The longest day...

Yesterday began very early, with breakfast at 7:45, followed by a trip back to the registration office, where we first met Matt. There we received our official adoption certificate, and everything we have prayed for became 100% official!!! An Ze, officially became Matthew Gregory Bennett, one less orphan!

After the adoption was finalized, we headed over to the notary office, to sign some more paperwork, and then we headed back to the hotel.

We had about an hour and a half before we had to leave for the orphanage and passport trip to Anyang, so we ordered so e room service for lunch, inhaled it, and were off for the long drive to Anyang. The drive took about three and a half hours, and when we arrived, we found it was actually a really big, well developed city. We passed a beautiful building, that our guide explained housed the oldest piece of Chinese history, some ancient writings on tortoise shells. Here is a link to the Wikipedia page that talks a bit more about it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anyang

 

 

And here is the picture of the museum...it's a bit blurry, because we were speeding by in the van...

 

Shortly after we passed the museum, we arrived at the Anyang PSB (public service bureau) where we made the formal application for Matt's passport. It was a very quick process and soon we were off to see the orphanage. We were expecting it to take at least 15-20 minutes, but in just about 5 minutes, we arrived at the gates of the Anyang social welfare institute. The place houses both orphanaed children, and the elderly, and it was huge. It was very rundown, with paint peeling from all of the buildings, and no doors, just heavy plastic strips to keep the cold out.

(the building with the playground equipment is the orphanage)

We were allowed to go into 2 of the rooms, and I tried to love on every child I could. We had taken some silly bands to give to the children on the street, but this time of year, we haven't encountered as many as last summer, so we took all of them to the orphanage. We were allowed to pass them out to the children there in Matt's room, and the looks on their faces were absolutely 100% priceless!

Some of the precious children at Anyang SWI

Passing out silly bands

 

Saying goodbye to Matt's building

 

The open door in the middle is the directors orphanage

The orphanage director

After leaving the orphanage, we made the trek to Matt's finding place. It was about an hour from the orphanage through traffic, though without the traffic, it probably would only have taken about 20 to 25 minutes. We had to stop a couple of times to ask if anyone knew exactly where the place was, and finally, we were there. The road there was a service road, and was filled with factories, and run down or abandoned buildings. The road was filled with pits and potholes, and big trucks hauling trash, boxes, and fruit. There were vendors and small shops along the way too.

 

His finding spot was just in front of the entrance to a factory. It was a busy road, so I know that whoever left him, knew that he would be found quickly...that's a consolation at least. I knelt and prayed for the family who had lost a son there, and asked God to grant them comfort and give them peace. We took lots of pictures of everything that could be seen at night, and then we left the place where our son was left.

 

 

 

 

We stopped on the way home to get dinner at a service area (rest stop) along the highway. They had a bot food buffet, which Greg, Matt, and I all enjoyed...the boys...not so much, lol! It was all very traditional Chinese food, and was really, quite good! Once we were back on the road, Greg and all four boys f ell fast asleep, and slept the 3.5 hours back to ZhengZhou. We finally arrived around 9:30p.m. And after a quick snack in the room, the twins quickly crashed. Nathan and Greg watched a bit of TV while I posted a quick blog! And tried to get Matt to sleep. Getting him to bed last night was much more difficult, as he would begin to writhe and scream each time we got near the crib. Finally, Greg was able to get him down, and we managed a couple of hours before he was up again. Greg got him back to sleep the first couple of times, and I took the next couple. Finally and around 5:30, he had a major blowout, and after the clean up, he was up for good. We went down to breakfast around 7, then headed back to the room, and went to the boys side of the suite to let Greg catch a bit more sleep.

 

The boys and Matt have really enjoyed playing this morning. He is really opening up, and smiling and laughing today. He has begun to walk some on his own, but he is still very wobbly. He has started imitating the boys too, which is precious! I'm going to try to post a video later today, if I can get it to upload!

Bath time!

 

 

Sleepyheads

 

Seriously crazy boy

This was the longest day. From here it's all downhill. We have a free day on Wednesday, then we believe we will be able to go to Annabella's finding spot Thursday. On Friday we hope to receive Matt's passport, then late in the afternoon we will head to GuangZhou. Well, it's time to give Matt a bottle, so I'll wrap it up for today. Please continue to remember our friend George in your prayers, that he will find the truth in Jesus, and lead his family to salvation too. We are forever grateful for all of the messages, emails, and texts we've received from all of you!

 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13

 

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