ADOPTION DAY

I woke up this morning to a pile of dishes with dried on cake and ice cream.  A sleepy toddler runs screaming through the house with a head of wild curly morning hair and a purple balloon streaming behind her.   A baby cries as the pain of teething (four teeth at once) as the exhaustion from yesterday overtakes him.  As they eat pancakes, three school children count down the days until their public school journey ends and their days of learning at home begin.  Then they fuss and fight as Monte tries to get them out the door to school.  Vaeh drops a toy on Gracen's head because he gets a passy and she doesn't and at the moment she really wants one.  It all feels normal.  Nothing has changed.  We were a family and we still are.  The only thing is that we now have an Adoption Decree that says "that the said minor children be, and they are hereby adopted by the Petitioners...as their children and their adoption by them is hereby adjudged and decreed...and the said adoptive parents are entitled to all the rights and subject to all the liabilities of that relation."

Adoption day began with a big reminder from God that we are not done leaning on Him and trusting that He will take care of us.  On the entrance ramp to the interstate the Yukon lost power and lights on the dash started flashing.  My mind raced..."any day but today Lord PLEASE."  You see we have a small problem.  Our family cannot pile into just any vehicle and go on our way...we have become to big for that.  Some family was ahead of us and some behind but the vehicle combinations wouldn't work.  I called the lawyer frantic and said "we are trying to get there but the Yukon won't run."  "We can't make court!"  He said that he would try to get the judge to push a couple of his other cases in front of ours which would buy us a little time.  After that the judge would just have to sign the paperwork without us.  All this work for the judge just to sign and us to get the paperwork in the mail seemed heart breaking.  We had all waited for our day in court for 21 long months.  Before I knew it Monte was on the phone with his dear friend who has a repair shop and also rents out 15 passenger vans!!  We drove limped the Yukon to his shop and he met us there (they weren't open yet but he was luckily on his way through town).  He tossed us some keys and we moved carseats, strollers, coolers, diaperbags, oh yeah and kids in record time.  I have no idea how fast that big van was going, I didn't really care at the time,  but we made it to court only five minutes late!!  WE MADE IT!!

This sign made me chuckle after our stressful morning!  Maybe they wouldn't even let us in after all!!

They did let us into the courtroom, disruptive children and all.  The judge was very kind...he gave the kids adoption day bears and took pictures with us.

Next we were off to the Zoo with grandpas and grandmas, aunts and uncles and a very special cousin...

As we looked at the zebras (in the background) we take a moment to REMEMBER and to LOVE.  Conner and Vaeh's mama loves zebras and when we see them we think of her with smiles.

We ended the day with a small family party...balloons, bubbles, cake, homeade ice cream and our own in house entertainment!!

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THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who have encouraged and helped us along the way.  To our families...words cannot express our thankfullness for how you have learned to love these two little blessings right along with us.  We love you all!!

**No one wins here today...a mama lost her babies and two children grieve the loss of their mother. We remember that they have one family that could care for them but two families that love them.  Someday when they are older they need not choose one family over the other,  with each they will have a unique and special bond.