Michigan - The Second Visit - Getting Custody of Jack

We awoke at 4:30am on 17.February.2006 to get to Hartsfield to standby for our Delta flight to Detroit. We got on the plane and landed in Detroit in - you guessed it - a snow storm. Oh, joy.

We got in our Hertz rental car - again with the very excellent Never Lost GPS system - and went to see Jack at his pre-school. We got there as the class was making a bowl of Jell-o. I am still not sure why they were making Jell-o, but they were and it was very blue. We were not around when it was finished. Drat. Jack was glad to see us and we were so very glad to see Jack.

This was a serious time, however. The people in Michigan sent a few belongings with Jack to preschool in a small bag. He had nothing to speak of. We were also waiting to hear back from our doctor about the results of the medical tests that the Judge had ordered be done for Jack. We had a hard deadline.

We departed the preschool with Jack and headed to the adoption office - where we were to sign the papers accepting custody. I should say that the court hearing was taking place as we were picking Jack up from pre-school. We still have not heard from our doctor to clear the medical report. We were a bit concerned.

Our most excellent Never Lost GPS system is directing us straight to the adoption office. Our cell phone is very quiet. We have called and pleaded that we really needed to talk to the doctor. The doctor was at a meeting but was, we were assured, in possession of the documents, aware of our deadline and going to call us.

As we pulled into the parking space at the adoption office, the phone rang. It was our doctor. She reported that all the medical tests were appropriate and she cleared Jack medically. God is real.

Kat, Jack and I went in the office and we signed the papers accepting custody of Jack. All we needed now was to get ICPC federal clearance to travel with Jack across state lines.

In other words, we had an unexpected vacation in freezing Michigan. It was not Miami or Los Angeles, but Kat and I would not have traded it for any place in the world.

To celebrate our accepting custody of Jack we did two things: got some burgers at White Castle and headed to Wal-Mart to get jack some good shoes, cloths and toys. It was a blast.

The Week Between the First and Second Visit

Kat and I were absolutely in a state of euphoria tempered with a healthy dose of complete nervousness. We were both full of energy and exhausted at the same time. It was an amazing time.

First, let me just say that there was, for some strange reason, a lot of cleaning assigned to me around the house. I was, this one time, glad to do it.

Second, Kat had a very important client in town. I should put in perspective an important aspect to this adventure: I work at the Georgia General Assembly. They were in Session during this time. Kat works for a government affairs firm. Both Kat and I were at the busiest time of the year in our professions. It is never easy!

Third, I had to balance work at the Session with dealing with the lawyers, adoption people (in three states), doctors and several other folks with various aspects of this opportunity.

Fourth, We both realized it was Valentines Day. Our gift to each other was to decide to visit Jack again the next weekend. We had been told the process might take a month or longer before we got custody but that we should visit Jack in Michigan as often as we could. A visit was planned for the next weekend. As the President's Day holiday fell on the following Monday (and the Georgia General Assembly would not be Session)there was an opportunity for a longer visit. I got permission to take the Friday off. So we were going up for what we thought was a four day visit. Little did we know...how fast life can change...

As legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Larry Munson, would say... Get the Picture:

It is Thursday afternoon 16.February.2006 at 4:30pm. The Georgia General assembly is in Session. Kat and I are as busy, in a professional sense, as we are at any time during the year. We get a call at 4:30pm from the adoption lady in Michigan - the great news: the Judge had an emergency hearing regarding Jack and based on the evidence decided to grant us immediate custody of Jack. The hearing was the next day. We would need to be prepared to stay in Michigan up to two weeks to clear all the necessary legal requirements to travel out of the state of Michigan with Jack. The bad news: Did I mention the Georgia General Assembly was in Session?

Our flight was early Friday morning. It is now after 4:30pm on Thursday. I had to rush and ask, inform, beg and, in general, plead with my immediate boss and the staff of the Senator in charge of the Senate to allow me this time. Or, so I thought. I mean, I was nervous and scared. Time off is not heard of during Session. I felt pretty bad asking. Let me say, that both my immediate boss and the Senator and his senior staff could not possibly have been more supportive. They were beyond fantastic. Kat and I will forever appreciate them for their kindness to us in giving us all the time we would need and their complete support. Kat also had to tell her boss. It was a real burden on that person and they were likewise supportive and we also thank her.

