Once we arrived at the orphanage, we were ushered into a large room with a few tables and chairs, a TV, and a stereo system. One by one, the four babies (Heather and Mark picked up two babies, Kent and Frank picked up one, and my parents and I picked up Owen) were brought into the room. It was a bit tough to identify the babies at first, but I quickly recognized Owen. He was quite attached to his main caregiver: whenever he was taken away from her, he began to cry.
After a short time, we were told that we were going to the Justice Department to finish up the adoptions. We had dropped off care packages for the orphanage along with gifts for the caregivers and orphanage officials. Then we got back into the van and drove to the Justice Department, which was a short drive away in Langson. Once we got there, we were ushered into a large room with a big central table and a couple tables in the back. We sat down and waited. I was called into a different room for an interview with the officer. She asked a few basic questions such as my name, if I knew the name of the child, and if the child was acceptable. Owen's birth mother was in the same room, signing away her rights to him. I signed some pages and then went back into the big room.
Once the other families had finished their short interviews, everyone was back in the big room and the ceremony itself began. The ceremony consisted of me standing at the head of the table, shaking hands with the Justice Department director, receiving some paperwork, then sitting down and signing a big book and some more paperwork. After all the families were done, the officials gave short speeched stressing the requirement that we continue with our commitment to report on the status of the children up to age 18. Then Mark gave a short speech expressing gratitude for being given the opportunity to care for the children and stressing that the culture of Vietnam will be a part of the children's lives. Then each family stood with the birth parents and the children for pictures.
We then took our children back into the van and left for Hanoi. Owen was pretty upset to be taken from his caregiver, but he calmed down after a while. He enjoyed looking at everything new passing by outside the van, and then he fell asleep for a little while. During the ride, Kenny gave us information about the children's schedules. They wake up and have their morning feeding between 6am and 7am. They have another feeding between 11am and noon. Then they nap after that and feed again around 5pm. Then they feed again at 9pm and go to bed. We were also told that their formula is Dialac.
Owen got restless a few times during the ride home and was crying quite a bit when we got back to Hanoi. When we got to Hanoi, we stopped at a photo store to get pictures of the children for the US Consulate. Owen was crying, so hopefully the pictures will be acceptable. After the photos were taken, we waited for a long time on the sidewalk for our van to come back. We eventually heard that the van was in an accident which delayed the driver. We ended up taking cabs to the location of the accident and then loading into the van and finally returning to the Somerset Grand. Owen was pretty upset the whole time, but he could be consoled by walking around the sidewalks with him. He likes to look at the traffic and the crowds on the streets.
Here is Owen with his main caregiver.
Here I am trying to give Owen a toy.
This is Owen's birth mother's family. His birth mother is holding him.
Owen wore this hat on the ride home.
He took a short nap for part of the drive. He was pretty upset the rest of the trip.
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