Day 6- Official Adoption Registration

"Sing praises to the Lord, you his faithful people; . . . .

weeping may stay for the night, but

joy comes in the morning!" Psalm 30:4-5

After a rough hour or so Mo-She fell asleep and slept through the night.  He awoke and sat up in his bed looking around a little confused but no tears.   We put some cartoons on the TV and that kept him occupied while we got ready for the day.  He soon was laughing at the TV, playing with his little phone and book while he talked to the girls in Chinese.  The girls are understanding him a lot easier than me and Ken are.  We have been trying to use the translator on our I-phone which doesn't do a very good job of recognizing his voice.  He talks to us constantly and it is so frustrating that we do not know what he is saying.  We told the girls to pack their backpacks with snacks and activities because we were going to be away all day.  Mo-She saw what they were doing and started to pack his backpack too.  He was making sure he was not leaving anything behind!

Watching them all walking together holding hands is just too cute!

First stop is breakfast.  His grieving has not hurt his appetite.  He ate rice, noodles, broccoli and watermelon for breakfast. . .. and not just a little!

Today is a very important day.  It's the day Mo-She "officially" becomes ours!   It is going to be a very long day of appointments and travel.  First we will have to go to the Notary then the Registration office to receive our official adoption papers.  We are then required to return to his orphanage city for his passport. We will need this for travel to Guangzhou on Friday. His orphanage is in the city of Zhumadian which is about 240 miles away and we will be taking the "fast train" to get there. Returning to the orphanage city is a new requirement in the adoption process and thankfully we did not have to make this trip for either of the girls.  We are actually very lucky the city of Zhumadian is only 3 hours away by van and 1 hour away by train.  Some of the other families will have to spend the night in their child's city due to it being too far away to make the trip there and back in one day.

It is hard to believe this is the same little boy who cried himself to sleep last night! He is starting to like riding in the van.

Our first stop was the Notary office.  Everything goes smoothly there then back in the van and off to the Registration office.  We sign more paperwork at the registration office saying that we are not changing our minds and want full responsibility of this child.  The deputy then tells us the adoption is approved in accordance with the requirements of the People's Republic of China.  Adoption registration is hereby permitted and the adoption relationship shall come into force on this date of registration.  He is now legally our son!  Praise the Lord!

 It's Official!

Next we are back in the van off to the train station.  The high speed train station is amazing.  It is very modern and enormous.  It actually looks bigger than our airport back home.  We have an hour to wait until our train leaves so we find an area to wait.  We are what appears to be the only Americans in the entire station so are drawing quite a lot of attention, especially the girls.  Young men keep coming and standing right in front of our seats staring at the girls.  It is a very uncomfortable situation and we can't wait until it is our time to leave.  The train looks like a larger version of the monorail train at Disney World.  I didn't take a picture because I wasn't taking a hand or eye off of my girls for one second!

Train station with smog.

Zhengzhou was once the capital city of China.  It is very large and congested and in the middle of the expansive countryside of Henan province.  The history of Henan province dates back to over 5000 years ago and is known for being mostly agriculturally focused.  Our train ride to Zhumadian City takes us through the countryside of Henan.  Unfortunately it is also one of the most polluted cities. The smog and gray skies unfortunately make the countryside view not very pleasant.

This is our guide for the day named Jim.  Ken went to find drinks for the girls and Mo-She had to use the bathroom while he was gone so Jim took him for me.  When he returned he said how "clever" (which the Chinese use for smart) Mo-She is.  After he used the bathroom Mo-She told him he had to wash his hands.  Jim asked him who taught him that (because almost all men in China do not wash their hands after using the bathroom) and he said my Father taught me to wash my hands!  (meaning Ken!)  Pretty amazing on only our second day together.

He loves his Ba Ba!

An hour train ride . . . . . then we all pile in the back of a very small taxi for the ride to the police station . . . . . . they do not open until 2:30 so we have a 45 minute wait in the parking lot.   After they open we wait for the orphanage director to come to complete the passport application. 

The Orphanage Director knows Mo-She very well and he runs up to her and raises his arms to be picked up.  It is so nice to see how much he was loved by everyone who took care of him.  The passport application and process took over an hour then it was another crazy taxi ride back to the train station . . . . . another wait for the train . . . . more rude people staring at my children  . . . . an hour train ride . . . . . . and another taxi back to our hotel!   We left the hotel at 9:00 this morning and it is now 7:30 pm.  You can imagine we are all exhausted and hungry never stopping for lunch or dinner.  It was not an easy day but all of my children are doing wonderful.  No complaining about anything.  I am so blessed!

Good Night from China!