{Spencer, aka Mini Michelangelo, the day he joined our family in 2009.}

On Sunday, we celebrated our fourth anniversary of being a family. It’s not the day our Mini Michelangelo was born. It’s not the day we received our referral. Or our travel call. It’s the day he joined our family forever. I’ve blogged about how magical this day is before in my post “And then…” As I said then, it really is the most magical one of them all… It’s a day that is incredibly joyous, and terribly sad… all at the same time. It’s a day where there is more love packed into a tiny room than one can imagine. It’s the day our journey as family began. Some people choose to call that day “Forever Family Day.” Some people call it “Gotcha Day.” We call it “Spencer Day.” Because really, it was all about Spencer that day. All the love, all the tears, all the joy… it was all about one little baby.

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{Celebrating on Sunday}

While it’s a time to reflect on our journey, and to see how far we’ve come, it’s also a time to celebrate. Each year, we celebrate with a fun outing of some sort. In years past, it’s been annual trips to the circus when it’s in town. This year, we decided to mix it up a little. We decided that it would be the perfect time to take our Mini Michelangelo to his first {minor league} ball game. He’s a fan of playing baseball in the driveway, and an even bigger fan of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game!” The bonus is that baseball is not only a favorite American past time, it’s also a favorite in Korea.

We made a day out of it. We arrived early to see the players warm up. (Someone even scored a ball!) We bought peanuts, and popcorn, and cracker jacks. OK, really—we bought peanuts, and hot dogs, and Del’s Lemonade… but same difference, right?! While there was very little “watching” of the game going on with our active guy, there was still lots of fun. It was a gorgeous day, so we walked around the park and saw the field from different angles. There was a “kids zone” where they could practice hitting and pitching. There were fun food stands, and mascots roaming the area. We could hear the game, and the crowd, from wherever we were. And, while we spent very little time “sitting,” our seats were second row back along the third base line. Perfect! The bonus? While the home team lost, they still scored three home runs in a row, making it a very exciting first game.

{“Throw it to me!”}

Early on, we decided not to make “Spencer Day” a day about gifts, but a day to be together… and the older he gets, the happier I am that we did this. It wasn’t the “perfect” day (overtired 4 year-olds make those hard), but our family is far from perfect too. (Can anyone say they have the perfect family?) But it was a really fun day, and one that he will remember for a long, long time. Just like how we will remember the day he joined our family. Forever.

{Thumbs up for family days. Doesn’t the smile say it all?!}