She has always been ours in God's eyes but now it is official in the eyes of the United States government.
We went to the Family court in Monterey Park for a 10:15 am court appearance and had to wait until almost 11. There some other families ahead of us and the judge did not start on time. This was OK because Grace had time to run and play in the large waiting area with many other families and parents. She even got to color a butterfly and play with feathers that were there as activities for the children. They really try to make it pleasant for the kids as we all wait.
Unfortunately, not all the families were there for happy reasons like completing adoptions. There were some dealing with divorce issues regarding their children and visitation. Sad to see that on such a happy occasion for our family. It just helps us recognize how blessed we are as a family...and how blessed I am to have such a fantastic wife and wonderful daughter!
We went into the court room which we were told would be informal. The judge and everyone were very nice. Grace was a bit scard and clung to either Phuong or I. She really did not understand what was going on and who all these strange people were. You can see it in her face in the photo below :)
The judge seemed to be very interested in Phuong's ethnicity and tried speaking Chinese. The only thing is that Phuong does not speak Chinese :)
We were able to film the proceedings and take some photos. Overall it was a great experience and nice to complete a process that has taken over 4 years and almost a year to the day that Grace was put into our arms for the first time!
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