Caleb's an Andersen!

The social workers had told us that Caleb's adoption would be final by the end of June so, we planned his party for June 25th. We wanted to make sure that this party was lots of fun with everyone that has been involved in his life invited to be a part of it. Lots of people came and we had such a great time!

There were plenty of people to pass Creed around :)

We took the drums because they're his favorite thing in the world. They were a big "hit"!

But probably the biggest success of the night was the pools/water pumps. When it's the end of June, it's hard to go wrong with lots of water!

and of course there was food. From the time that we started thinking about having a big party for his adoption, my one thought was corn on the cob. Regardless of the time of year this party could have taken place, we were going to grill corn and then have a mason jar full of butter to dip the corn in. I didn't care about any of the other food, only the corn. All the other stuff was good too, smoked boston butts, potato salad, baked beans, but the CORN was where it was at!

A couple of our "posed" pics

More water fun........

There was also lots of talking and hanging out. I love this picture of Cadence, although she is probably saying something ugly to Ally because that's definitely the face that we get when she's saying something really smart-alecky

The cupcakes and cake were so good - although we forgot to cut the cake at the party, us Andersens have enjoyed it all week :)

Some of Caleb's faces throughout the afternoon

We also had cornhole and volleyball set up. They were pretty fun too.

Like I said, the water was a life saver for the littles!

This is probably my new favorite picture!

I love that Cadence is eating one cupcake and has another one in her hand. Obviously she didn't know a picture would be getting taken at this moment :)

We had so many great friends there, along with therapists, and social workers. We are so grateful for everyone who has been involved in getting Caleb to where he's at today! and recognize that we wouldn't have him at the place he is today without all these people involved with our lives. God has blessed us way beyond what we deserve!

This picture makes me laugh because, again, Cadence has her bossy face on!

Have we mentioned that the kids loved the water?

and of course the drums what Andersen boy doesn't love a drum set?

What makes this party so great is that first thing Monday morning, we got a call from our adoption social worker saying that Caleb's adoption had been finalized with the Clerk of Courts on Friday afternoon, June 24th! So, although we didn't know it at the time, this party was the perfect day to celebrate his adoption because it fell exactly the day after he actually was finalized as an Andersen! Although Caleb Shaun has been in our house - and therefore an "andersen" - basically his entire life, we're so glad to have this chapter finished.

It's still hard to believe that God has entrusted us to take care of this little man but it makes us want to work as hard as we can every day to live and teach Caleb, along with Cadence and Creed, that following Jesus is the best decision that you could ever make. Without Jesus Christ as the leader of our lives, Chris and I most definitely would not be the people/parents we are today and would probably have never taken a kid like Caleb into our home. On our own, we're way too selfish. But thankfully, the Holy Spirit has molded (or hammered) us into people that strive to be obedient and in our world, one of the best ways to show other what Jesus has done in us, is to take the Word seriously when it tells us to take care of orphans. The blessing on the back side of this one, has been way more than we could ever have imagined, but just goes to show that the God we serve can be trusted.