Getting Closer To Coming Home

Friday wss a very busy day. We started off going to Owen's orphanage which was good and bad. The good part is that we did see where he spent part of his life and toured the facilities. We were allowed to see some of the children and spend a few minutes playing with them. One room had about 20 babies all laying in their beds/cribs. It was very quite and most of the babies were just lying their looking at the sealing. Once we starting talking to them they all came to life, they were starving for some attention. This was very difficult to see and leaving them was even harder. We also spent some time in a room with about 6-8 kids who were all about 4 years old. They also lit up when we entered and were sad when we left.

The facilty seemed to be very clean (but very cold - no heater). All the kids were bundled. The bad part was that this orphanage is very secretive and provides very litte information. We inquired about some scars on Owen and all they would tell us was this was from surgery to fix his esophagus (hard to beleive he has three major scars from this, especially when one of the scars is on his back!). They would not provde his offical file with his medical information nor did they bother to go look at the file when we asked about the scars (some how they just remembered his medical history?). They handle about 600 kids in this orphange.

We also asked for any photos of Owen and they said no. They did tells us that Owen was in foster care and had one foster brother and one foster sister. Again no photos of his brother or sister and no information on the foster family. It is sad that Owen will never get any of this information. We do not understand why this orphanage is so closed with providing any information?

We entered one room with about 30-40 beds and they told us this is the room Owen would have stayed in. There was another family with us on the tour and they asked about their child's bed. The worker pointed to one of the beds and said, "this one". The worker then looked at us and randomly selected another bed and said that was Owen's bed. We are confident they tell you things like that to make you feel better.

Overall we are glad we visited and were allowed to take a few photos as long as there were no kids in the room.

After leaving the orphanage we returned to the hotel (after buying another suit case to put all of our stuff) we checked out and headed for the airport. During this time Melissa informs me she thinks she is getting sick with Owen's cold. The flight was only about two hours long but it seemed longer as Owen struggled the entire flight. He was pulling on one of his ears so we are pretty sure the pressure (along with the cold) was bothering him. For some reason Chinese people think Americans can not parent and always try to help (it is good that they want to help but sometimes it only makes it worse). We finally made it and once we landed he was fine.

This photo is us at the airport along with our guide, Jerry. Jerry did a great job and was very friendly and informative.

We finally arrived at Guangdong Victory Hotel and the rooms are very small. When we arrived we were all exhausted and ready to go to bed. We immediately put the boy in bed and then realised not all of the lights work in our room. So after much communication with the front desk they finally moved us to another room. This added to the long day but we finally got a good noghts sleep. At this point Melissa has declared she has a soar throat and feels terrible. Nothing worse than being sick when you are not at home. She has been a trooper all day and I feel sorry for her.

Saturday morning we had to take Owen for his medical exam. This is a mad-house with all of the adoptive families in this small clinic tryng to figure out the process. The photo below shows how skinny Owen's little legs are. As I mentioned before, he seems very thin and malnurished. We are feeding him as much as he wants to eat (which is alot). We have discovered he must eat small bites and take it slow. Not positive, but we think there is an issue in this thoat (possibly scar tissue?) which gives him trouble eating. This would make since as to why he is so thin. Owen can not drink from a bottle or sippy cup or cup. It is as if he does not know how ti suck so we have been forcing him to drink from a syringe. People look strangly at us but we have to get some fluids in him.

This picture is just a good picture of him.

Tonight we went to dinner with Kevin and Sarah who is one of the families we have been with from the start. They are amazing and are adopting their 4th child. Melissa had been communicating with them online for the past several weeks.

Tomorrow we are heading to the safari/zoo at 10:00am. We have heard it is great and at this point we are ust waiting on paper work so we can head home.

Few more pictures.

We are so fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to adopt Owen and Iris. The love and joy they bring to Melissa and I can not be measured. The entire process brings story after story of people who love these children and give everything they have (and don't have) to bring these inocent children into their families. We have been with two families for most of this trip and each of them are an inspiration to us. Keven and Sarah are in their early 30's and are adopting their 4th child and already taking about the next one. The other family is adopting their first but have 5 biological children at home with the youngest at 10 years old, they are starting over as parents when the world says they should be excited about the coming empty nest. But they felt God leading them down this road.

We have met several families today who would totally defy what our society thinks is normal. One unassuming man at dinner was sitting with two young Chinese boys (middle school aged). We stopped and introduced ourselves (this is what adoptive families do in China) and he began to explain how this was his 8th adoption! The other boy was adopted earlier this year and still spoke chinese so he brought him with him to help the other boy adjust, and to be his translator - his second adoption this year. His wife was at home with the other children.

Walking through the lobby this morning we met a man with four kids climbing on him who all had special needs. We started talking to him and he told us his wife was at the medical clinic with their two newest children (number 5 and 6)!

Wow! Amazing families who are following God's call for them.