Ella's Re-adoption

We re-adopted Ella in Port Townsend on Wednesday!  Basically, the purpose of a re-adoption is to get a US birth certificate (since we only have one birth certificate and it is in Russian;).  It all comes down to the fact that if we somehow lost her birth certificate... ummm, good luck getting another one from Russia!  Plus, there will be a time when she needs an updated birth certificate and again... good luck getting another one from Russia!  ;)  I actually didn't think we would get to this so soon, but we were given this amazing recommendation and jumped on it!  There is this woman in Port Townsend (who has adopted eleven kids plus she has five biological!) so she knows a thing or two about the re-adoption process.  Well, she decided to help out adoptive families as a ministry.  You give her the necessary information and she prepares all the paperwork for you!!  It was seriously the easiest (and most affordable) process, especially compared to the Russian dossier!  The best part was when I mailed her all of the required documents, she commented on how everything was perfectly organized and in order.  After making mistake after mistake on paperwork for Russia... because they are so darn picky... this was music to my ears!  Maybe I finally have this paperwork stuff figured out??

Court was about five minutes long, if that.  My heart couldn't help but pound as we walked into the room, as memories of our last experience in court flooded my brain.  Court in Russia is a lot more scary and intimidating, that's for sure!  This judge basically asked us if we knew we were responsible for taking care of Ella until she is 18... and if we were sure we wanted to take on that responsibility.  Ummm, really?  I'm pretty sure we already made that commitment before we left Russia?  But yes, yes we are.

Ella got a little horsie and we were on our way.

 She LOVES this little horsie.

 I mean really loves it.

 It was a gorgeous day in Port Townsend, so we hit the waterfront!

 We found this cute little ice cream shop and Adam picked a song for me on the juke box.
A juke box that really works!  For a quarter!

Trying the strawberry milkshake

 Mmmmmmm.

 I don't think we're getting the milkshake back.  ;)

 Ella has learned that it's not okay to throw toys, shoes, or pretty much anything else at home.  So when she discovered that it was okay to throw rocks in the water, she was ecstatic!!!

 She could've thrown rock after rock in the water... all day long

 Someone on the street gave Ella a flower.  We are starting to notice that little girls get a lot more attention than little boys out in public!

 Cuddling her horsie all the way home...