OK, after several more hours changing all the reservations from a four day visit to a, "we have no idea how long we will need the hotel room, rental car, etc" round of phone calls and having repack for a longer visit and imposing on our family to watch the house and dog for a longer time - I think we were set for a our second visit.

See - piece o' cake..nothing difficult here. Oh, did I mention the weather forecast for Michigan during our visit called for intense snow...can someone explain why Jack was not from say Miami or Los Angeles...

More Photos From the First Visit to Michigan

Kat and Jack at the Ann Arbor Kids Hands on Museum - a new type of travel for Kat & Jeff - we all had a blast.



Kat and Jack at the world's best food store - Trader Joe's, this one in Ann Arbor - visit their website - if there is one ner you or where you are going to travel go to the store.

The First Meeting

Kat and I were at an Atlanta Hawks game on 7.February.2006. Kat asked me if I had read an e-mail from our friend Chris Kramer regarding a child available for adoption. I said no, I had not seen it. Then, as we were just standing around at the Team Georgia booth, we called Chris. Chris and her husband had already adopted one child from The Peoples Republic of China and were in the process of adopting their second child. Chris told us we called just in time. She immediately e-mailed the adoption agent and told her we were, in fact, very interested.

We called the adoption lady the next morning. She told us all about this boy from the Peoples Republic of China who was five, in Ann Arbor, Michigan with a family who decided a change was necessary. We received e-mail photos, medical reports, social worker reports, a ton of information.

It turns out that I spent the entire next two and one half days on the phone with three adoption agents, finding an attorney, talking to doctors, making travel arrangements and all kinds of other necessary matters.

Kat and I spent a lot of time negotiating how much time we would have to reach a decision. It was a tough negotiation but it was agreed we could have until about 10:00am the following Tuesday morning.

Kat and I went to Hartsfield Airport on Friday night 10.February.2006. We were flying standby on Delta to Detroit, Michigan. The one flight was wide open and we were to have no problems getting seats.

Then the one Northwest Airlines flight from Atlanta to Detroit had equipment trouble! Just great.

You guessed it. We got bumped off the flight.

Kat was very upset. Truth be told, I was also. We wondered if this was a sign from God. After checking, we determined there was no way to get even to close to Detroit that night, we would have to try again the next day.

We did. We arrived in Detroit, got in our Hertz rental car with the most excellent Never Lost navigation system and went to meet this boy.

We were nervous, excited, scared, thankful, and did I mention nervous and excited...

We went to the house were this boy was. We saw him for the first time. He was pretty shy and not quite sure what to make of us, I suspect. Kat had gotten him and the other boy in the house some toys - that really helped break the ice.

After about 25 minutes the three of us departed the house. It was really snowing pretty hard. Perfect weather to go off with a child. But we did. We went to Briarwood Mall. When we got out of the car, the first bonding took place. We swung this boy between us and he loved it. We did it, at his request, many times.

Our first stop was Marshall Fields, we went to Sears, J. Crew and several other stores including a play area and we had our first meal together - yes, it was Chinese food!

We then went to the local Trader Joe's - the best food store in the world. That was a real treat for us.

Two things happened on this outing. We called the adoption lady and told her we did not need to wait until Tuesday morning - God had just introduced us to our son. We also named him - Jack.

It was snowing, very hard, it was freezing, literally. We knew we had a son. What a beautiful day.

Introduction

Better late than never - Kat and I are so blessed to have Jack. For those of you interested, we are going to post the amazing story of Jack's arrival into our life. The story of how we became a forever family. We will also post other stories of Jack's adventures. There will, of course, be plenty of photos. Enjoy! A special thanks to one of Jack's godfather's, Gabe Winslow, for telling us about this blog site and helping us create it!!!