Adoption Day

Today Owen's adoption was finalized. It is a very exciting day for us. Legally, this is the filial equivalent of paying off a home mortgage: we were certain this day would come, but it is deeply reassuring and satisfying that IT IS DONE.


Judge Deets presided, as he did for the finalization of both Samuel and Jude's adoptions. He is a gracious and thoughtful judge. It was fun for us to hear him state for the record, "The Squires are familiar to me..." because they keep showing up in my courtroom with handsome baby boys! Merry Christmas indeed.

Selling and Buying

I am stunned. The week after Thanksgiving, we sold our house. Three days ago we bought a house in Milwaukee. Yesterday, after Ben was installed at Immanuel Lutheran Church, I took Samuel to see our new house. I generally trust that God will take care of us and things will work out eventually, but this time I'm getting the feeling that He thinks we can't handle much more stress. Everything is going as smoothly as we could possible imagine.

We expect to move during the last week of January. Jude and Owen stayed home with my mom on Sunday so that Samuel and I could focus on taking in all the new stuff: checking out the new church, driving around our new neighborhood. We are two blocks from the elementary school, a few more blocks from a large county park, and about a mile from a small airport for private planes. There are oodles of sidewalks and I am dreaming of sunny summer days spent OUTSIDE.