finalized.

Yesterday was incredible.  We had to get up much earlier than usual to be at the Family Courthouse for our time before the judge.  Our social worker and lawyer met us there before our appointment at 8:30.  I think all was said and done by a little after 9:00!

We received Sweet P's adoption decree and officially changed her name.  If you know hers, you know the meaning of her first name describes beautifully what she is to us.  Her middle name is taken from K's grandma, a beautiful woman who loves Jesus, something we hope and pray for Sweet P.  Her second  middle name will be her given Thai name.  We want to keep that part of her heritage and honor the ones who gave her birth by keeping it.  Then, music to my mommy ears, her last name now matches ours!

To celebrate American style, we stopped to get donuts - her first! - on our way home.  Then we went for a family bike ride before naps.  I'd call that a good, good day.

Thanking the Lord for the fifth member of our family.  Blessings, angela

court date!

Yay!  Yay!  and Yay again!  Do we have some big news to share!

It has been a whirlwind of adoption stuff the last couple weeks.  We suddenly found out it would be possible to finalize Sweet P's adoption in American courts and rushed to gather all the papers and find a lawyer to make it happen before 2012.

Why? Well, 2011 tax laws grant an adoption credit of up to somewhere around $13,000.  This is entirely different from the expected change to an adoption tax deduction beginning in 2012.  The entire credit will be given back to us, so long as we spent that amount or more on specific adoption-related items... home study, background checks, lawyers, etc.  Next year we would (likely) only be allowed to deduct from the amount we pay in taxes, so long as what we owe is lower than the stated deduction amount.  How things are for our family, we don't pay anywhere near that much in taxes in a given year, so it wouldn't be as much of a benefit to us.

The excitement isn't about just having money in our pocket, but about the possibility of how we will use it!  We weren't expecting this added blessing and now we can use the credit toward adopting again.  It thrills my soul just to think about it!  ...and that it will likely happen sooner thanks to this credit.

The reason we are waiting until the absolute last minute of 2011 to get this done is because of custody laws in Nevada.  We have to reside in state for exactly six months before we are considered under Nevada's authority to deal in matters of custody.  You probably don't remember but we drove into the 110 degree heat on June 28.  We had no choice but to take this down to the wire!

We asked friends to pray with us last week that a judge would kindly squeeze us into the schedule on December 29 or 30.  Many judges are on vacation for the holidays, so this was definitely praying for a Christmas miracle.  A phone call from our lawyer's office came yesterday saying we got an appointment for Friday!  All praise to the Lord!

December 30 is a big day for Sweet P!  She will get her adoption decree and have her name officially changed to our family surname.

ugh.

I'm becoming one of those annoying bloggers who take lengthy vacations from posting and then it's too overwhelming to get back on task.  Guilty.  ... forgiven?  Pretty please?

Life has been full but blessed.  Since arriving in Vegas we've had to search out a church and decide on school for Alannah and just plain ole get involved and start growing roots.  It wasn't as easy this time around than it has been in the past, but we feel so settled and at home here.  Honestly, I love it much, much more than I ever could have imagined!

Here is my update in pictures... and then I hope to write a few more adoption posts soon that keep swirling around in my head.  Hope to see you back at the table soon!  Blessings, angela

You can see the difference in height between my "twins"... 8 months but about three or four inches difference.  

 Oh, I could just eat up the cuteness in these little cheeks!  

Occasionally we get rainy days in Vegas too, so all the little ducklings went for a walk.

 Our homeowner here gave us a weekend getaway to her vacation rental in Lake Arrowhead, California.  

 We drove back to Vegas in time to meet two very longtime family friends on the Strip for dinner.

 A stop by the Bellagio Conservatory to see the flower display is a must!

 ...and the famous chocolate fountain.

 This picture made the cut because I love the look in Peanut's eyes.  All I remember is K was having a chat with her and telling her he was proud about something.  She has such a loving respect in her eyes for her Daddy.

 K got Buddy a tee ball stand and gave it after returning from a work trip one evening.  The first thing on his mind after waking the next morning was to get outside and play... even if it was 6:34am!  Early bird gets the worm, right?

 Halloween costumes for school

 On Halloween night Buddy changed his mind and went as Handy Manny.  We had a fun evening with families from our homeschool group.