Reflections

After a busy weekend of adjusting to the time change, getting the laundry done and a big gymnastics competition (which I will share at a later date) I have a few minutes to reflect on what just happened to our family. A friend of mine asked what the one greatest moment of the trip was? But the answer isn't that easy. The trip to China was everything I had hoped for. Meeting families, visiting orphanages, reliving history and seeing the changes in China have impacted my life and that of our children. The children seem content with their discoveries and appreciative of the effort that went into planning a trip this big. I feel closer to my children and it is easy to talk with them about China. They now have a reference point for all discussions concerning their adoption. S.J. now knows all his grandparents, S.S. in her silent way has accepted her past and R.X. found a piece of her identity. What more could I as a mother ask for?

"The door to the past is unlocked and the door to the future is wide open."

The Final Rewind...I Promise!

I'm finding it hard to finish the trip report, as of course, life goes on. I'm not sure I like the idea of being back in the real world of doing laundry, cooking and getting kids to do their homework. What struck me the most is that it's COLD in Ottawa. Yuck!

Our last full day in China was March 18th. In the morning we went to Tian-men Square and the Forbidden City. Everything seemed the same to me as 11 years ago except for one key thing. No one was flying or selling kites in Tian-men square. People were selling postcards, souvenir books, Mao watches (with Mao waving) and the little "Red Book" but no kites. Strange.

Tian-men Square

Approaching the Forbidden City

Finally inside the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City goes on and on. You enter through the south gate and have to walk to through several courtyards to exit at the north gate. No shortcuts to be had. The buildings are amazing. In the center of each courtyard there is a large room, each with a different purpose. These rooms were reserved for the Emperor. Around the outer walls are a number of smaller rooms which would have been used by soldiers, servants and commoners. As with all ancient buildings in China, the detail is exquisite and beyond words.

Here we all are...I think this was the last family picture we had in China.

We got back to our hotel room at about 1:30pm and realized that there was still time for SHOPPING before the Goodbye China party we were attending in the evening. R.E. got directions and we headed off on the subway to the indoor silk market. The subway was easy to use as the names of the different stops were written in Chinese and English. On one of the lines there were even announcements in both languages. We kept hold of the children as we went through the subway since it was quite busy.

On the subway

We had a lot of fun at the silk market as our bartering skills had been perfected long ago. Still known as the "cheap lady", my husband confirmed that I was just brutal. Again we didn't get off the first floor and now I realize it isn't finding what you want that takes so long but the bartering. Oh well, we still managed to buy a lot of stuff.

In the evening we went to a local restaurant that again specialized in Beijing Duck. We all gathered and there was quite a few of us since at the beginning of the week we had joined an adoption group. They too were saying goodbye to China. Let me tell you, it was quite the party! There was food, there was gifts, there was cake, there was a magician, and even a special appearance by the "Monkey King". All would agree that we had an awesome last night in China!

R.X. thought the Monkey King was pretty amazing.

After all was said and done we returned to our hotel room to begin packing. Guess what I discovered? That in the morning I would just have to go SHOPPING for another suitcase. Oh shucks ;) S.S. and I got up early to go shopping and didn't just buy a suitcase. We knew we needed a few more toys and of course some shirts for Dad. Before I knew it we were out of money and had to go back to the hotel.

Our journey home began as we arrived at the Beijing Airport at 2:00 p.m. Our flight didn't leave until 7:00 p.m. so we had one last meal with friends. This is the day we lived twice as we arrived in Toronto at 7:35 p.m. Our flight was 12 1/2 hours long and yet it was still March 19th. We barely made our flight to Ottawa but thanks to a delay we made it and were very happy when by midnight we were on our way to sleep in our own beds.

Rewind...continued

On March 17th S.J. and R.X. were quite tired and stayed home during the day so they would be well rested for a visit with S.J.'s maternal grandparents in the evening. Having said that they still had the energy to go to a bike shop and MacDonald's with Dad.

S.S. and I went to the Temple of Heaven. This temple was built for an Emperor during the 1400's. It is quite an extensive structure and it's hard to believe that not one nail was used in its making.

S.S. and her new friend from Timmons, Ontario

A traditional stroller is not a very common thing to see but...

...split pants are. Too cute!

This picture was taken at the entrance to the Pearl Market. S.S. and I had a great time here as we bartered for super deals. I stuck to my guns and got everything for 1/3 of the asking price or less. Favourite quotes from merchants included, "cheap lady" and "you're killing me." We had so much fun that we never did get to the top floor where all the pearls were and we almost missed the bus. If it wasn't for S.S.'s great sense of direction I would never have made it out of the store. As we did however, the bus was leaving the parking lot and I was having an "Ikea, start the car" moment when we ran after it, arms full of bags and yelling "Stop, wait for us!"

The evening belonged to S.J. as we went to a wonderful restaurant to visit with his grandparents. We had had the pleasure of meeting this set of grandparents on one other occasion in Ottawa. Our visit this night was no different as they are super kind people, very warm and gentle. S.J.'s grandpa never stopped smiling and S.J. seemed very content.

