Happy Gotcha Day!!

Five years ago today (actually August 16...I wrote this last night to quickly post today!) Daryle and I were in court in Blagoveshchensk, Russia convincing the judge that we would be good parents for Travis. It was a long court hearing, a little over two hours. Finally, at 11:18 am the judge came back with her decision that we were officially being named his mom and dad. What an emotional moment that was as it took over ten months for the judge to invite us for court. In those days we only had to go on one trip, thank goodness. We got the referral on Oct. 2, 2003 but didn't have court until Aug. 16, 2004. It was an incredibly long, emotional and stressful journey. In the end it was all worth it! Travis has completely caught up to his peers in every way. When we brought him home at 16 months he weighed 15 1/2 pounds and 28 inches long. You could feel his spine sticking out down his back and you could see and feel his little ribs. He was so much smaller than children his own age, we just hoped that some day he would grow! Well, today he blends right in with all the other First Graders on the playground. He is doing well academically and socially. We are so proud of how well he has done over the past 5 years and we look forward to a lifetime of memories in the future. Happy Gotcha Day Travis, we love you so much!!

Here is that one referral picture we carried around with us for those long 10 months!

Here is Travis today, now he can add the title of Big Brother to his list of accomplishments.