Court Day!

This afternoon we appeared with Hanna in court for our finalization hearing.    It was good to have another step behind us, even though this was totally just a formality.   Everything was in order and Judge Hoberg is wonderful in these hearings.   He just seems to love doing adoption hearings.  

The hearing was relatively uneventful except for the fact that Jerry forgot his wedding date in under oath on the witness stand (neither of us can ever remember if it was May 25th or 27...at least we both forget, right).  He got it right eventually with a bit of coaxing from our attorney.

The most beautiful thing of all is that Hanna now can have her name back.  Its official that she is no longer Hanna Gerald Shannon (which is what her immigration paperwork had to reflect) but now she is Hanna Tessema Shannon.  We are so glad to have her father's name back as part of her name (not to mention, Hanna Gerald??? what girl would want to grow up with that name).

On the way out of the courtroom we bumped into folks from Brittany's Hope Foundation who were there finalizing the adoption of a little boy from Vietnam and a girl from Albania.  It was great to hear about their foundation which has helped to fund adoptions for over 300 children who were either special needs children or older children.   We must have spent an hour sharing stories and getting to know each other.   I believe they have adopted 9 children internationally and they started the foundation in memory of their first adopted daughter Brittany who died in a car accident during her senior year in college.   They also have numerous humanitarian aid projects they support and work closely with our agency, CHSFS.   Check out their website at www.brittanyshope.org . Its an amazing story.