Good Friday

On Friday, we finalized Niranjana's adoption in Benton County Superior Court. Thanks to family, friends and a really cool judge, it was a great day.

All the grandparents were able to make it to town, and we got everybody to the courthouse early (a bit of a miracle in our families). Aunt Rain and Uncle Alan were there for us, as were the Bailey-Rods. As a special treat, a strong contingent from WSU Tri-Cities was in attendance (including Melissa's boss and her boss's boss, the chancellor), as was my boss, the publisher of the Tri-City Herald.

We had a few minutes to wait outside the courtroom as another proceeding occurred, giving Niranjana and Cate time to run around and be generally cute. Niranjana even managed to let a helium-filled butterfly mylar balloon go to the ceiling, which ultimately was retrieved by maintenance (thanks to the intervention of our attorney, Coke Roth).

Once inside the courtroom, Niranjana went all shy during the seven-minute proceedings. We were sworn in by Judge Carrie Runge, then we had to answer a few questions before her honor signed the order finalizing the adoption. As a special treat, Judge Runge gave Niranjana a teddy bear.

Everybody involved (including the bailiff) signed The Golden Egg, a children's Easter book brought by Grandma O'Neil, and we were done. Just like that, she's legally ours.