JUST HOURS NOW!!

It is only hours now until Gwenn and her family will meet up with their new daughter. Other families that they have talked to throughout their travels have shared that they will travel another 5 to 6 hours to get to the location of their child that they are adopting. Or the child themselves will have to travel a long distance to get to the parents. Not for Gwenn and Nathan. Baby Jessa is just across the street! Around 10 am their time Monday morning (8:00pm Utah time Sunday night) they will walk across the street to the Social Welfare Institute and meet their daughter for the very first time! What a relief to not have to travel any further.

Usually in the transition of placing a child with a family there is a 24 hour “temporary” custody time frame that the families deal with. After that time is up then a “permanent” custody is put into place. Gwenn and Nathan were asked if they wanted to by-pass the “temporary” part and to just “finalize” custody all in one day…..I am sure I don’t need to write Gwenn’s response….YES!! So today after meeting Jessa they will spend hours this afternoon signing all of the papers necessary to “permanently” take custody of Jessa. What a blessing. This actually frees up an additional day for the family to travel and experience Jessa’s world. They have also been offered the opportunity to travel (it isn’t too far away) to Jessa’s orphanage this afternoon. There is a $300.00 fee for this opportunity and Gwenn said it is worth every penny! She can’t wait to go there.

As they travel around the different cities they have a “guide” that helps to translate and inform them about their surroundings. Gwenn said their guide here in Nanchang couldn’t be more perfect! She is heaven sent! The guide actually grew up in this area and is personally familiar with all that Gwenn and her family are seeing and experiencing. This guide knows the life that Jessa would have if she stayed and grew up in China herself. Gwenn feels very fortunate to be learning from this guide all that she is, and it goes beyond the usual “tourist” attractions. It is amazing all the blessings that keep pouring out upon this family!

Gwenn said that when adopting a child from China the adoptive parents are always informed that their child is “potty trained”. So when the crib was delivered to their hotel room and a “potty chair” was included she giggled. Remember that Jessa is only 17 months old.  Gwenn said it is definitely more that the care givers are trained, not the child. Apparently they have set times throughout the day that the children are placed on these potty chairs and possibly even “strapped on” and “sit” until “water” or more is produced. Gwenn will share a photo of the potty chair later, but a general description is that it looks close to what our “rocking horses” here look like. There is a “seat” and handles. She did say that the designs are swans and other animals, not necessarily a horse.

Speaking of bathroom facilities, Gwenn said these are less than desirable! There are no public facilities available, there are some in restaurants, but these lack greatly in santitary well-being. Often the decision to “hold it” until a return to the hotel room is possible, takes first priority!

She sounded so good! In fact she was quite perky for it being 4 am! You may know already but she has referred to the day that they get Jessa as “Christmas”. Merry Christmas Gwenn and Nathan!! Merry Christmas!