Day of Adoption Finalization

The day had finally come!! We got to Finalize our Adoption today!! Were we anxious? Yes a little!  Were we scared? Yes a little!  But were we excited? Most Definitely!  I have no idea why there was anything to be anxious or scared about, but we were continually told about all these horror stories of people's adoptions not going through so that may be a reason for it.  Although the peace we have continually felt throughout this whole process was reason for us to not to have any doubt at all that this was all in God's plan. 

I did have a few meetings at work that morning so I picked up Adelé and Oley on my way through and we headed to Kent where we were scheduled to finalize.  Oley's Aunt Shawnie came to be there with us and I am so glad that she was able to be there for us!   As we waited to go into the court room the attorney explained to us what would happen.  It was kind of intimidating!

 Once we got into the courtroom it all happened so quickly.  We took an oath and answered all the attorney's questions and then it was over!  It all seems so surreal that we are now legally parents!

After the hearing we were able to get a picture with the judge. 

After the hearing the attorney went to get the decree of adoption stamped so we waited for him in the courthouse atrium. 

 

When he got back we thanked him and were off to celebrate our new family - and my birthday! 

This was the greatest birthday I could have ever asked for!  We absolutely love our little baby Adelé!  Although none of this would have been possible without our remarkable birth mom whom we absolutely adore! We love Allison and are so grateful for her and her strength through all of this.  We can't thank her enough for what she has done for us and our family.  We hope we can give her all that love back tenfold, she truly is our angel here on earth.

To celebrate we drove up to get some food in Tukwila, I thought I wanted to eat at the Rainforest Cafe so we went into the mall and as we were walking past a picture studio they asked if we would like to get a picture taken free of charge.  Most definitely we did!  Unfortunately we haven't bought the disk of pictures but it will hang nicely on our wall as the first professional picture we have had taken as a family!  

After we sat down and looked at the menu we decided we really didn't want to eat there and so went across the parking lot to the Cheesecake Factory (this place can now be deemed as our "special place", it is where we took Allison to eat when we picked her up from the airport and now as our first official family dinner spot).  

Oley, the best husband ever, made me a birthday cake and ice cream to enjoy once we got home!  This has turned out to be the best Birthday Ever! 

 

As we went to bed last night I realized much like when we got married yes we are now legally a family, but honestly it just still doesn't feel complete - we need to get to the temple to make this for real.  Don't get me wrong I am ecstatic that we are now legally a family, but I want more than that I want to know that this is our eternal family.  Which I am excited to let you know we will be getting sealed on December 28 in Idaho Falls!  We can't wait to get our bug sealed to us! We love Allison and are so grateful for her and her strength through this process.