Happy Halloween and Re-Adoption Day!

Kai was a monkey for Halloween this year. I wanted to modify this costume to make it into The Monkey King, but I didn't get a round tuit, so he was just a monkey. We invited ourselves over to our friends Heidi and Kim's so Kai could see his good buddy Mimi. Mimi was dressed as a beautiful ballerina and the two of them trick-or-treated a few houses together.

Our big treat this Halloween was getting to complete Kai's "re-adoption". That's right, we adopted him again! This wasn't "necessary" as our adoption in China is fully recognized here in the U.S. but there were a number of good reasons for us to take this extra step. Kai's name on all of our documents in China was recorded as his Chinese name, so his citizenship papers and Social Security Card show his name as Hui Dang, this let us officially change his name. It also let us get him a Washington State birth certificate with his new name. Another pressure we felt was due to the fact we had lost our original Chinese Adoption Decree while we were in Guangzhou!

The process was pretty easy once we got the documents assembled. We were lucky to get copies of these we could modify ourselves without having to hire a lawyer. The court staff was helpful and the judge was very friendly. Our "hearing" was a brief meeting in his chambers where he swore us in and then signed a couple documents with us. He had special pens with his name on them for signing documents and gave Kai the one we used.

Kai has been working hard on saying his new last name: "Ocheltree".