Visit with Vivian

Today was a busy day!  We started the morning making our way to the Eastern Social Welfare Services office for our one hour visit with Vivian.  Matt and Krista stayed for the visit while Grandma Sandy and Grandma Polly took the other kids on a walk. 

First, we met with Vivian's social worker and we received all of the immigration paperwork that we need to bring her back to MN.  Then we were taken to a room where Vivian was with her foster mom.  She was very shy and stayed very close to her foster mom. 

We played with her and she started to open up a little, but would always run back to her foster mom.  By the end of the hour, she was giving Matt "high fives" and smiling at us a little! 

The hour went by very fast but we were happy to have the time with her.  When she was leaving, she even gave us hugs and kisses!

As she was walking out with her foster mom, they ran into our kids waiting for us outside.  Immediately she smiled at them and waved!  That was encouraging.  If she did not warm up to Matt and I in one hour, she immediately took to the kids! 

Tomorrow we go again to meet with her at 1:00pm for one hour and then we take custody of her at 2:00pm.  That will be a difficult time for her as her foster family leaves her with us.  Pray for the transition and for the wonderful family that has been taking care of her for 22 months.  We can see how much she means to the foster mom and we want to reassure her that we will take good care of Vivian.

After our meeting, we had lunch with several other families that are also in Korea to pick up their child.  One woman was from Minneapolis picking up her second adopted son.  It was fun to connect with her and share stories.

When lunch was over, we went to Yonsei University.  This is the University where Krista studied during the summer of 1994.  It has changed quite a bit from when she was there, but the dorm where she stayed was still standing (at least the half she lived in). 

Then it was off to Incheon to the Star of the Sea Orphanage.  This is the orphanage where Krista stayed before being adopted.  They have a new building on their campus which looks beautiful.  All of the kids were sleeping for their afternoon nap so we could not walk around in the buildings, but it was fun to show the kids where Krista stayed for several months when she was a baby.

It was a full day!  We got back to the hotel and rested for a few minutes and then went out to grab dinner.  For the second day in a row, Levi fell asleep before the food arrived.  We have tired out the kids, the grandmas and ourselves!

Pray tomorrow for the transition.  We will have our one hour meeting with Vivian where the entire family will be with her.  Then her social worker will say a blessing on her and her foster family will leave.  We are not sure how she will react to all of this change and we are praying that she will learn to trust us quickly.