It's Final! 1-2-08

Happy New Year! Samuel is finally legally ours. We had our adoption finalization court date on January 2nd. It was kind of intimidating. We met with Judge Memmott and our lawyer pled our case, while our LDSFS case worker testified that it would be in Samuel's best interest to be awarded into our legal custody. (Okay, that sounds scary, it really wasn't that bad. This is just what families have to do as part of the adoption process. In fact, it was kind of fun to go and tell the judge how profoundly Samuel has impacted our lives.)

Our new, "legal" family. Samuel was darling during the testimonies. He just sat on the table facing the judge and smiling. Occasionally he would give a little happy shriek or gurggle, at which the judge would grin. He definitley melted the hearts of everyone in the courtroom.

After the official proceedings, we were given a VHS tape of it all. It's been fun to sit down and watch what happened and now we have legal proof of how much we love Samuel. Upon giving us the tape, the judge said it would be a fantastic reminder for us during Sammy's teenage years!
Before we could go home, we had to go to the records office and get some adoption decrees and order birth certificates. My sister, Heather, stayed outside in the foyer with Sammy. He just looked so cute staring through the window. We love our little "jail bird!"