It's Official (officially)

August 3, 2010 was a big day for our family. It was Luci May Rediet's re-adoption day. The day we became "official" in the state of Nebraska and she received a Nebraska birth certificate. It is different in each state and I really didn't know what to expect. I knew it was an important day, but not a huge deal since she has been legally ours for over a year now.

I had planned on us wearing khaki's, polo's and casual skirts until Tate asked if he could wear his suit. Then he asked if Bill would wear his suit and suddenly we looked like we were headed to a big event. It turns out that we were. The first person who saw us asked if we were getting married. Nope. That was taken care of a long time ago. I thought we would walk into an office and sign a few papers. Then a judge would sign a few papers. Then would take a picture and leave. But that's not the way it was.

We were actually early, so we took a few pix to pass the time...

(looking at the Capitol)

(Tate has perfected the "I'm annoyed with your picture-taking" look)

(Jack has perfected the "I'm a charming little rascal" look)

(Lulu saw the boys posing for the pix above and insisted on doing the same pose)

(Look who found his littlest Cinderella)

Then we met the lawyer and walked into a real, live courtroom. The first thing our lawyer said was "Your honor, I would like the court to note that this is the most nicely dressed sibling set I have ever seen." Good call on wardrobe, Tate. Then she told me to take the stand to testify. Testify? WHAT?! We had no idea this was part of the deal.

She asked me some basic questions about Rediet's background and then she asked me to tell the court about the relationship between our biological children and Luci. I got a bit choked up as I described the love between them. She then asked me to talk about my relationship with Luci May. At that point, it was providential that the court keeps kleenex on the stand because I was overcome with emotion. After I answered all of her questions the Judge asked "Do you love her?" I had to laugh and repeated his question incredulously. "Do I love her?!" More tears and then an emphatic "YES!"

Then it was Bill's turn. The lawyer asked him what motivated us to adopt and he got to articulate our foundation being our own adoption by God through faith in Christ. Then came the pronouncement and signing of the official documents. And it was official. Again. After the judge left, our lawyer asked to pray with us. So we gathered around Lulu in that court room and prayed together which was the perfect ending to a beautiful experience...
We were not prepared to answer any questions today. We thought we would be in and out. No big deal. Instead, we testified in court for the first time. And what we testified to was the deep love we have for our daughter and we committed to raise her to the best of our ability. We were in a government building not a church, but we were standing on holy ground. It felt like a very, very big deal.
Because being a family is a big deal. A very, very big deal.