We've been home four weeks. Wow, it doesn't seem like it...maybe because we've been so busy we can't keep the days straight. We were able to get an earlier flight home from China so that Danielle could make it to dress rehearsal for her dance performance. We arrived home on a Thursday, Danielle went to dance rehearsal on Friday, performed on Saturday. Our oldest, Jared and his wife arrived that same Saturday, Jacob graduated Sunday, then we had an open house/reception for Jared and Abi the next weekend. In addition, we had some friends from out of state visiting the week between graduation and the open house/reception. Since then we've had Jake's graduation open house, been to Jade's pediatrician and spent time at other graduation open house parties. Jade has participated in most of these events happily. We've only had a few melt downs...mostly mine. I've been too busy. But, things are slowing down and we are really enjoying family time. Jade is enjoying her siblings, and they love her. She was well prepared for a family. Her care givers must have spent time talking with her about us, because when we met her, she sat down and pointed to each of us in her photo album, naming us as she went.
The orphanage visit happened the day after we received Jade. The meeting takes place in the province's capital at the registration office. The office was four hours from the orphanage. Jade had traveled from her orphanage to the office by bullet train to meet us. The very next day we traveled back to her orphanage by van. It was a long day. Jade was a rock star.
We arrived at the orphanage about 4:00 pm. Many of the staff greeted us. We really didn't know what to expect. I have to admit, it was a wonderful visit. We were ushered into the building by several care givers and the director. The building looks kind of like a college dormitory. It was a block building, several stories high. The first room we visited was a common area room. There, we met the children her age. They were beautiful and polite and heartbreakingly orphaned. I had carted Smarties (the candy) from Michigan to Beijing, to Zhengzhou, to Lingbao. I'm so glad I did. The staff had all the children sit down at the table. Danielle and Jade passed out the Smarties and the children in unison said "Shia Shia" (thank you). Can you imagine your child being happy over a package of Smarties? These kids were so excited and grateful. The children sat quietly and ate their candy. We stood and cried, especially Danielle. She cried the whole visit. She was so sad to see children without families. She has a tender heart.
We moved through the rooms at the orphanage. We saw the little toddler beds the children sleep in. I was able to get pictures of Jade's little bed. We saw the kitchen, eating area, schooling area, the courtyard. The babies were being fed while we visited the dining area. The tears started flowing again. Aron squatted down and started cooing at a little tyke. Without making a sound, the toddler turned on his heel, pushed the door open, and fled down the hall. It was hilarious. The nannies were laughing too. One of them chased him down and brought him back. It was really nice to see that the children wanted the caregivers. They definitely were attached to them. They were scared of us. Danielle tried to hold all the babies, of course. We wanted to bring them home. Jade had a little friend there. She was a sweetie. I was able to capture a photo of Aron kissing her on the cheek. The staff wanted pictures of us with them. They followed us around taking video. The director gave us a book of poetry with a letter to Jade. We will have the letter translated. She was loved.
The director took us out to the courtyard. They have a little garden and a playground. There are some fruit trees on the property. We enjoyed some cherries with the staff. Aron is particularly good with people. And, he is well versed in plant knowledge. They talked about all kinds of plants, seeds and cooking. Our guide teased Aron about sampling his creations before serving them. I think that was her way of saying he is pleasantly plump.
On our way back to the van, we all stopped and the care givers were able to hug Jade goodbye. One caregiver squatted down and spoke to Jade. Our guide interpreted, "You are always welcome here. Have a beautiful life with your family. Be brave and don't cry." I looked at Jade and silent tears were rolling down her cheeks. We were crying too. She was leaving them for us. We know how blessed we are. We know how much has changed for Jade. We know that she left all things familiar. She is no longer an orphan.
I took many pictures of the orphanage, but for Jade's sake, I can't share them all. It is a piece of her life. The biggest piece so far, and I want her to be the one to share it some day. She is amazingly resilient. She is so happy. Don't get me wrong, there are hard days too. But, she is becoming a Palmer more and more every day. She teases, belly laughs and puts on her sister's make up. She loves to do dishes, swim in the lake and take paddle boat rides. Jade counts to ten, knows the color yellow and the song "Stayin' Alive" (thanks to Danielle). She folds her hands and thanks God for each of us by name, even Jared and Abi. Jade looks at the photos of China and babbles in Mandarin. She is telling us all about it. She doesn't cry. I think that is a sign that she is happy here, with us, her family. How can that be? This little person accepting us and trusting us, kissing and hugging us. Last night as I laid on the floor by her bed, she whispered, "I love you, Mama." I'm not sure she knows what "I love you" means completely, but I'm pretty sure she knows I'm her mom. What a miracle!
The day after the park, we were off to Guangzhou. It was a two hour flight from where we were. Adoptive families finish the process in Guangzhou at the US consulate. There are many adoptive families there, so we weren't as spectacular. We stayed at a very nice hotel. From our window Aron saw an alley of blue topped tents. He watched them for several days. He is very curious. He loves all things barbeque, so on the day he saw smoke rising from that sea of blue, he decided we would take a walk. It just so happens that a family in our group called our room and was seeking an adventure. Off we went to the alley of tents. Let's just say that we were probably in a place we didn't belong. We got the impression that the group had gathered as some celebration or tradition. We were stared at more than we knew was curiosity. We were a bit scared. And luck would have it, as we hurried through the alley, that we came to a dead end. We had to turn around and walk back through the same crowd. They did not seem violent. On the other hand, I wanted to cuff Aron myself. On the bright side, Aron saw a lot of interesting grilling going on. He later told me the alley excursion was not his best idea. Well, no kidding, Palmer!
