Our Adoption Trip! Part 2- Meeting Our Son!

July 10th, 2019. Our forever family day, gotcha day, what ever you want to call it, it was the first time we would meet our son.

Thanks to a combination of jet-lag and excitement, I think all of us were awake by about 4:00 a.m and ready to go because TODAY WE WOULD MEET TOAN!!!! We laid around for awhile trying to fall back asleep but it was no use so we were more than ready for breakfast at 7. Unfortunately Sawyer started not feeling so well at breakfast time and so we headed back to the room to have him lie down again. Jet lag hits kids harder than it hits adults and so we were hopeful that he was just jet-lagged but anxious to meet Toan. We had to decide to either have just one of us head to the orphanage or push our time to meet him back a little bit so we could hopefully all go. Sawyer took a nap and when he woke up he was feeling much better. We were only an hour behind our original plans and so we finally got to head to go meet our little boy!

It was dark when we arrived in Phan Rang the night before so now we got to see it in day light. Phan Rang-Thap Cham sits right on the East Sea/South China Sea, and so we woke up to white sands and a beautiful beach with green rolling hills. As we drove into the city there were beautiful fields with rice paddies between buildings, shops everywhere, and everyone is on motorbikes except for the occasional taxi. In the distance you could see more of the beautiful green hills that run along the coast of Vietnam. We stopped by a bank to exchange our money and then took what felt like the longest taxi ride ever (it really wasn’t that long) to the orphanage. I had seen lots of pictures and so the entire way I was searching for it and it feels so surreal when you finally pull up to the gates and see it in person.

As soon as we walked through the yellow gate and towards the little pond that is in the middle of the courtyard I saw one of the nannies that I had recognized from some of the pictures we had seen. As soon as she saw us she smiled and excitedly went running inside. Peter led us towards the kids who were playing soccer outside and started kicking the ball with them. He introduced us to the Doctor who works there and then I turned around and there was that sweet nanny running to us with the most precious little boy in her arms. I lost all politeness and took off running towards that sweet boy.

He clung to her as we said our first hellos and then we all went into an office inside. We were all sat around a table and Peter was doing all the formal introductions but I’ll admit I was probably terribly mannered. I did my best to shake hands and greet everyone but my mind was on our Toan who was now finally here in our world, just two chairs away from me. We got out some small cars we had brought and candy and tried to very slowly let him warm up to us. I’m so grateful that we got to meet him somewhere that he was comfortable and that he got to have lots of time to warm up to us. He was very shy at first but after about an hour he was sitting on my lap and playing and throwing empty water bottles at us and laughing. He loved that Brandon let him throw the water bottles at him as hard as he could. His nanny was so good about staying close enough for not to be scared and not rushing things but then slowly backing up once he got more comfortable.

They seated Brandon and I across the table from him but once the formalities were done I swapped seats to be closer. It took him a little bit before he was willing to play with the cars we brought but once he was comfortable we learned very quickly that he loves technology of any kind-

It was the best morning ever. Our time with him flew by and before we knew it they said it was nap time and so away he went and we walked through the hot streets of Phan Rang to go get lunch with Peter.

Having someone who is Vietnamese and knows the city was amazing. We are really lucky that our agency has amazing reps in Vietnam who are with you the entire time in province. While we were in Phan Rang, we ate the best food. I swear we had some of the best meat, rice, and bread that I have ever had in my life and I would have no idea how to order it again because we told Peter that we would be happy with anything and just to order us what he eats. Lunch that day was the first Vietnamese meal we had while we were there and we all ate until we couldn’t take it anymore. Rice, Chicken, and Spring Rolls quickly became our go-to while we were there.

After lunch we headed back to the orphanage to spend time with Toan again. It was a huge blessing to be able to have two full days for him to get to know us before our official G&R ceremony (where he would be ours permanently). Most families meet their child at G&R and within twenty minutes it’s over and the child is left with complete strangers. It was wonderful to get to meet him somewhere he was happy, to get to see how he’s been raised and where he’s been raised and to spend so much time there. The nannies are so loving and care a lot about the kids. Being at the orphanage so much during his last few days there was also incredibly emotional. We were so happy, but there is also deep loss in adoption. That afternoon we got to spend a lot of time with the other children at the orphanage. Some of the older girls had helped care for him from the time he came into the orphanage’s care and it was really hard to see them getting emotional at the idea of saying goodbye to him. Over the three days we would witness some really personal, sacred moments between Toan and those who loved him before us. I am so deeply grateful for how loved he’s been and everyday I pray for his heart and for the hearts of the kids at the orphanage.

In the evening, Brandon and Peter had to go to the train station to buy tickets for our train on Friday. When the men left, the kids came much more out of their shells and really began playing and talking with Sawyer and I. Even despite the language barrier they had us laughing and we were asking questions about each other. One of the teenage boys has been learning English and he came over and was helping translate for all of us (he actually wants to be adopted and has a file ready with an American adoption agency if anyone is interested). The girls wanted to take pictures with us and had lots of poses and cute ideas they wanted me to take pictures of. I probably have 40 pictures that either they took (they wanted turns trying out my big camera) or of the poses they had ready for me.  I was just so happy being with these amazing kids and seeing how happy they are and was glad they wanted to interact with us. Toan had no interest in our little photoshoots since one of the older girls had given him her phone with some games haha. We stayed at the orphanage until late and got to see their meal time and then had to say goodbye until the next day. That first day meeting him went so well, better than we ever could have hoped and we felt so incredibly blessed by the Lord. We couldn’t wait to go back the next day!