Gong Xi Fa Cai - the Year of the Rooster

It's been almost twelve years since our little Rooster was born. Dayna is excited that her year has rolled around again. We're in a bit of denial that our girl is almost twelve!

With the exception of Dan getting sick the night before, we had a fun celebration. Dan's dad was able to join us, and Dayna brought a friend this year. China Buffet once again fed us well, and the lion dancers were spectacular. Good food. Good friends. Happy New Year!

Annie passed notes the whole time with her new friend Natalie. It was so sweet to watch them interact.

Chopsticks

This is one of my favorite videos that shows how beautiful the Chinese culture is and how a simple thing like a pair of chopsticks can bring so many people together.

Chinese Cultural Camp

Dayna had an opportunity to attend a Chinese cultural camp, where she learned some language, calligraphy, martial arts, games and even cooking!

FCC Picnic

We have been attending FCC (Families with Children from China) functions for years now. They often have guest speakers and performers. However, the girls are usually more interested in playing with friends. This year, they were both fascinated by the Kung Fu demonstration. Dayna is even excited to attend a Chinese Cultural day camp this summer and learn some more things from the local Chinese cultural association.

Chinese New Year 2016 - The Year of the Monkey

Another Chinese New Year has come and gone, and while we haven't experienced the world's windfall of prosperity, we're pretty content and blessed with the wealth of love and laughter in our home. The Families with Children from China party was once again a huge success - and Annie really enjoyed the Lion Dancers (with earplugs to drown out the cymbals and drums.) Both girls were absolutely lovely in their silks, and we all left well fed.

Chinese New Year 2015 - The Year of the Ram/Sheep/Goat

I love getting pictures of the girls in their silk dresses. We had a lot of fun at the Families with Children from China party this year. We prepared Annie by watching Lion Dance videos ahead of time, as well as providing her with some sound blocking ear buds. As a result, she enjoyed the lions this year!

Check out this video for some amazing lion dance action.

Singing her Chinese song for the crowd

I love how protective Dayna is of her little sister here.

Preparing for Chinese New Year

While I did NOT clean my house meticulously from top to bottom to sweep out last year's bad luck, we did follow a few traditions to prepare for Chinese New Year.

Like haircuts:

Annie may or may not have taken scissors to her own head just days before this happened.

Don't know why I didn't snap an after, but Dayna is sporting some lovely long layers now.

Our new friend Shirley invited us to her home to color banners to hang on our door.

100 Good Wishes

Earlier this week, the International Quilt Study Center hosted a lecture by Marin Hanson about the tradition of giving a 100 Good Wishes quilt to a Chinese adoptee. Tradition holds that in Northern China, 100 people (or many people) are invited to contribute cloth and a good wish for a new child.

Years ago, Katie and I assembled the quilt for Dayna. My mom and I are still in process to put all of the good wishes into a special book for her.

It was a fun treat for the speaker to see Dayna come in with her quilt to show. And it was especially fun to watch Dayna shine as she talked about her own experience and quilt. What a fun way to spend the afternoon and enjoy 3 generations and the love of quilts.

Gutian Girls

While in Portland, Dayna was able to meet up with Lindsay - a new friend from across the world. Both girls spent the first year of their lives in Gutian - a very small town (by Chinese standards) in Fujian Province. Lindsay was in town from Alaska getting ready for her big bone graft surgery.

The girls became fast friends and even plan to continue writing to each other.