A day with Gramma

All too often I talk about the hard parts of adoption; the wait, the loss, the paperwork but there is a flip side to all that hard stuff.  

There's the redemption.

The beauty.

It causes tears to prick my eyes when I think of all the goodness adoption has brought into our family.

We will be forever grateful for the relationship Gabriel has with his birth family.  Gabe, who is usually hesitant around people he doesn't see on a very regular (weekly) basis, has absolutely no reservations when he's with them.  While he doesn't grasp the terms adoption and birth family, he seems to have innate knowledge that they are his family and that they love him deeply.  

Spending time with Gramma brings Gabe (and me) so much joy.  They love each other so much and have such a sweet relationship.  Gramma is also so much fun!  She'll do things like stand in front of the water spitting dinosaur for as long as Gabe wants or hold his hand while he walks around until his legs shake.  This mama will only stand in the range of the dinosaur spitting water for like 3 times before we move on to the next exhibit. Ha!  

A few weeks ago we were able to spend the whole day at the zoo with Gramma.  I know it seems like we go to the zoo a lot.  It's true, we do.  We definitely get our membership worth of visits!  

A little blurry but these are the types of smiles they share.

"long neck brachiosaurus"

Getting sprayed by the baby dinosaur.

Birth family, first family... whatever you call it, they're family and we are so blessed to call them ours.