Adoption

As most of you know in April 2006 Jeremiah and I filed for termination of Robert's parental rights and the adoption of Triston by Jeremiah. The roller coaster started by learning we would have to locate Robert to have the case moved to our county. This proved to be difficult because even his parents had not seen him in over a year.

In September 2006 we discovered that Robert had been using my identity to buy a car, boat and open several checking accounts. Although this was devastating to my credit, it allowed us to track him down and serve him in jail when he was arrested. Trust me when I say that I did not see this all as God's plan until now when I can look back on the whole picture.

Finally, in October 2006 the case was moved to our county and we got on a bigger roller coaster. In December 2006 we had a social worker come to our house to interview myself, Jeremiah and Triston. We also had some of our close friends and family interviewed which is all part of an adoption. In January 2007 we were informed that we could finalized the adoption by default because Robert had not filed an answer. We were ecstatic! But this was a short lived triumph. The day before the hearing we were let down by the news that Robert had filed an answer with the wrong court. This was truly devastating to our hopes. We then started preparing ourselves for what we expected to be a long drawn out battle with Robert.

We arrived at court in May 2007 with the impression that all would end only to have Robert not show and no questions answered except that we had to go to mediation and we had a final court date of July 23rd. We went to mediation on July 3rd and spent 4 hours talking to a mediator and hearing requests made by Robert but again nothing was resolved. After this we started gathering any proof of our parenting and lack of involvement from Robert. We had 6 witnesses prepared to testify and multitudes of evidence to present to the judge. We arrived at court on July 23rd surrounded by our family and friends. Obviously we were nervous as to what this day would bring. We sat and waited till 9am. We then learned that Robert had not arrived but we would have to wait until 9:30 to give him more time to show. At 9:20 his attorney received a call. Robert had decided that since Jeremiah had been the only father Triston had known that it was in Triston's best interest to relinquish his rights as a father. Finally!! We were beyond thrilled! I watched as Jeremiah's eye filled with tears. We felt this tremendous weight being lifted off our hearts. We sat and waited for the judge to come out to proceed with the adoption. Judge Wells invited Triston to sit with her while we answered questions for court record. She was awesome! She chatted with Triston and joked with us and made this a great experience to remember. She asked Jeremiah if he would love Triston for the rest of his life. Jeremiah, along with everyone else, started crying when he answered "yes". She let us take pictures of the proceedings and with her after it was final. She also gave Triston a pencil that looks like gabble. A treasure we will cherish forever! We want to thank everyone for your love, prayers and support. Triston is proud of his new name.

Love & God Bless, Our Family