Our Adoption

We're back!  It was so great to finally have Declan's adoption finalized.  We waited so long for this day and we could not be any happier that he is finally legally ours.  It was the best Christmas present ever!

We were planning on driving to Utah up until the day before we were supposed to leave, but watching the weather reports started to really freak us out, especially since there are so many mountain passes over the thousand mile drive.  We called our adoption worker and asked if there was any way they could help us fly home and he was so awesome.  He spent the morning calling people and finally got permission for DCFS to buy all of our plane tickets!  We were so relieved and so grateful. 

We flew from Seattle to Salt Lake on that Tuesday and stayed with Davy in Layton the first night.  The next afternoon we left for Price, where we stayed with our good friends, the Huffakers.  (Why didn't I take any pictures?!)  I wish we could have spent more time in Price.  There were so many people we would have loved to see.  On Thursday morning we got up to another huge snowfall and it seems like we battled the weather the whole rest of our trip.  We met with our adoption worker at DCFS in Price, then headed 40 miles south to Castle Dale for the adoption. 

It was such a great experience to be in that courtroom.  Everyone there was so nice and happy for us.  (When I think of all the hard things they see in there, adoptions must really be their favorite.)  The three older kids sat in the audience and Garreth, Declan, and I sat at the table with our lawyer.  They called the adoption worker to the stand first, then Garreth and I had to each answer a bunch of questions.  I wish I could remember all the questions, but a few they ask are: "Have you formed bonds of love with this child?  Do you swear to raise this child as your own natural born child?  Do you swear to provide financially for this child?" and other similar questions.  I know the questions might sound a little clinical, but it was a very sweet and emotional experience to answer and tell the court how much we love our little boy, who, by the way, was kind of a little stinker throughout the proceedings!  He sat on Garreth's lap looking at a Spot book for some of it, but soon got wiggly and whiny.  We finally pulled out a little bag of snacks to keep him quiet - probably not technically allowed in the court room, but hey, it worked!  

My favorite part was at the end when the judge talked to us personally.  He has seen everything that has happened in this case from the very beginning and knows Declan's whole story.  He thanked us and said some very nice things.  

It was such a great day.

After we left the courthouse we went to DCFS to look through the case files that we couldn't see before and that are opened for thirty days after the adoption.  We were mostly interested in finding some health history information, but uncovered a lot more than that and learned some very sad things about his birth parents.  It was very hard to take, especially with our emotions already running so high. 

After we left DCFS, Garreth took the big kids to get some lunch and Declan and I went over to visit his birth brother and sister, Michael and Bella.  We have gotten to know them and their fost/adoptive parents fairly well over the last 20 months and it was really great to see them.   They are such sweet kids and the kids all had a great time playing together.

Bella, Michael, Julie, and Troy.

I couldn't get over how much Declan looks like Bella!

In true Declan-style, he went straight to work wrestling with Michael.  He is definitely all boy, but he had fun playing horses with Bella, too.  (She told me that her horse's name was Declan Elijah.)  I am really glad we stopped to see them, and I know that we will always stay in touch with them and their new family.

We went to stay in Preston that night and went down to the Logan temple the next morning in another big snowstorm.  In fact, our gutless rental van didn't make it up one hill and then we got lost, which was embarrassing since we lived in Cache Valley for so many years!  We finally made it there about 25 minutes late and were able to have Declan sealed to our family for all eternity.  It was a very sacred, special day for our little family.

Look at that snow!!  The lady who was helping with the kids in the Youth Center asked them if they wanted to be in white, too, and they said yes.  It was breathtaking to see them come into the sealing room looking so beautiful.  (Sam later whispered to me, "Mom, me even wearing white underwear!)

Afterwards we were supposed to back to Preston for lunch at my parents' house, but the weather was too bad for those who were heading south afterwards so we ended up having lunch together at Juniper Take Out.  

It was another wonderful day and we were blessed to share it with so many members of our family.