Finaliazation

A few days ago we got a phone call from our attorney's assistant about when they would expect finalization to occur. We've really just been speculating because all my research on the internet told me that it would be six months from TPR's (termination of parental rights) which was February 8th. And then our caseworker told us that he was pretty sure it would be six months from when we took Kylie home from the hospital on October 28th.

So I spoke with our attorney's assistant and actually the placement that happened shortly after she was born was technically called "temporary placement" and the TPR's being signed on 2/8/08 is considered "formal placement". So technically finalization should happen sometime in August but there is a good chance that it may happen in May. In two months when we do our third and final agency supervisory visit they are going to submit that paperwork to the court with an attached petition for immediate finalization. So it will be up to the judge to decide if he'll be nice and sign it since we've had her so long. If he doesn't and is a stickler from it being six months from formal placement it will happen in August. As practically everything about this adoption has been abnormal, the State of Michigan will be doing our finalization. Usually finalization always happens in state of the adoptive parents. It's kind of nice because we won't have to hire an attorney in Utah to do this for us, but just one more of the oddities of the state of Michigan. At this point I don't ask questions, I just go with it. We won't have to fly out there for this, we'll just be getting a phone call tellings us congratulation's she's legally ours! Right now she's legally a ward of the state and LDSFS has legal custody of her. Once finalization happens we can have her blessed and sealed in the Temple.

But the unknown kind of puts me in a predicament for planning her sealing. Jared and I were sealed in the Manti Temple but I think this time we'd like (okay, I'd like) to have her sealed to us in the Salt Lake Temple or Jordan River. But my first choice is Salt Lake. Saturdays in the in the months of May and August are full of weddings and we won't know until last minute whether her finalization has gone through. Maybe I can arm wrestle with some brides for a time slot? So probably whatever happens it looks like I'll be getting her dress and planning the sealing and lunch afterward at last minute. I've looked forward to this for such a long time. I'm so excited that Jared and I will be able to look into our daughters eyes in the temple and know that she is ours forever. It will be a beautiful day.