I have realized over the past several months that I just don't have it in me- I'm just not a blogger. I respect you folks that can keep up your blogs with good, interesting posts on a regular basis. So this is my final post. Today was a very big day for our family. We went to the courthouse for Graham's finalization of his adoption. It was really sweet. Our attorney met us there. He is an older gentleman and just precious. When it was our turn we went up to the judge's bench. We each stated our names- Jason first then me. Then I asked the judge if Josh and Lillie could state their names too. I lifted Lillie up to the mike and she said, "L-I-L-L-I-E". Then Jason lifted up Josh- yep he decided to follow in his sister's footsteps and he spelled out, "J-O-S-H." There were several giggles from different folks in the room, and the sweet judge was just smiling very sweetly and complimented them on how smart they are. She was great. Then the attorney asked Jason a series of questions such as can we confirm that the birth parents have terminated their rights and that Hope Cottage has approved us as adoptive parents. The the last question he asked is, "Do you love this child and are you willing to provide a good home for him?" I just teared up. Then it was my turn and he asked me do I concur with the way Jason answered the previous questions. Then he asked me if I love the child and am I willing to give him a good home. I was barely able to choke out a "yes, I do." Then the judge said, "Well, it's not final until I give the little guy a gift. " Then she handed us a little puppy dog beany baby. So sweet. Then we went out into the hall and took the picture that I posted above. And we also got out Flat Stanley for our cousin in South Dakota and took a picture of Flat Stanley at the courthouse :-) We had originally hoped to head to the Arboretum for a family picnic, but the weather was not too cooperative- pretty chilly and very windy. So we settled for some Chick-Fil-A, where we happened to run into our dear friend Tara and her kids and one of her sweet friends. It was really sweet because Tara and her husband have been in our community group and have walked this road with us since we first started praying about adoption.
I originally started this blog because I wanted to share our adoption story with others. So if you know people who are considering adoption please pass my contact info along to them. If you don't have my info then just private message me on Facebook and I'll get it to you.
God bless you all and keep you all. May His goodness and His glory be ever-present in your lives.
Much love,
Courtney and family
