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

 

First Free Day in Xian 11-24-12

Visit to Xi'an City Wall

We took the subway, which was an adventure for all the kids. Then we crossed some CRAZY traffic to get to the center entrance of the city wall.

 

Before going up the wall

on our way up

photo op with Kobe (Eli's english tutor)

Levi & Eli started replaying yesterdays fun with the ninja star toys. I told them to be careful not to throw them to hard or they'd go over the wall... Yeah, well the pic below was taken right before Eli threw his up & over the wall. (lol)



and this is where it landed in traffic down below

traffic running it over
The kids laughed...

Kai likes having his pic taken now :)



We rented bikes to ride on the wall. That was such a great experience for all of them.



Kai had a blast. He couldn't wait to get on his bike.
He did pretty good, but had ot stop for a break half way thru

 

Eli rode tandum bike with Baba (Steve/Dad) and loved it!
Steve said he had lots of help peddling too.

Family photo on the wall

Kobe jumped in for fun pic

We had great views of the city. We really like Xi'an!

old drums in front of the pretty building

Xi'an has two mascots they believe guard the city...
a Dragon & a Pheonix

Kobe dodging traffic to save the ninja toy
that was still in the road when we came down

Yay! Kobe saved the day... lol

After the wall we took the subway back and stopped and had lunch at Burger King. Zoe & Levi request. Haha! Then we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon rest and more bonding with video games & cartoons. Kai took a nap. Zoe & Steve played on computers. Levi & Eli played Nintendo DS. I uploaded pics. And "Pleasant Goat", chinese cartoon favorite of Eli's, played in background.



We have had a great day so far. Other than Kai slightly over doing it maybe and giving me a scare with headache and not finishing lunch... So NOT like him. He usually eats his meal and then asks for everyone elses. lol But after some tylenol and a nap, he feels better.

Tonight we plan to eat in, play Uno and enjoy some family time.

We are grateful to have Kobe to help translate and transition Eli. Kai helps too and is a great big brother. And it was funny because last night at dinner, Eli translated Kai's chinese for Kobe, because Kobe couldn't understand his speech, but apparently Eli has already figrued him out. That is awesome! It feels like Kai has been with us forever and Eli is doing really well so far. In adition to Kobe & Kai, we use Google translate, flashcards and gesturing. He is smart and is learning routine things quickly. He seems happy and he LOVES the video games. He is very compliant and we haven't had any problems with him or Kai. We just feel so blessed! Praying for wisdom how to continue this new journey. Can't wait to get home and be with our other boys too. And because things here are so different, that the boys are going to be learning things twice. And that this is NOT how we live everyday. i.e. we do NOT have soda twice a day... And I do NOT cook a HUGE breakfast buffet. (lol) So there is still lots of  changes ahead. But we feel like things are going well now. :)

Thank you all again for yoru prayers. Please keep them coming.
Sincerely,
Sherry

It's official...

Eli Joshua Xiao Patton is now a part of our family too!

 

Eli's Adoption Day 11-23-12

 

Good morning...

Eli "shared" a bed with Levi... lol

 At the Civil Affairs office

Eli's first video game experience

Mario Kart & Kai won

Eli turns the game when the car turns in the game. So cute!

 Eli signing agreeing to be adopted into our family


And his adoption is finallized! Yay!




Spontaneous play outside train depot, while we wait for our luggage that arrived later than us. Eli had some plastic throwing stars or something, which the kids threw back and forths at each other and just had a grand time getting some energy out.

at first Kai just played the ipod

then he realized I was taking pics and wanted in on the fun

they even got Zoe in on the fun

McDonald's, I have never been so happy to see you. lol

Eli's first hamburger!

And of course we had to find a Starbucks. But before you judge, the kids all have peppermint hot cocoa. Steve & I have the real coffee!

 Back at the hotel relaxing and playing Legos again

Then dinner in the muslim market while shopping with Kobe. After all, it was Black friday right?

Yes, this momma bought them swords... but at least they're wooden.

They are "Rockin' the Batman PJs", as Zoe said.

 

All in all we had a great Adoption day. The next four days are FREE days in Xian. The kids, and mom & dad, are looking forward to NO appointments and just relaxing family fun time.

So thankful & blessed!

 

Gratefully,

Sherry