[kzwief]

Hey Everyone! It is hard to believe that this Sunday Katelyn will have been with us an entire year! I am looking for suggestions on how to mark this day. Can you tell me what you do on your Forever Family Day?

Still praying for all of you in process. My heart goes out to all of you.

[BeverlyZ]

10/29 was our Family Day, 10/31 was Embassy Day, and 11/3 was his Citizenship Day. We talk about the week's events all week, but we haven't started anything big or formal, yet. We took a family picture on Family Day, and we plan to send it with our Christmas cards as we did last year. I should add that we watched the video from one of our trips this and last year.

I trust that time will help us decide what to do with these special dates. We anticipate that our son will help us figure out what to do, what he is comfortable with, and how significant they are to him.

I look forward to seeing other responses for some ideas!

[myrachel]

kim..
CONGRATS!!!! on your first forever family day...i'm sure whatever you do will be just great...

we went out to dinner with our parents & rachels godparents & we came back to the house & had cake.. the design on the cake was taken from the wood letters that i bought in guatemala...

take care

[robandjulie]

For his "gotcha" day (I really dislike that term) we celebrated the same way we did that first night in Guatemala. That night we had room service and went with pretty much everything on the menu: burgers, fries, tres leches, black beans, a pasta dish...we didn't know what he would like. He loved the burger and fries that first night so we went out for burgers and fries the anniversary night. We also talked to his FF on Skype which is a pretty routine thing but it was a weekday which was unusual.

On our family day (anniversary of being home and all together as a family) we had a big party. It was a sunday so we had church and a church social and then had everyone over for Guatemalan food: steaks marinated in a Guatemalan marinade and grilled outside, Guatemalan rice, and a shredded cabbage (like a coleslaw...yum!) and fried bananas and tres leches cake. The family brought gifts and we just celebrated being a family. I don't make that day about his FF (that's "gotcha day") or about his birthmom (we talk about that many other days and don't make that the focus of this day)...this was just a pure celebration of our family as it is.

Congrats!! Whatever you do will be special and you can always add/change things from year to year as she grows up.

[SKL]

My kids are 3-ish and so far we haven't really done anything for "family day." I feel it should be something that is meaningful to them, and at this point, they are not yet sufficiently aware of the special way our family was formed. I think I will wait until they are old enough to weigh in on how they would like to celebrate the day.

My daughter's birthday happens to be one day after "gotcha day" and two days before "homecoming/citizenship day." I really don't want to mix the adoption stuff up with one child's birthday, especially since it would result in the two girls' birthdays being treated differently from each other. I may instead choose to celebrate on the date the girls' adoption was final in Guatemala, or some other significant date.

I do think this is really family-specific. My extended family is pretty large and there are various members who came into the family in non-traditional manners. And I am single with no other children besides the Guat-tots who came home two years ago. So for us, having a big annual bash about the girls' adoption doesn't feel right. But I could see where it would feel right for some families.

[sfalone]

Hey Kim,

This year for Dulce's first Family Day all I did was bake a cake and I got her a heart necklace that was inscribed with the word Forever and her Family Day date. For Marco since he's a bit older I let him choose dinner, whether it be eating out or something he wants me to make. This year he wanted mac & cheese.

Enjoy

[sfalone]

Hey Kim,

This year for Dulce's first Family Day all I did was bake a cake and I got her a heart necklace that was inscribed with the word Forever and her Family Day date. For Marco since he's a bit older I let him choose dinner, whether it be eating out or something he wants me to make. This year he wanted mac & cheese.

Enjoy and

[sfalone]

Hey Kim,

This year for Dulce's first Family Day all I did was bake a cake and I got her a heart necklace that was inscribed with the word Forever and her Family Day date. For Marco since he's a bit older I let him choose dinner, whether it be eating out or something he wants me to make. This year he wanted mac & cheese.

Enjoy and I

[JillnChris]

Since our forever family day is a week before Halloween we have started a tradition where we go to a different pumpkin patch every year. This year we went to a place where there was apple picking as well, so that was fun. We are giving her a different christmas ornament on this day to kind of signify the previous year as well. Also, I make the same meal my mom made us our first night home with her...homemade mac n cheese, polish sausage, and apple pie. It's kind of a nice, warm, homecooked meal to have around fall and it just reminds me of that first night she was home in our house.

eta - this day is actually more special to me than her birthday. I just don't get sentimental at all on her birthday (except when I am thinking about her birthmom). But on our family day I think back to how she was that first night home and how small she was and how much she's grown since then. It's just a really special day for us to celebrate as a family.