Adoption Day: Part 1

Adoption day was both exhilarating and exhausting! We scrambled to get out of the house on time, left 15 minutes late, but still arrived 30 minutes early for the ceremony. Go figure. The kids became very restless before the ceremony began, and Mikea was crying when it was our turn. But she got quiet when we stood up to hear the judge say, "Your adoption is granted." Hallelujah!


Before the ceremony began, leis were given to everyone.

Here is the table of cupcakes and stuffed animals for the children. The kids who were adopted today also received lovely blankets made by a local Democrat group. (We won't hold that against them.)

Can you tell this is one happy girl?

Here we are with Judge Montemayor. We were excited that Nana was able to join us. She's Billy's grandmother and the kids' great-grandmother. (In other news, please ignore the location of Daniel's index finger.)

This is our attorney, Mr. Tarver. Today was the first day we met him and he was awesome! He couldn't have been nicer and added a positive energy to the day. He played with the kids and took a lot of pictures. Daniel especially wanted Mr. Tarver to hold him, which is funny because Dan's usually shy around strangers. (Purely by coincidence, Mr. Tarver was also Mikea's birthmother's attorney ad litem. We didn't find this out until a couple of weeks ago.)

All in all it was a wonderful celebration and we are beyond thankful that this day finally arrived! Twenty-seven new families were created today, with over 30 children being adopted. Our county has the highest number of foster-adoptions in the nation! I think that's something to be proud of!

I'll share a few more photos and stories in another post either tomorrow or Sunday.