celebrating Addie's day

Tonight we spent the evening making and wrapping 35 or so heart-shaped rice crispy treats to hand out to Addie's classmates for Valentine's Day tomorrow. Nearly eight years ago Addie joined our family...traveling from a "little" coastal town in the Fujian Province of China. They tell us she was born on Valentine's Day. To us, this holiday will forever be Addie's Day.

chinese new year lanterns

February 3rd marks the beginning of Chinese New Year, a holiday we celebrate with friends and family. To mark the occasion, I've re-strung two of my favorite possessions, antique metal lanterns, with vintage red velvet ribbons. My plan is to display both (one for each of my daughters) on the front porch -- let's hope the weather cooperates.



Below is a little painting I did of my treasured lanterns.

dragon blossoms

Fuzhou, China (March 2004)

As a mother of two Chinese-born daughters, it is important to me that we celebrate the history, art, and cultural traditions of their birth country alongside the myriad of customs native to this area, families of friends, and of my own Hispanic heritage. Finding a healthy balance is sometimes easier said than done.

My daughters are fully aware of their adoption journey, and as they grow older, they ask more questions surrounding their adoption process, China, and their birth parents. Unfortunately, we don't know any specifics about our daughters' birth parents, but we do know who cared for them from within hours of their births right up to the moments we met them for the very first time. Still, there is so much more to know.

Dragon Blossoms by Linda Bevis - Whole World Press

Someday we plan to return to China with Laria and Addie to visit their birth Provinces (Sichuan and Fuzhou respectively) in hopes of answering some of their questions and curiosities. And when we do go, I will have had the fortune of reading this book, Dragon Blossoms - An Adoptive Family's Year in China, written and recently published by our friend and neighbor Linda Bevis. I have only just begun reading the book since it arrived in last week's mail, but already I am gleaning valuable insights from Linda's honest account and personal decisions to make this journey with her family.

Thank you Linda, Ed, and of course, Leyla Fu-Chi.