Everything is official

Today was the big day when everything became officially official! We went back to the government affairs office to do the final paperwork, promise that we would never abuse or abandon Ben, hand over all that cash (as much as it broke Jay's heart to part with that much money he was truly relieved to no longer have that to carry it around all over the place!), sign on the dotted line, and put our red thumb print over our signatures.

If you watch the video you will see the director of the orphanage holding Ben's hand and trying to get him to open it so they could get his handprint on the official adoption decree. It was so cute :) Our friends the Odels had the appointment after us. They said that when we left, the orphanage director broke into tears. Can you believe that?! It is so special to me how much these children really were loved at Datong SWI. It is a special place and we are so blessed that Ben came from there.

As if getting Ben forever was not special enough, while we were waiting for our appointment with the notaries Ben took his first little steps while holding Jay's hand! After so many months of being worried that he would never walk, less than 24 hours after getting him he took some steps- a miracle! I must have screamed out in shock and everyone in the room turned to look at me (and probably wonder why I was so excited about these steps). I said, "No, you don't understand. We were told he might never walk!" Then, everyone shared in our joy!

After leaving the office we convinced our reluctant guide to take us shopping to buy some gifts for the children at the orphanage. We got our first look at at a Chinese Walmart. It looks nothing like an American Walmart! Unless, that is, your walmart has whole frozen fish lying in the open and is about 100 degrees inside!

Because our guide has a habit of dropping us off and saying that she will see us tomorrow :( , the Odel's guide invited us to go with them to a park this afternoon. It was such a beautiful park with a giant lake and lovely green scenery. You could take a picture of the lake from every angle and it would have the most gorgeous backdrop every time (and we did!). Ben enjoyed looking at everything so much that even though he was literally nodding off, he refused to let himself fall asleep lest he miss something good to look at! Jay and I figure that he has processed more information in his brain over the last 24 hours than he has his entire life!

Before we left the park the guide gave us the name of a noodle restaurant. We met the Odels there for dinner and it was a HOOT! We were having a huge language problem- let's just say there were alot of charades involved. The really funny thing was that Pam and I were laughing at ourselves trying to get the message across at the same time that the waitresses were laughing at themselves for not understanding. I can only imagine the spectacle we created for the other patrons! We finally ordered 2 baskets with steamed dumplings, 2 plates of noodles, and 2 large bottles of beer. It was $6!!!!!!!! Yes, we fed 3 adults and 2 hungry children for $6 (with leftovers!). Since the meal was FILLED with wheat, my job was to feed Ben and laugh at the the others while they struggled with their food. Pam and Scott's son Evin put a hurtin on the noodles and Ben polished off quite a few dumplings. The biggest riot of the night came after all of the plates were empty and we were sitting back to enjoy a little conversation before we left. Several minutes after the last bite had been taken, a waitress came over to remove what we later realized to be the top layer of the dumpling baskets. There was whole layer of dumplings underneath!!! So that's what the waitress was trying to tell us when we complained that we had requested 2 orders of dumplings and we had only been brought one! You can take an American out of America but...

Tomorrow will be am exciting, emotional, and LONG day. We will leave our hotel at 7:30am to travel the 3 1/2 hours to Datong. We both think it is so important for us to see where Ben came from and we are really looking forward to it. Hopefully Ben will not have a difficult time going back there and he will enjoy seeing his friends. We will post all of the pictures as soon as we can upload them (which might be next Sunday at the rate things have been going with the internet connection here!).