Adoption Day

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Today was a very special day for our family!  We finalized Kepler's adoption here in the US!  My parents made the trip out to Port Townsend to join us and it was wonderful.  It felt so good to see the judge sign the decree!  Amos and I were a bit nervous because with Kepler's 2nd birthday came the wonderful phrase, "Um....no!".  He uses it even when you ask if he wants ice cream, a puppy and a ride on a tractor.  We were worried he was going to say, "Um...no!" to the judge asking if he liked his family!  But....he didn't.  Bless his heart!  She asked him, "Do you know why you're here today?" just as his eyes caught the teddy bears lined up on the bench (for adoptions:).  He answered her question with, "A bear!".  The judge laughed and said, "Yes, that too" and handed him the bear.  When she asked if he liked his family and wanted to be with them forever he shook his head yes (which he rarely does!).  It was the sweetest thing!

In addition to our wonderful adoption week, we enjoyed Christmas and a trip up to the mountains to see Kepler's first snow!  What a fantastic way to end the year!

Immense Joy

I know it's corny to apologize for lack of timely updates every time I update my blog but I am sorry.  Life is truly moving so fast.

Kepler turned 2 this month.  In the days approaching his birthday I kept thinking of his birth mom and how she must be thinking about him and wondering about what he is like now.  She hasn't seen him in over a year.  I pray God's presence surrounds her and gives her a sense of peace.  I hope she checks on the updates we send every couple of months. The pictures of him say it all:)  We celebrated his birthday at school this year by having him walk the earth around the sun 2 times and then blowing out his two candles.  His favorite part was blowing out the candles and having his friends sing Happy Birthday!

 He hadn't really had a lot of experience with gifts until his birthday but he got the hang of it when packages started to arrive in the mail each day!  This was really cute until he decided the package that Mama just wrapped up for cousin Cora for Christmas must be a gift for him!
Daddy and Mama took Kepler to The Lights of Christmas for his family birthday celebration.  We have gone to the Lights for 3 years thinking, "Some day we'll be taking our little one here." This year was the long awaited celebration.
It's really quite sweet to meditate on God giving us His son during the first Christmas celebration with our son.  It's been wonderful to tell the Christmas story to Kepler as well.  He knows who Mary,  "Beebee" Jesus and  Joseph are and he points them out on the coffee table as he plays by the Christmas tree.
At his 2 year check up he proved what we've all suspected.  He's healthy, thriving and catching up in height, weight and brain development.  We couldn't be happier.
He's asleep next to my while I write this at work.  The fact that I am able to take him with me while I work is not being taken for granted.  He absolutely loves his school and his friends and being with his Mama.  It's the perfect package deal and I thank God every day for planting the vision of this school in my heart long ago and bringing it to be.  We are so blessed by the community that we serve.