Second Free Day in Xi'an 11-25-12

Our day started out with some family time in the hotel.

 

Legos continue to be a favorite.

Eli created this Robot all by himself
and was very proud

Kai is happier & happier each day he's with us

Levi is adjusting well to sharing his Legos.

Zoe taught Eli to play "tic-tac-toe"

 

 

Kobe arranged for us to meet Eli's foster family and go to lunch with them. We were so blessed to have had this opportunity! They rode the bus for 3 hours to be able to meet us. They are very special people. They loved and cared for Eli for 10 years and had to let him go... But they prepared him to join our family and reinforced that we were mamma and babba. I am so grateful to God for them.

 

Eli with his foster family

They totally accepted us as Eli's parents.

This was on our table when we arrived at restaurant for lunch



We went to a "Hot Pot" restaurant, which was a new experience for us.
They cook the food in boiling water in a pot in the center of your table.

These are two wonderful & caring people!

The foster parents wanted a photo with Eli & Levi with their son,
and Menmen (their other foster boy) wanted in the shot too.

Zoe did not really care for lunch, but Kai ate until he was full as usual.
They and Levi were patient and well behaved during our visit.

Eli skipped ahead on our way back to hotel holding Zoe's hand.
He loves his jie jie (big sister)!

 

Eli handled the visit very well. No tears. Held my hand most of the day. The foster mom kept calling me mamma and telling him to stay with me, hold my hand, let mamma fix your hat, etc. They talked more than Kobe translated, but Kobe told us after they left that they are convinced we are good people and will take good care of Eli. They cried at end of lunch when telling us about him when they first got him and how sick he was, and what they did to care for him. There were some sad moments. Seeing an older chinese man cry is a wow experience. They really love Eli! But they are very happy for him and said he will have a better future with us. Eli was sooo good the whole time. He sat with me and he acted like I was mamma. They asked him how he was and how it was going with us, and he told them good except the language is hard. So I think he likes us and he will learn english, so we are doing good. :)

 

When they left us, the foster mom hugged me so tight... and for a long time. She said "I give you my son". Oh man, was that hard! Then she hugged Eli, picked him up and said something to him about mamma, pointing to me, and handed him to me. Then after I hugged him. He hugged the foster dad and then they pointed to Steve and said "babba" and he said ok and they left. He did not even cry like I expected because he did cry when he talked to the foster mom on the phone at Gotcha day. So I feel confident that he has accepted us and we will all learn to be a family togther.

 

We are very blessed!

 

It's been an emotional day. I think we are going to try to find some dinner and have some family time again, before turning in for the night. Tomorrow we are going to go to the hospital where Eli was found with our guide. So we need our rest.

 

One Grateful Mamma,

Sherry