Get ready for a week of celebrations here on the blog! We have adoptions, a graduate, and a wedding all coming! Today we are celebrating the adoption finalization for the the Santacruz family. Leo and Elizabeth got married in December 2003 and knew they wanted a family, but wanted to be emotionally and financially stable before they started one.  After 5 years of marriage they were ready, but it did not work out the way they had planned.  After trying for 3 years, they learned that things don’t always happen when and the way you plan them.  Ultimately they believed that there must be reason for it, something that they didn’t know just yet.  One day Leo suggested the idea of adopting and they went for it.  They went to a Foster Care agency and learned so much about all the children just waiting to be loved.  It took them about a year to get certified and after waiting for almost 2 years for a match they were about to give up on adoption.  That’s when they were invited to a Matching Event for children open for adoption.  The event was for older children and they were looking for a child between 0 to 7 years old. They decided to give it a try. Most of the children were older or they were a part of a sibling group.  But about half way through the event everything changed, their Perfect Match arrived.  Rudy was a 2 year old boy.  When they got to spend time with him there was an instant connection.  There was only one issue, he was part of a sibling group of 3.  They were not ready to care for 3 children, so at the time they did not feel they had a chance with Rudy.  They left the event with some disappointment in their hearts.  To their surprise 3 weeks later they received an email from our social worker asking them if they were still interested in Rudy.  There was another family very interested in the 2 older boys and adopting Rudy was now a possibility for them. (You can see their adoption story here!) They said YES!  They were thrilled and then everything started to happen fast.  Rudy was supposed to come to their home for a visit during the Memorial Day long weekend, but due to some living arrangement issues, he ended up staying with them permanently.  Like every new parent, they have struggled, learned, and enjoyed every experience they’ve had throughout this past year.  Rudy has become a part of them and they cannot imagine it any other way.  Now they know why they had to wait this long to be parents.  Rudy was meant to come their lives and finally make them a family.

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