I Had to Share

I just received an email from my social worker at the Youth Ranch. She met with Will's dad, and I've been a little freaked out by what he might say or do. Here's what happened:

Hi PandasJr: I met with Will's birth dad today. He asked me to
pass on to the family caring for Will (I didn’t state your name, although it’s
in the Petition he received) that he appreciates you caring for him and thanks
you for all that you are doing for him. He expressed that he is not going
to contest the petition to terminate his parental rights as he wants what is
best for Will and he cannot provide a stable environment for him at this time or
in the next couple of years (all of this will be detailed in the report).
He said that if Will's mom is okay with the adoption and Will is in a stable
home, then he is not going to contest. He really would like to have some sort of
contact with Will, such as pictures, letters on how he is doing, etc. He
said that he would like to have some form of contact with the adoptive family
regarding updates on Will and he would like to write you a thank you
letter.

I guess I was even more worried about this than I thought I was, because this made me cry. I've never met Will's dad, and don't really know a whole lot about him. I didn't know what to expect. I had to share this, it's very special!

Where Does the Time Go?

Gosh, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted anything. I've gotten real busy at work, and I don't have a computer at home anymore, so it's been tough getting here. I decided today I needed to show some attention before I lose what few readers I have!!

Well, tomorrow is the day. We are finally going to finalize Annie's adoption tomorrow. It's like a dream, still very unreal. This has been a long time coming - about6 years now. I honestly began to think we'd never see the day. She and I are both very excited. We will be wearing a pretty bright blue color. (It has become a tradition in my family to have color themes for my adoptions.)

I have stackable mother's rings for all my adopted kids. They have the birthstone, the child's name, and the date of adoption on them. A few years ago the jewelry store was having a fantastic sale, and I knew I'd be adopting Cami and Annie in the future, so I asked if we bought the rings then, would we be able to bring them back later to have the date engraved on them. The said of course. Well, I went last week to have Annie's date engraved and was very rudely told that they won't do it, and reminded a number of times how long it's been since I bought the ring, as if I committed some sort of jewelry fashion crime. I've been to engravers and other jewelry stores trying to get someone to engrave the date for me, and nobody will. I'm so irritated by this. The other problem I'm having is that I was told they would always have this ring style, and now they don't have it anymore, so I have to find a different, yet similar style, to get rings for Will, Cindy, and Andrew (my 2-year-old). Why can't things ever just simply work out smoothly for me?

Speaking of...Will's adoption has also been scheduled. Yup, my attorney scheduled court for June 7th...WOO HOO! However, I just learned that a lengthy court report has to be written up by the Idaho Youth Ranch indicating a recommendation for termination of parental rights for two reasons. (This is reasonable, just that it came up late in the game and may push our court date back.) The first reason is that his birth mom has never made it over to our county courthouse with her lawyer to sign consent for termination in front of a judge. The second is that they are going to terminate the dad's rights based on abandonment because he's never had contact, and right now he's incarcerated in another county and can't go before our judge. This is going to take time, but I don't know how much. I'm a little bummed, because I already planned a celebration BBQ for the weekend after Will's adoption to celebrate both adoptions with friends and family. But no worries, I'll just have to change that. I'm also bummed because I already bought a plane ticket for Cami to be here for his adoption, and now it may not happen while she's here. See, not smooth and simple. OH well, I guess as long as it works out in the end!

Thanks for reading, I'll try to get back again soon!