You Bradley fans have been very patient with my lack of posting and your patience is soon to be rewarded. We've had a busy month, but that means lots of blogging to show what we've been doing!
So here goes.
On Thur. July 29, we finalized the adoption and were sealed to Brad! In the morning we went to the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown, Texas. We ended up being the first case of the day. The judge sat down at the bench and said, "We're going to start this day off right with an adoption!" Sammie and I stood in front of him and gave testimony that everything thus far had been done legally and according to correct procedures. We also testified that we loved him and that we understand the adoption was forever and that we would always do our best to take care of him. Sammie was tearful during his testimony. I held up okay until I walked out of the courtroom, then I cried hard. The judge pronounced the adoption final and the baby's official name (they hadn't referred to him by name yet) as Bradley Samuel Markham. The whole courtroom cheered!
The judge, our amazingly wonderfully awesome lawyer, and the happy family!
In front of the courthouse with Mom and Jennie Boyer
We went home to put the now-officially-named-Brad to bed. Sammie realized on the way home that we wouldn't make it to San Antonio that evening on our tires so he went to Sears and got new tires. We dropped the "A" word ("we have be in San Antonio this evening because we Adopted our son today...") and got some pretty quick service.
Mom and Dad Markham, plus Sammie's brothers Dave and Jeff and sister-in-law Carolyn met us in San Antonio. My brother Joe was also there. He flew in with Mom and Jennie the day before, but wasn't at the courthouse. The sealing ceremony in the San Antonio temple went quickly. Boo was perfect--he even had the hiccups! I barely had time to soak it all in and focus on what was happening. Afterwards, we took some pictures outside.
