Happy adoption day

We didn't really know what to expect today.  We have had Victor for 8 months now and this kind of felt just like a technicality - it is not like they are going to take him back at this point.  We had been waiting quite a while for the court case to be scheduled and finally ended up calling the courthouse.  They gave us the choice of three dates so we pick Nov 14th.  November 14th is also Lara's Birthday so it will make this day even easier to remember for us. 

We were supposed to be at the courthouse at 8:30.  Victor and I are both working on getting rid of colds so it was a little early for us to get up.  My parents were able to get out of watching their other grand kids for the day and also made the trip up.  I knew where we needed to be in the courthouse but we went in a different entrance and I was totally lost.  We finally made it where we needed to go and found my parents and Karin from Hand in Hand already there waiting for us.

We had just a short wait in the waiting area before it was time to go in.  The judge said he likes to start the day with adoptions - he said adoptions and marriages are the only cases he sees where people come in happy and go out happy.  The judge then proceeded to ask a lot of questions:

Were you married Oct 27,1990

Have you had Victor since March 12, 2008

Does Victor have any mental or physical issues

Did you get any property or estate with Victor

Is there any issues with Victor being a different race

Do we agree to on religious upbringing for Victor

Are we able to provide for Victor

Do we agree to provide him with the best education

.....

I had to answer all of the questions and then at the end he just asked Lara if she agreed with me.  They were only yes or no questions so it wasn't too bad.  These are all questions that we have answered at least once before this point so nothing should really be a surprise.  Then the judge approved the adoption and said that his name is now Victor Patrick Meadows. 

It was a fun day.  I don't know if we call it adoption day or re-adoption day or what but I am sure it will be a nice memory for us.  

Dinner anyone?

Nothing to do with adoption but I thought I would put in a plug for my current project. Since I am staying home now I have a lot more time for one of my hobbies - cooking. Since I got into blogging here I thought I would start a cooking blog. I am trying to post something at least once a week so if you want to see what Lara and I are having for dinner check it out here:

A Cooking Dad
http://acookingdad.blogspot.com

Check it out and subscribe to get future updates.

Happy Halloween

Victors first Halloween - isn't he cute. It was a warm night for Minnesota (in the 50s) so we were able to go out without too many layers. We made it trick or treating to a total of three houses and Victor enjoyed playing with his candy when he got back.

We also got some good news yesterday. We were wondering how long it was supposed to take to get our court date. We called Karin - our adoption agency person - and she said that we should have gotten it by now. She gave us a number of someone to call in Anoka County. When we called them they scheduled the court date right over the phone. If all goes as planned Victor will become an "official' adopted and re-adopted US citizen on November 14th - same day as Lara's birthday.