Gotcha Day

Today was the year anniversary of Cole's adoption finalization, the day he officially became Cole Allen Voth, his "Gotcha Day"!  We celebrated by doing some of his favorite things. 

 

We had an outing with friends to an exotic animal farm this morning.

He did great all morning with just a short nap on the drive down there.  Glad to have snacks and a pacifier to keep him happy.

Most of the kids.  I think there were around 24 of us.  We knew about half of them.  The others were friends of friends.

Cole is a fun playmate for the older kids.  They love him!  Here is Tiffany's 6yo, Ashton, playing with him.

Showing off his walking skills.  He's so proud of himself.  You will often find him beaming from ear to ear as he plods around and around.

 

We have lots of helpers

We came home from the ranch and joined some friends for lunch at the school (they have a grant that makes it free for all kids, 1-18, and $3.25 for adults).

 

After a long afternoon nap, daddy came home to play!

 

Grandma and Grandpa Voth took us out for tacos.  Cole had his favorite - a cheeseburger.

Cole has brought Grandpa Voth a book to read on multiple occasions.  I think he likes being in his lap.  And he LOVES books these days.

 

 

Then they came back to our house for chocolate sheet cake.  Yum!

I think this is the first sheet cake I've made.  Or at least the first one that turned out.  I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe.  Can't go wrong with all her butter and sugar!

 

 

We ended the evening with some swinging in the backyard and playing fetch with the dogs. 

 

As we were driving home from the ranch, Cole was a little fussy in the backseat, so I turned up the music for us to sing along to. It was his Seeds of Worship CD (which I love!) and the song at that time was so fitting. It made me cry as I belted it out. Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you he is mighty to save, he will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing, the Lord your God is with you." I told Cole the truth of this verse in light of his adoption circumstances - that God is mighty and able to save, God delights in him, will quiet him with his love, and rejoices over him with singing.  Cole will have lots of questions and uncertainty and most likely feel the loss of his birth family, but he does not have to approach or go through that alone.  The truth that God delights in him will be crucial if/when he feels that sense of abandonment from his birth family.  The Lord is with him - this will be added to my prayer for him.

 

Lots of smiles from Cole today and from friends and family that love him a lot!