I will always remember the quiet way in which S.J. spent time with his grandparents and at one point told them he loved them in Chinese. There were tears and it was hard to say goodbye as we left these 2 wonderful people at the bus stop. Who knows when we will get to see them again.

Rewind

Okay, I'm sure you are noticing the date of this posting...yes it's March 20th and we've been home for almost 24 hours. The jet lag is starting to catch up with us as the children are watching Mulan and are trying to stay up until a reasonable bedtime.

As for a recap of our last four days in China let's see what I can do. I don't remember being as busy in Beijing as we were this time around. In the last days of our trip we visited a school, went to the Beijing Zoo, watched an Acrobatic Show, spent time walking around the Temple of Heaven, visited the Pearl Market (but never got to the floor with all the pearls), relived history at Tian-men Square and the Forbidden City, went to the indoor Silk Market, visited with S.J.'s grandparents and had a "Goodbye China" party. Oh and did I mention SHOPPING?

The Water Cube and The Bird's Nest

A trip to an elementary school proved inviting for S.S. as she was pulled to the front of the gym class to show off some skills. She also did a wonderful job of delivering a thank you speech on behalf of our group. What amazed us most about the school were the students. It was obvious to us that work very hard and are committed to excellence. Take a look at these videos if you would like to see top notch performances.

A Chinese Zither Performance

Basketball Frenzy

Each of our children met a pen pal and had a great time chatting and getting to know one another. The Chinese students are learning English and did quite well conversing with our kids. Hopefully they will become friends and continue to keep in touch.

We were served a lovely lunch. Apparently the students all have lunch served to them at school everyday. Boy do I wish we didn't have to make lunches all the time.
After a visit to the school it was off to the Beijing Zoo to see the pandas. R.E. noted that the zoo certainly had changed since 11 years ago when he and M.T. had gone. Like everything else in Beijing, the zoo has been rebuilt.

We were certainly in for a treat when we went to the Chinese Acrobatic show. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed. I did however take this picture at the beginning of the show. The highlight of the night was 12 girls on one bicycle and then there was the slack rope performance that was pretty cool, oh and the juggling act and the...it was just amazing!

The Acrobatic show was a great ending to a very busy day and a great way to end this posting. In trying to get this note posted quickly I discovered that Blogger ran into problems saving it and so I had to start it all over again. The next posting should cover our last two days in China and the trip home.

The Amazing Race...

After a quiet day and a late arrival in Beijing the flurry of activity began. I haven't written for three days because we've been so busy that when we get back to our hotel we all just drop. The next day it all just starts again. Today we have a little break as we don't have to be on the bus till 9:30.

On our first day in Beijing we visited a dirt market. This is one huge flea market where people sell old and new things...beware of fakes in the market. We were just getting the hang of bartaring when it was time to go. Too bad because there were many bargins to be had.

Are they or are they not antiques?The image in our heads that there are a lot of bicylces in China may be fading as now people can afford cars. Outside the dirt market there were a lot of bikes to be found.

The Summer Palace was built in a Dynasty where "The Dragon Lady" ruled. She was not a pleasant person and certainly very selfish. When the rest of China was starving she would demand that her cooks to cook so much food that they would end up throwing out enough to feed a family for a year. The palace was incredible and today it is enjoyed by thousands. When we first came 11 years ago we were able to stroll around and feel relaxed. Not so today, as this palace has become so popular.

Outside a temple.

This is the ceiling of the walking corridor that follows the lake. It is nearly 1km long and there are hundreds of paintings. No two paintings are the same. The view is always better from here!

Just about forgot the trip to the silk factory! We learned how to make silk and did some serious shopping.

Trying our hand at pulling silk to make a quilt.
In the evening we went with Yulin and another family to enjoy a meal in "Old Beijing" and walk around a popular spot for nightlife. It was a lot of fun to stroll down the streets and people watch.

Enjoying dinner with friends.

Full of energy and very happy.

Day 2 - Trip to the Great Wall with of course, some shopping mixed in. To begin the day we stopped at a Jade factory. I'm not sure I realized how valuable Jade was until we purchased some lifetime pieces for our children.

I've heard two names for the ball this man is carving, the generational ball and the happieness ball. Inside the ball he is currently carving is three or four other balls. All are moveable and the entire piece is carved from one piece of jade.

A huge and very expensive carving. Be sure to hide the price S.J.

The anticipation grew as we were heading towards the wall. It was all very exciting as we went higher and higher. "One World, One Dream"We had the choice of walking up the right side, which was easier or the left side that had less people. The left was chosen but was also the hardest. Who made it to the top...
...They did of course!

The trip back to the hotel was rather quiet and many children fell asleep until the tour guide announced that we were very close to the 2008 Olympic Stadium Venue. Blogger won't upload a picture right now so I will have to add that later.

So ther you have it...our first two days in Beijing. Crazy busy and a lot of fun.

Footnotes - Random thoughts for a quiet day...

Today it is quiet and rainy. Later this afternoon we will be heading to the airport for a flight to Beijing. Many thoughts have been going through my head, not in any particular order, just thoughts.

