Lost, But Holding Hands

It's Gotcha Day y'all!  We will do our best to update throughout our adventure today! Last night we stayed up late to decorate!  We wanted Ryan to know that it was a special day as soon as he woke up! We woke up like it was Christmas morning and waited anxiously until an appropriate time to wake him up- there's a change of pace! Update: First stop of the day is breakfast at one of our favorite brunch places-First Watch!  Update: After breakfast we ventured to Build-a-Bear. We wanted Ryan to have something tangible to help him remember the day! Update: After it was all official we decided to venture to Sea Life Aquarium.  We ended the day with a great dinner surrounded by the people who helped make this last year enjoyable and survivable.  We do not overlook how blessed we truly are.   

Have you noticed that after you buy a new car or a new pair of shoes (or pretty much anything)- you start to notice others like it  everywhere ?  After I bought my Mazda, I started to see identical cars all over.  It seemed like my little car was at every red light, in every parking lot, on every highway.  I am sure there were just as many before...I never noticed.  Now I do.  Why is that? For me, it's the same way with foster parenting and adoption.  Before Ryan, it was easy for me to ignore the estimated 153,000,000 orphans worldwide.  That's right- 153 MILLION parent-less children.  That's astounding.  It's frustrating.  It's incredibly sad.  In the last year, I have encountered more families created through adoption than I ever had before.  Is it because I am more aware?  Is it because it's becoming more prevalent?  I'm not sure. Every August, during back-to-school week the school district I am a part of ...