4 years ago on December 1, 2005 Samuel Gibbs became a U.S. citizen and was welcomed into our home and family forever.
His official adoption day is November 14 (when the courts declared us his parents) and his Gotcha day (when we picked him up from the orphanage) is November 25. I am sorry to say that I will not win my mother of the year award this year (not that I ever thought I would, ha!) because both of those days passed me by. It actually makes me want to cry and I am truly ashamed to admit that I forgot such special occasions. For the past 3 years I worked so hard to set aside a special day for Samuel and can't believe that this year I just totally let it slide. With 2 birthdays in a row, then the swine flu and pneumonia, followed by all our travels and the craziness of the holidays I just plain forgot.
So, now that I got that admission out of the way...this year we are celebrating the day we brought him home to America forever. That's a special day too, right?!
It's so hard to believe that Samuel has now been with us longer that he was without us. The day we flew home was such a special day with so much significance. After more than a month overseas, it was so nice to set foot into our house and to finally be able to lay our son in his bed. God has been so faithful to us over the past 4 years as He has given us the strength, peace, patience, and courage to parent Samuel. There are many wonderful and joyful days with our little guy...but honestly there are many hard days as well. In this season where we are again struggling (with school and behavior), we recall the amazing miraculous ways that the Lord led us perfectly and sovereignly to our son...the child we had been praying for. We hope and pray that Samuel will always know the depth of our love and more importantly the depth of His Father in heaven!
cutest little thing!!! this was right before we came home!
Welcome home!!!
our first official family photo after coming home
The difference in 4 years is amazing!!!!
Welcome home!!!
our first official family photo after coming home
The difference in 4 years is amazing!!!!
5 comments:
Rachel, this is such a sweet posts. Everytime you talk about him and tell his story, you bring tears to my eyes. What a special day I am sure that was! I was so involved in the post, I almost missed your new layout. It is super cute and I LOVE those pictures of the kids!
Such a sweet post and precious pictures! Amazing how the Lord has grown your family in four years, huh? What a blessing!
Great post. Is a blessing that you have Samuel in your life.
Wonderful memories from that day.
He has changes so much but still just as cute! He is lucky to have you and vise versa.
I like it! I had a feeling you were going to give the blog a Christmas make-over :)
Wow, four years has gone by fast! I remember showering you with books for his bookshelf before he got here, then giving him a bath one night when you and Jeff went out and he splashed bubbles all over the bathroom...oh and that first Christmas at your parents where he was more excited about everyone's wrapping paper trash and playing in the trashbag then the actual gifts. That nephew of mine sure holds a special place in this heart. :)
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