Adoption Finalization Day
It has been one full week since we finalized the adoption of our three kids. I do not think the reality of that has officially sunk in all the way for us yet. I still find myself thinking twice before I post a picture somewhere or mention their names. We had our last visit from the kid's social worker yesterday, which also felt strange but great! They are fully ours - 100%.... now onto updating name changes, birth certificates, social security cards, and everything in between. Kinda feels like getting married all over again in that respect.
Many of you have been asking what our actual adoption finalization court experience was like. In a nutshell, it was a piece of cake! We were told that depending on the Judge it would likely be relaxed but that we should be prepared for the potential to be sworn in. Let's just say we were blessed with a Judge who strolled out, pulled up a chair, and joined the 5 of us at the front table. Ava, our 4 year old was the first to open her mouth. Before he had even sat down, she looked at him and boldly said "Hey! Can I stay in my family forever?" He replied with something along the lines of "I think we can arrange that." To which Ava exclaimed "Mom! Hey Mom!! Did you hear that Mom? He said YES!" It was pretty priceless.
The twins, Ethan and Abby, were also very talkative. Ethan sat there with a grumpy look on his face and kept telling the Judge "Don't judge me. Don't judge me." Abby asked him if he had a mask (I think she meant robe which he wasn't wearing) and had quite the conversation about masks with him. She is a nut. The only question the Judge asked Paul and I after reviewing the case is if we were crazy to which we replied we are already there! After that he signed a few papers, we snapped a few photos, and that was that! We did have to fill out a little paperwork after the fact but all in all we were out of there and on our way home as a happy little official family of 5 in less than an hour.
Now for some fun photo's from our special day. Big thanks to Swanstrom Photography (who also did our wedding photos 8 years ago) for capturing images of our special day.
Many of you have been asking what our actual adoption finalization court experience was like. In a nutshell, it was a piece of cake! We were told that depending on the Judge it would likely be relaxed but that we should be prepared for the potential to be sworn in. Let's just say we were blessed with a Judge who strolled out, pulled up a chair, and joined the 5 of us at the front table. Ava, our 4 year old was the first to open her mouth. Before he had even sat down, she looked at him and boldly said "Hey! Can I stay in my family forever?" He replied with something along the lines of "I think we can arrange that." To which Ava exclaimed "Mom! Hey Mom!! Did you hear that Mom? He said YES!" It was pretty priceless.
The twins, Ethan and Abby, were also very talkative. Ethan sat there with a grumpy look on his face and kept telling the Judge "Don't judge me. Don't judge me." Abby asked him if he had a mask (I think she meant robe which he wasn't wearing) and had quite the conversation about masks with him. She is a nut. The only question the Judge asked Paul and I after reviewing the case is if we were crazy to which we replied we are already there! After that he signed a few papers, we snapped a few photos, and that was that! We did have to fill out a little paperwork after the fact but all in all we were out of there and on our way home as a happy little official family of 5 in less than an hour.
Now for some fun photo's from our special day. Big thanks to Swanstrom Photography (who also did our wedding photos 8 years ago) for capturing images of our special day.
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Paul and Nikki, I'm so happy for all five you. How blessed the children are too have you both for their parents. If ever in the area ,stop in and say hi. I'm most likely here with my children I take care of. Love and God bless Jill Beyer
ReplyDeleteThis brings great joy to our hearts! Thank you for sharing your story! It has encouraged and challenged us! Stopping right now to pray for you... your a beautiful family of 5! Praise God!
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