The Adoption is Final!

When we picked him up on Monday, we were given 24 hour guardianship.  They kinda give you 24 hours to make sure you still want the child and that all is well.  At first, you think Really?.  Someone would go through all this and pay that kind of money and then just say, no, I don't think he/she is going to work out.  But unfortunately, there are extreme situations where things just don't work out.  Luckily that was not the case for us.  Yes, the last 24 hours have been a challenge, but nothing that we can't handle.  So, the guide picked us up at 9:00 for our official adoption day.  We met with the officials to sign the paperwork.

Because in China they don't recognize our American signatures, you have to put your fingerprint on top of your signature. They took our picture as a family and placed in on our official adoption decree. Jeremy headed downstairs to exchange some money at the bank and I stayed up stairs with the kids. As his caregiver and orphanage director started to say their goodbyes he started crying.  A lot.  Then he started screaming.  It was extremely emotional.  My heart hurt for him.  I tried not to cry but the thought of what he must be feeling inside was hard to handle.  Imagine a child being taken from the only home, family and life he has ever known.  Jeremy came back upstairs just in time to see it all.  My mom came over with some chocolate and his iPad. He eventually calmed down but cried all the way back to the hotel room.   That afternoon we decided to take him swimming.  Knowing he probably had never done that before, we were prepared.  He was unsure at first and held on to me with a death grip.  After a few minutes he relaxed and started splashing.  Then it happened, English words.  He was holding on to dad and I had the girls.  The girls would count one, two, three and I would toss them in the air.  He watched for a moment and then looked at Jeremy and said, one, two, shree.  So Jeremy tossed him and the smile I love so much returned.
For dinner, we decided to walk down the street until we found something that looked edible.  Only a few buildings down, we saw a hot pot place.  In Japan that call it Shabu Shabu and there is one in Park City if you ever want to try it.  We love it!  We were so excited and ate til we were full.  The entire bill was only $30 for 6 people including tax and tip.  Sweet!  I believe we will eat there again.