"Readoption Day"

Today we "readopted" Kamdynn in the State of Washington! She was legally ours and officially adopted in China on her Gotcha Day (July 26, 2010), so this was not something that we HAD to do. This is something we CHOSE to do, so that she could have a Washington birth certificate...making our lives (and hers) a lot easier when asked for a birth certificate for any reason.
One of the neatest things about today, was sharing it with the Weldon Family! We met Chris and Debby in China while adopting our girls. Charis and Kamdynn are just a few weeks apart in age (although you wouldn't know it by looking at them...Kamdynn is much bigger). We have grown to not only love Chris, Debby and Charis but also their four big kids! We are so thankful for God's timing in our adoption and that he brought our families together!
Adoptions only take place at the Juvenile court on Fridays and it was a full house with families adopting! We had arranged in advance for our families to "readopt" together and the judge was very touched by our journeys to our girls. She got teary-eyed at one point, sharing that our world is full of some incredibly sad stuff, but once in awhile people like the Hamptons and the Weldons come along and make it a better place. She called our family "Team Hampton" and their family "Team Weldon" and I think that is our new nicknames for each other! When all of the "formal" stuff was done, Judge Foley gave each of the kids a cookie and was so patient through all of our pictures! Her huge heart was very evident and I'm so grateful that there are people like her in the court system. She said, "Adoption Fridays" are her favorite day of the week...I can only imagine what she sees throughout the rest of a week.
We finished our day with a trip to the zoo and a BBQ at our house with "Team Weldon!" We truly couldn't have asked for a better day!