Collin's Adoption Day ( And a Whole Lot of Pictures!!!)

Collin with my Mom and his DCFS caseworker Stephanie

The ironic part about the foster care system is that technology seems to much more advanced than their policy. Around the end of September, when I thought we were only two weeks away from Collin's finalization, they finally implemented a policy that we could not use Collin's name or picture on Facebook or in posts that are not private. I was not about to go back and take out every picture of Collin and look for every time Collin's name was used. So it is SOOOOO nice to be able to freely use Collin's name and post any picture of Collin that we want.

Our wonderful lawyer

Yesterday was AMAZING. We had some minor bumps, but no major roadblocks. It seems that when we went to finalize, we were not actually on the docket, nor did the judge have the file that was supposedly faxed over prior to yesterday's finalization.

Collin with my Mom

Collin with Stephanie

Our smiley boy 9and oh yes, I love saying he is mine without any doubts or other thoughts of him not actually being ours.

Three generations. And the second Gourley to carry on the name (the first was Ryker!)

The two Grandpas with our smiley guy!
We had wonderful family that came to support us. It was very last minute and we were so grateful that all that could be there were. Collin was so good while we waited, although, I'm not sure he was ever at a lack for attention.

Collin with his best bud. Tatum is exactly to the day, two months older than Collin, but Collin seems to weigh more.

The two crazy boys.

They love to chill and play. Pretty much just chillax together.

But man did we have the best judge. She was amazing! She got everything taken care of, and although we waited about an hour, she made everything happen. Being in court this time was so different, and just really a better experience all around. The courtroom was BEAUTIFUL and even had windows. The three times we went to court in southern Utah, we left all three times with empty arms and tears in our eyes, and had to leave with a prayer Collin would someday come home. Our

This time was empowering, even spiritual and a beautiful proceeding. I always thought that a finalization was just the signing of some paper work, but it is so much more. Our DCFS caseworker took the stand and told the judge why she thought that we should be Collin's parents. Talk about something that is uplifting: having a DCFS caseworker talk about how wonderful you are to your child/children. Mike and I also had to testify. We testified of our love for Collin. Mike's words were so moving. Collin kept looking at his family that were sitting in the gallery, and just kept chuckling at them.

The case before ours was sad. I will not go into specifics, but since Collin was a ward of the state, we had our proceedings taken care of through the juvenile court. These are the happy days, the days that make their days. Judge Bezzelle even has a stuffed animal for each child that is adopted. I have never met a warmer person. I mean really, what judge do you know that hugs those that come into her court room. She was such a sweetheart!

Our caseworker has been fantastic. She also is such a warm and loving person, and I will miss having the monthly interactions with her!!!

Our caseworker with Collin's Guardian ad litem

Chillin in the court room
After we were finished with court, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Nothing like some yummy carbs from Olive Garden to make a person extra happy. We took Collin home after, to lay him down for a much needed nap, and to wash his drooly clothes before the temple (the beauty of teething!!!)
The temple was wonderful. Just the grounds invite such peace, but when you go in, the peace just seeps into every part of your body and spirit. Collin was so well behaved. I'm not even joking when I say that he was a perfect angel. I'm not sure the cute ladies in the youth center (they watched and played with Collin and even got him changed and dressed) would have taken him home. He was just being such a sweetheart. It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. Afterwards, we went back to Mike's parents to celebrate and eat!

Jason and cute Morgan

Collin loves kids. He especially loves his cousins. Morgan fascinates him. She also makes him bust up giggling, something I hopefully will get on tape someday.

Aunt Millie with Xander-bander

This was one of the coolest parts of our day. When my best friend came over, her husband hauled in this hugely wrapped present. I was intrigues as to what it was, but Mike was getting the pizza we had ordered. Once he got back, we opened it up. I was amazed as I started to see part by part of it. This picture below is the best picture, so if you double click, you can see it better. It was drawn by Abby's sister-in-law, and than lovingly framed and matted by so many others of our loved ones (apparently there was a secret facebook group even!)

It had Ryker's picture in the upper left hand corner, with Lilly's picture in the upper right. Mike. Collin, and I were in the lower part. It was the most beautiful and touching thing. We love it!!!

This was my after shocked face!!!

It was such a long day, but Collin still managed a tired smile.

Our niece Morgan admiring her cousin who were both born the same day.

My Mom brought a cake to honor our happy guy, who looked more than happy to
just dig into that cake.

This is Courtney. This is Collin's second mom. She loves him so much, and really can not get enough of him. When we came back from Mexico, he would not go to me for a few minutes: he just clung to her.

This is Courtney, Karl, and Collin

Collin, Aunt Lindsey, and Uncle Jamie

Cut Collin and Aunt Millie
It was a long and wonderful day. We are so happy to have spent our first day with Collin actually being ours. Our doctor's office called yesterday to ask what Collin's actual last name was. I told her " it is Gourley, and has been for only about an hour!" That felt very good! I will post pictures of us in the traditional white garb, so more pictures to come. We love our little guy and we know too that Lilly and Ryker love him, and made sure he became part of our forever family. We love and adore our kids. And this little guy just lights up our life. What a great day.