Luoyang Part 2

Sorry for the super short post. I was completely exhausted after the trip. It was an amazing, but hard day. There have been several of you who went over and got your children who graciously took pictures of Joseph. If you look back through the pictures, he is almost always being held by the same tiny older lady. Yesterday Joseph got a chance to say goodbye, and we got the gift of knowing that he was deeply loved and and formed a real bond with this woman. This was a bitter sweet experience. I was thankful they got 1 more chance to see each other and say goodbye, and even more thankful to know that Joseph has experienced a loving relationship, but my heart hurt for him as he grieved when we left. We did get her to write him a short note for his baby book. I was able to see his playroom and the half the sky preschool room. At that point I took Joseph back to the bus and Brian and Isaac continued on. For those of you who asked us to inquire about older kids I am sorry we didn't succeed in getting to visit them or get any info.. I wonder if Mike who is on the Luoyang yahoo group could assist? Because it was a holiday the orphanage director was off. After our visit at the orphanage we visited the finding sites for the 3 boys. First we went to the women and children's hospital to photograph the entrance for another family. They have a precious 3 1/2 year old boy from Luoyang and it has been so much fun to travel with them. The dad is a science teacher, so those of you who know Isaac can imagine how much he is enjoying their company! The next stop was at an appliance store front a couple of blocks from the hospital. Is was in a busy, well populated area and babies are frequently left there as well. Jospeh's finding site was quite a ways away, 30 minutes in the wrong direction from Longmen Grottos which we were supposed to visit. The other families gfenerously offered to miss seeing the grottos so we would have time to go to Joseph's site. We finally made it to Joseph's site which was at a city forest park in an industrial area of town. We got pictures of the entrance of the park. Another 1 of the families said that it reminded them of central park.It was a very emotional day. On the way out of Luoyang we stopped at a pottery shop for momentos from the boys home town. Luoyang is famous for tri colored pottery and was the capital city for 7 of 9 dynasties in China so it is rich in history. The ride back was interesting. The landscape was beautiful. We passed a lot of caves which still have people living in them. There were several small farming villages that appeared to have only fire as their source of heat.We got back in to Zhengzhou last evening and had dinner with the Thompsons at Island Coffee, a restaraunt close to the hotel. Brian tried to order soy sauce for his rice and they couldn't understand him. He tried saying it very slowly, and with several different accents. These poor people tried their very best to accomadate him and brought out ketchup, hot sauce, and another sauce to try and help, but no soy sauce no matter how Brian said it. I wish I had a tape. We have enjoyed our travel group so much on this trip and can really see how God put this group of families together. Joseph is continuing to trust us a little more each day. It has been a slow but incredibly rewarding experience.