Anyway, somehow we made it through that night and got to their hotel the next morning to pick them up. We chatted again in the lobby of their hotel a little right when we got there. I was expecting there to be some sort of formal announcement one of them would give us about what decision they'd made. But instead they just started talking about things like it was already all set that we'd be adopting their baby. The caseworker and birthmom were talking about how she had a doctor's appointment the following day, and that she was planning on setting up a date to get induced, so they would be able to give us more details on when we'd need to come up for the birth. The caseworker was telling us who we'd need to send a copy of our homestudy to, and some of the other legal details we'd probably need to deal with soon. I looked at Collin and we were both just like, OK! I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I felt like I had been way overreacting worrying so much the night before!
So after that little chat, we all loaded into our Explorer (thank goodness we still have that thing--6 adults plus Ashlyn took up every seat, plus their luggage in the back!) and took them to see Shoshone Falls. They all loved it. It really was better than I remember from last time we went, which was years ago. Then again, everything from that day is a pretty rosy memory! We hung out at the falls for about 30 minutes, and then let them pick where we'd take them to lunch. They both had some fond memories of Golden Corral, so that was the choice! Worked out great, low pressure and easy to please everyone. We had a great, great lunch together. by that point I felt like we were spending time with old friends. I can't explain how amazing Elan's birthparents are. His birthmom is so articulate in describing her feelings, I've never met anyone that does it so well. His birthdad is head over heels in love with her, and supports her in everything. They have both had a lot of rocky roads in their past, and as they told us more about their lives, my heart went out to them. I wanted to take all that away. People who stand up and make such tough decisions like this should get more blessings! I'm hoping they are being blessed for all they've done for Elan. Anyway, we had some emotional minutes during lunch and it was another sacred time we'll never forget. They told us that yes, they were 100% decided on us as the family for this baby. They were so relieved and happy, we could see it and they kept reminding us of it! I wish I had a way to bottle up the wonderful feelings that were there during all of this, to keep and relive over and over. It was so priceless.
Eventually we had to head out to get them to the Twin Falls airport. (side note: Smallest airport I've ever seen. yikes.) As we were dropping them off, we were able to hug. I didn't want to let go of Elan's birthmom. That is probably one of the best hugs I have ever had in my life. We both had tears in our eyes as we pulled away. It was amazing the bond I already felt with her. It was hard to see them go, but we also had a lot of excitement and hope in our hearts. A cute little side note is that when we got back in the car (without those other 4 people), Ashlyn asked where they were, and when we explained that they were flying home, she got so upset and started crying. In the short time we had spent with them, even she had felt a bond with them and was sad that they were gone.
So, fast forward to the next day, I chatted with the "real" caseworker (who hadn't been able to come, but had sent those other 2 in her place), who told us that she had met with the birthparents and they had told her that their decision was 100% made and that they felt really good about it. I wasn't hesitant to tell her we felt the same, and were ecstatic! I found out that Elan's birthmom had been scheduled to be induced on March 6. We had about 3 and a half weeks!
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