Family Man

Family Ties

Family Ties Are precious things
Woven through the years,
of laughter, love and tears.

Family ties are cherished things
forged in childhood days,
by love of parents deep and true,
by tradition, by family ways.
Family ties are treasured things
and far though we may roam,
the tender bonds with those we love
still pull our hearts toward home.

~Unknown

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY Korbin and I landed at the DFW airport and we officially began our lives as a family. We will always celebrate this "Family Day" with Korbin. It'll be a special day for us.

Many adoptive parents choose to celebrate a "Gotcha Day" (court date) or a "Family Day" (when they arrive home or take them from the orphanage). Since I was alone with Korbin for most of the Russia trip we decided that we officially became a family when we landed and finally went home.

We'll let Korbin choose his favorite restaurant and a movie (or whatever). It's Korbin's day to celebrate being with us (and vise versa). (Today we are going to get some chicken nuggets, fries, fruit and a Go Diego Go movie from Blockbuster. We'll eat dinner in front of the TV... and maybe enjoy some popcorn (a first and first))

Tomorrow we are getting family portraits taken (something I want to do every year around the "Family Day". It coud be professional or just candid.)

Side Note: I have a Don't Sweat The Small Stuff calendar on my desk. Yesterday, the message said: "I've learned that when I go to sleep at night, I never regret a single moment of time I spend with my kids."
As I am typing this, Korbin is sitting in his high chair playing with his cheerios... he is so cute. I can't believe he's only been a part of our lives for a year. It's hard to imagine our lives any other way. He's wonderful (even on the "bad" days) and I am going to miss him terribly when I start working next week. This morning we enjoyed several belly-filled laughs right after I woke him up... it's one of the small things I look forward to every day.