this is the day we’ve been waiting for!

Better than the day the new phone books arrive, better than the last day of school, better than Ezra…

Tomorrow morning Team Sublett (and friends) will make the trek to the Centre County courthouse and Josie will officially be one of us.  I don’t know how much this will actually change things, tough.  She’s been one of us in our hearts since the day we heard about her.  Before we even knew for sure that she wanted to come live with us, we were anticipating this day.

Kim and I moved out of our bedroom, painted the walls a delightful shade of pepto-pink, and made a bed for her.  She had a place at our table.  She had a closet of her own, a space on the towel rack, and a seat in the miniature van.

She’s grown so much over the past 5 months in every aspect of life.  But the most marked area of change that we see rests just below her nose.  Josie smiles!  In fact, she’s pretty much the most joyful of the Sublett children.  I mean, they all show joy from time to time; but Josie consistently smiles.  She’s never down!  That day will probably come, and might arrive with a vengeance.  But her joy is beautiful to behold.

She’s got a rough road ahead of her.  There are multiple ear surgeries planned, starting next week.  Her language and academic skills are still behind where she needs to be.  She’s pretty bummed that she’s short.

But her joy is contagious.  Her joy overflows.  Her smile beams and lights up the room.

I don’t know what the official process will be tomorrow, if she’ll have to answer questions or swear to uphold the family honor and defend the constitution of these United States against all enemies foreign or domestic.  But all the judge is really going to do is affirm what has already taken place.

Josie is already every bit part of Team Sublett.  Tomorrow it gets inked into the annals of history.

Would you like to come party with us?  We’ll be the ones with huge grins on our faces, probably shining through our happy tears…