It is official!

As of today, June 26, 2012, we are the official parents of Hong Fu! I am having to peck this on the iPad so it probably won't be fancy. We had to go to the notary which was quite interesting. First of all I don't see how more people don't die on the roads in China. Not because it's terribly fast because there are lots of mopeds and congestion which makes it slower than the US, but more because I don't think lanes or road directions really mean that much to anyone. There were a couple of times today when I thought surely someone was going to die. But all was well.

Going to the notary was supposed to be a simple thing but it turned out to be a little of a hassle for David and the driver. We found out after the fact that it was a simple changeover in the security (starting here from yesterday and now on the laptop) but with two men in uniforms and voices beginning to raise on all parts and in a foreign country with a gated government building, I was a little worried but, it was funny, I felt right in the middle of God's will, so a peace covered the situation in my heart.  Oh the lengths that our God has gone to us for us, for all that will receive Him to adopt us into His family.  His peace, in this situation and for this time, usurped my anxious heart.  Plus God has give me Jeff, our Captain, and a very good guide David who eventually told the driver, who is older, in Chinese to "settle down, settle down, that it was okay".  Our guide knew that this man was doing his job and that it wasn't worth getting in a bad situation for.  Turns out it was all about being able to drive us up closer to where we were going.  I said once or twice to David that it was okay and that we didn't mind walking.  It was raining and they didn't want that.  David is a negotiator, facilitator at heart and we left the place yesterday with the new security folks understanding who he was and what he was doing there (he's done this for 10 years but the security guards are new) and the security people apologized.  They said they hadn't seen the family in the back of the van.  Anyway...sorry to elaborate on this.

Then on to the civil affairs office where we had to answer some questions but the most important being why did we want to adopt "this boy".  Why were we stunned??  I had forgotten to tell Jeff that that question would be coming (in typical Stanley fashion) and so we both just looked at each other.  I figured I'd better answer since I at least knew they'd ask this question at some point.  So I said "because we want to love him and care for him".  That she quickly wrote down and it seemed enough.  If she'd have looked at us and not written, there's no telling what type of dissertation (sp?) she'd have gotten.  Parker, Jenna, and Andrew just tagged along through all this and were taking it in.  Parker ended up being the guarder of my Small World paperwork so that was helpful.  Maybe I'll do a post later and tell you about each one of them and what's going on with them.  Anyway, at the civil affairs office, two ayis from the orphanage were there.  I can see love in their eyes for Jake and that he recognizes them.  They say a few things to him in Chinese and I gesture several times that they can take him or hold him if they'd like while we do the paperwork but he ends up staying with us.  He was exhausted and stunned seeming.  Finally he fell asleep in Baba's arms on the ride back while we looked at a package that the orphanage put together for him and for us.  We got a photo album (so priceless for us and for him) and the journal that I had sent for the foster mom had been signed by the orphanage staff and she had made some entries as well and had pasted some pictures in of him and some special trips they had taken.

Jake slept from 4:30 - 6:30 and then we went down to the gym.  There are some big balls like you would use in special exercises classes in an open part of the gym and while Jeff worked out (and the other children off and on) we played with himwith those balls.  We're probably not the favorites here but we always return things to where they should be (mostly....except for a water bottle that somehow made it's way up onto a light ledge in the gym....we didn't even attempt to try and explain what we'd done, but it was one of Andrew's juggling attempts to entertain his brother).   Jake understands the universal sign for "shhhh!!!" with pointer finger to the lips (another thing that's the same in all languages).  He does a lot of squealing and just loves the children. 

So back up to the room and Parker, Jenna, and Andrew are pretty zonked and getting ready for bed.  Fed Jake (not sure that he really drank the formula that was reported to the orphanage, but loves water.....hmmmm), got pajamas on, and began the simple little bedtime routine we'd started just the night before (but added brushing teeth which he has done and loves to do).  The routine was adjusted several times because he was apparently very hungry for a fruit that is so cool that David had given us when we got in the van.  I've never seen it before.  You peel it and it's very fleshy.  Need to look up the name of it because he LOVES it.  Very sticky.  I have no idea how many of these I peeled and he ate, but a LOT.  We read "brown bear, brown bear" and I fed him.  It was very quiet and I tried to hold him and rock him and then some tears came.  It wasn't too long before he was calmed down and I could lay him down in his crib and he went to sleep.  In some ways this was all very natural...... and in some ways it wasn't quite honestly.  It reminded me of how many of us know that love is a choice.  So many married couples separate and then eventually divorce because they "don't love each other anymore".  It also reminded me of the fallen state of the world where children don't grow up with their biological parents.  It grieves me.....but not enough and certainly no where close to what it does the Lord.  Please continue to pray for us, for Jake, and for his foster family.  Though we get closer each day to going home, still so much has to happen.  And now going home is the goal and loving and raising "this boy" to the glory of God.  Thank you for coming alongside us.  We really need that.