family this
year! Watch the website for news of each arrival.
Pray for Mindy, Melissa, and Jennifer during the next
few months…pray that they have a pleasant pregnancy
and give birth to a healthy baby.
While Charlotte is not ready to
knit booties or buy a shawl and a rocking chair…she
is feeling the signs of age as she helps her baby
prepare for college. It seems like just yesterday
Kathleen was in the office carrying her blankie and
sucking her thumb. Wait a minute, I think that was
yesterday. She was probably rehearsing for a new play
or something. You know, she does plan on being a super-star
one day.
Kelly is on cloud nine. Last year,
Lindsey decided that high school was not for her.
So, she went into an accelerated program, graduated
a year early, and earned a “full ride”
to The Art Institute of Houston where she is studying
architectural interior design. Her second project
of the term is already winning acclaim throughout
the school because her professor is sending it for
a state competition.
www.aimADOPTIONS.org
Don’t forget to check out
our website from time to time. We are always adding
new information and new pictures. Also, we love to
add cute snapshots of your family to our photo album.
We get so many compliments on our website and they
always comment, “The pictures are wonderful.”
And, if you have any…we mean any ideas or suggestions…please
feel free to share.
| DON’T
FORGET… The
holidays are coming up and we need lots of help
with the planning. If you are the kind of person
that loves to give a party…we can sure
use your expertise. And, we need help with shopping
and wrapping, and all sorts of fun things.
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INTAKE IS
OPEN!…
Our intake is now open for
families wishing to begin the process to build
their family through the loving act of adoption.
If you or someone you know would like to attend
an orientation to learn about AIM as an adoption
avenue…now is the time. Request a packet
online from our website. |
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