Lemonade and Cookies Always Make Me Smile!!

We are THRILLED to announce that thanks to family, friends, neighbors and strangers willing to stop, Laynie raised over $600 for FANA this summer. That's a whole lot of lemonade and cookies (with a few faces painted and dog treats sold as well). Best of all... the money will again be sent to FANA to help the birthmothers and babies who so desperately need our help.

Laynie wants to personally thank her friends who spent many HOT Saturday and Sunday afternoons with us. Kudos to: Sydney, Nathalie, Cristina (another FANA friend), Hannah, Valentina, Haley, Rylee, Alyriana, and cousins Ally and Addy. What a big-hearted group it was. It made us laugh to see them all try to get cars to stop by pogo-sticking, dancing, cartwheeling, backhandspringing and my favorite....yelling, "Come on, share the fun!!" At one point during a HOT summer day, they created signs telling joggers, walkers, mail carriers, UPS truck drivers and people with dogs or children that their lemonade was FREE!! Luckily for us (and FANA), they didn't take us up on the offer!! We were hot and tired after each lemonade stand; however, everytime....Laynie was ready to start planning the next one.

Thanks to all of you who donated to Laynie's cause...we are beyond blessed!! A special thanks to old friends who sent a donation to Alayna: Ms. Lorenz, Ms. Carr and Ms. Ruth. Your kind words and generous gifts mean the world to us. Some others of you who were not able to make it out our way have asked how they can help out. We are planning to send the check to FANA in the next month or so; however, it is not too late to donate if you so desire. Please send your checks (made payable to FANA) to Alayna Lightfield, 6231 Sutton Court, Elkridge, MD 21075.

Happy Fall, y'all.... see you next summer!!

It's summer... must be time for Laynie's Lemonade!!

We are excited to let you know that Alayna is proudly hosting another summer of lemonade stands!! She even added face painting this year!! She has already held two stands and has raised $272 so far this summer. She hopes to beat last summer's total of $563 so she is well on her way.

Alayna is raising money for FANA, the orphanage in Bogota, Colombia where she spent the first two months of her life. When I asked her why she wanted to give back to FANA, she said...."I want to help FANA find forever families for Colombian children. This money will be used to help train birthmoms so they can get paying jobs. Also, it will buy food and clothes for the babies at FANA. (Did I mention how proud I am??) :)

Alayna is fortunate to have many friends and family members who spend hot summer afternoons setting up, selling lemonade and cookies, holding signs and painting faces. Thanks to all of you!! Other friends and family members who can't be here have sent donations, too. Wow.... we are blessed!!

We will be holding another lemonade stand this Saturday from 1:00-4:00, so.... stop by and visit. And...with Laila (our new puppy) joining the family....Alayna promises to have dog treats available, too!! Read the entries below to catch up on last year's lemonade stands! Stay tuned!!

Giving Back!!

Tonight was the night that Alayna was finally able to give Mercedes Rosario de Martinez (the foundress and president of FANA) her donation from her lemonade stand. What a night!! We were invited to a cocktail party hosted by The Barker Foundation (our adoption agency) and Friends of FANA, DC. Mercedes and Flor Angela Rojas Ferro (Second Legal Representative of FANA) were the guests. Alayna was asked to share her story with the group and she did a fabulous job. Before grabbing the microphone, Alayna told me not to cry, but... I did!!

Mercedes and Flor were so very thankful and told Alayna that her money will make a big diffference in the lives of children in Colombia. Mercedes presented Alayna with a beautiful silver bracelet with yellow, blue and red beads representing the flag of Colombia. Alayna beamed with pride!! She has mentioned four times tonight that she is ready for a trip back to Colombia (and especially to see the babies at FANA).

Thank you to everyone who helped Alayna's dream of giving back to FANA a reality. We are truly blessed to have so many caring and supportive family members and friends. A big THANK YOU from the Lightifield Trio!!

Lemonade with our la CADA Crew!!

Wow. What an incredible weekend we have shared with our la CADA crew!! Mike and I feel sooo blessed to have built these friendships for ourselves and for Alayna. Claudia, Alayna, Daniel and Austin continue to be the best of friends and we delight in seeing them together every summer. And.. we can't forget Alyssa, Andres, and Joseph. They are fun, fun, fun!!

Our la CADA friends helped us at our final lemonade stand of the summer today. The kids (and parents, too) served lemonade and cookies for three hours this afternoon. Thanks to Mimi, Grandma and Aunt Meghan for making all those cookies. According to Joseph, he worked the hardest and was the best "cash register" of the bunch. They looked sooo cute in their "I'm a FANA Kid" shirts from Austin and Alyssa. The cuteness factor must have paid off, because they raised..... $201.50 today. WOW!! Thanks to all of your support, Alayna will be able to present the foundress of FANA with a check for $536.50. I am sooo very proud of all of the kids and hope that they will continue to give back to FANA each year!!

Thanks to everyone who helped Alayna with her efforts this summer. Keep checking the blog for updates on us!!

Laynie's Lemonade Stand!!

We are always proud of Alayna, but.... sometimes she even surprises us with her loving heart. Earlier this summer, she decided that she wanted to "give back" to FANA (her orphanage in Bogota, Colombia). She actually got the entrepreneur bug from cousin Ally (who was starting a dog biscuit business out of her kitchen). Thanks for the jumpstart, Ally!!

Alayna decided to create a lemonade and cookie stand and to give the profits to FANA. She created signs, made fliers for the neighbors and set up a stand at the end of our street. We made freshly squeezed lemonade and homemade cookies and had a wonderful first weekend. ***I know what you are thinking... Karen, did NOT make cookies and freshly squeezed lemonade. But... you are wrong. Laynie and I made both ..... but only for the first weekend). Now we prefer the bottled lemonade and slice and bake cookies. YUM!!

Even with "NOT SO FRESHLY SQUEEZED" lemonade and store bought cookies, Laynie's Lemonade Stand has been a huge success. So far she has raised.... $335.00 and she is still going strong.

Our last lemonade and cookie stand of the summer will be on Saturday, August 16th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on our street. Alayna's friends from FANA (Claudia, Austin and Daniel) will be visiting us here in Maryland and will help out on that day. Austin is bringing the kids shirts that say, "I'm A FANA Kid". Won't they look sooo cute? Feel free to stop by for some cookies and lemonade and to see the "la CADA crew" (Claudia, Austin, Daniel, Alayna) and their siblings (Andres, Alyssa and Joseph) again.

We just found out that Mercedes de Martinez (the foundress of FANA) will be here in September and Alayna is excited to give her a check to help with the care of the children at FANA. We hope to see you at Laynie's Lemonade Stand!!