Adoption Day: Part 2

The huge weight that has been sitting on our hearts the past 19 months has finally been lifted. Besides that, there's the relief of no more monthly reports, no more filling out medication logs, no more visits from case workers, and no more trainings to attend. We are finally a "normal" family! :)

Here's Joe hanging out on stage before the ceremony began. I am so proud of him - he was very well-behaved the entire day, even though we were out long past naptime.

Here's Daniel sporting a lei. He got tired of it pretty quickly and kept yanking it off, so I decided not to force it. Note the lump on his forehead where I accidentally elbowed him. Great job, Mommy.

This is the mad dash to get pictures taken with the judge. Since we had arrived at the Justice Center early we got seats up front and didn't have to wait very long.

Eating cupcakes. We scraped the icing off so it wasn't too messy. (Hey, the kids didn't know the difference and there's only so long we can get away with those kinds of things.)

Cousins! We were so happy that my sister Rebecca, her husband, and their two daughters joined us for our happy day. Lydia and Ruth are awesome with our kids and I know they are going to be great role models for Mikea as she grows up!

I have one more great story to share about adoption day. About a year and a half ago Billy and I took our kids to the park. Daniel and Mikea were still infants and Joe was around 16 months old. We met a lady named Sabina who was there with her husband and kids. Sabina was very interested in our story because she and her husband wanted to adopt and were considering foster-adoption, but didn't know very much about it. Through talking with her, we realized she had just met our own caseworker at an adoption fair. Sabina was so amazed by the coincidence and remarked how it seemed "meant to be" that we met that day at the park. We talked a few of times on the phone, but lost touch after a couple of months. We never found out if they were ever placed with children. Fast forward to this past Thursday when our adoption coordinator brought the final paperwork over to our house for us to sign. She commented that she had just been with another family in a nearby neighborhood and that they were also adopting Friday. Curious, I asked if the woman's name was Sabina. It was! We were so excited when we saw them at the adoption ceremony. Sabina remarked again how it all seemed "meant to be" that we were there on the same day (especially after all of the delays with Mikea). Well, in talking with Sabina we discovered that the little girl they just adopted has the exact same birthday as Joe. August 5, 2006. What are the chances? They are an amazing family because in addition to their four biological children and the little girl they just adopted, they are also fostering another infant and are trying to get placement of the little girl's younger brother, also an infant. That would make seven children! It's incredible to see how God can use us in his plan for other people's lives. What seemed like a chance meeting at the park wasn't really chance at all. It was all arranged by God!