Nine years ago...

...during the coldest November in history, we stood in a courtroom in Vologda, Russia, and promised to love little Dmitri Alexandrovich Kosarev forever, whether he loved us or not. A stern looking judge took a long time reading out a hand-written judgment which finally said that we could be the parents of Jefferson Alexander Spicer. Afterwards, the various court officials gathered around and actually smiled at us, enjoying the pictures of our home and family we had brought.

So a week and half later, after spending Thanksgiving in Moscow, we brought home a child who hadn't been prepared for us and was frightened out of his mind. We brought him home to his brother Luke, who had been prepared for his new brother, so we thought, until ten minutes into their new relationship Luke asked, "When is he going back to Russia?"

After two months of near non-stop fighting they woke up one day as best friends. They could hardly be less alike, but we always prayed they would have their own interests so that's hardly a drawback.

Nine years later, Alex has made great strides in his life, although clearly 3.5 years in a Russian orphanage was hard on him. He is the hardest worker in the family; yesterday, he spent the entire day hauling boxes of Christmas stuff from the third floor into our foyer so he and I could decorate. He even hauled many of the empty boxes back up!

He has been entertaining us lately with his plans for the future, including being a garbage man and making a house out of cardboard boxes in our front field. He's ecstatic with this plan because he is sure that he will be able to keep the garbage, especially furniture!

To celebrate his anniversary this year, Alex decided that his NiNi and PopPop should have a party for him. He asked mommy to make chicken spaghetti, bread and fruit salad, and NiNi to provide a cake. Two of his aunts came, and his other grandparents, NaNa and Grandpa Al. A fun time was had by all, especially Alex! His sisters Anna and Song were especially sweet to him this year, wrapping up a few of their toys that they know he loves and giving them to him. Luke also got into the act by making a treasure hunt filled with clues that ended in Alex finding a homemade slingshot, complete diagrams for using it!

Happy Adoption Anniversary, Alex-Gator!!