Yellow lines and taxis ~ the yellow line in the middle of the road means nothing to a taxi driver in a hurry. A ride back to the orphanage yesterday proved that. Quite scary.

Accidents don't cause traffic jams ~ There was a crowd of people around a car and scooter yesterday as there had been a collision in the middle of the road. Cars, scooters, buses and bikes just kept going every which way to get around it. Quite scary.

Just keep going ~ When crossing the road just keep moving. The vehicles will go around you. They don't stop for pedestrians in China. Quite scary.

Horns are a necessity ~ On the roads a horn tells another driver or walker to move over I'm coming. The louder and longer the sound the more risk involved. Quite scary.
Money switching ~ It can happen anytime by anyone. At dinner one night one of the groups 100 yuan bills got switched and yesterday we got a fake coin in our change. Quite scary.

Curiosity~ Different from nine years ago when people would crowd us and ask questions. Now they look from afar and wonder about our "odd" looking family. Not quite so scary.

Two folds ~ It is considered very special to have two folds in your eyelids as one fold is very common amongst Chinese people. Our girls are very beautiful as they have two folds. Not scary at all.

Kids shopping ~ While we try to get them to buy something traditional they just want to buy toys. Fun for them, quite scary for our pocketbook.

Old and New ~ The old is being torn down all around and the new is being built just as fast. Will anceint China be forgotten? Scary to think about.

See you in Beijing!

Summer Dew

Today is officially XiaLu Day! We woke up to rain today but that didn't dampen Xia Lu's excitement. We were off to her orphanage at 8:30 am and by 9:15 we were there. The roads and the buildings all around have changed but the orphanage was still the same as 9 years ago when I first visited. And guess what, this Social Welfare Institute is being rebuilt and will be finished by 2012. The Director came and met us at the door. She was instantly aware of Xia Lu's warm and outgoing personality. We were told that Xia Lu means "Summer Dew" in Mandarin. What a beautiful name for our girl!

We were escorted to a meeting room and Xia Lu was treated like a VIP as she received a beautiful gift from the Director.

Then it was off to meet the children and tour the orphanage. The first stop was a preschool class of young children. Boy, did we have fun as it was circle time. The whole family joined in and the children quickly warmed up to us.

Xia Lu handed out some gifts and the children went crazy. It was funny to watch as some hoarded and fought over the new toys. It was a very busy 1/2 hour.

Then it was off to the next classroom. All the children were older and things were much calmer. Again the gifts were handed out and the children played together, trying to make a puzzle or learning to do up a button or zipper. The teachers commented that a little boy that Xia Lu was playing with had never been so happy. Xia Lu can charm the socks off anybody!
We then moved on to visit the youngest children in the orphanage. They still live in the same area of the orphanage that Xia Lu lived in. The children were in 3 different playrooms and Xia Lu was the only one who could go in and play. It was clear to us that many of the children at the orphanage had some pretty major special needs to contend with for the rest of their lives.

As tradition goes we were invited to lunch and Xia Lu got to sit with our tour guide and the director. She was glad to share everything about her life in Canada including school, Girl Guides and writing her Chinese name. Everyone was convinced that Xia Lu would one day be a social worker.

Hefei, Xia Lu's hometown, has grown from 2 million to over 4 million in just 10 years. After searching for her finding spot it was discovered that the street name had been changed and is now known as Hechao Lu. The restaurant is gone but we walked the street and went to a very old market.

Everywhere we went we noticed young children and ladies with beautiful and similar facial features as Xia Lu and in her mind I think she has found one of the important pieces of her identity that was missing. She is a "Hefei Girl" as some people on the street stopped to ask us. Xia Lu seems very content and happy with her day. My heart fills with joy and happiness for her.

LiQing Day

Our family declared today as "LiQing Day" in honour of S.S.'s visit to her hometown. Today S.S. will be known as LiQing, her given name when she lived in China. Our day began at 5:00 am when LiQing and I couldn't sleep because we were excited about the day's events. We spent our time talking about memories I had and questions that should be asked. At 8:00 am we were on our way, just our family, Molly the tour guide, and the driver. In two hours we arrived in Yiwu, a small town of 650,000 people (by Chinese standard, that is).
A mother could not be prouder as I watched LiQing enter the orphanage and meet the Director, Mr. Lu. She carried herself with confidence and there was a glow of contentment about her. We had tea and asked our many questions. Gifts were presented to LiQing and she gave Mr. Lu a camera. Then it was time to tour the orphanage. This was not the original building that LiQing lived in and in fact this building is about to be torn down and will be replaced. This is not an uncommon occurrence in China as the country is changing at an incredible rate.
As we neared the main building we could hear little voices and some crying. There are 52 children currently residing at the home and only a few were young babies. As we enter a common room we were greeted by someone I think is the orphanage ambassador. This young person is 17 and has lived at the orphanage all of her life. I'm afraid she stole my heart.
LiQing presented gifts to some of the older children and then we went to visit the babies. Pictures were not allowed in this room so LiQing knew this would be the perfect time to take mental pictures as her teacher suggested. There were about 30 babies in cribs and 4 nannies were busy feeding many of them lunch. The babies who were eating were clearly older as they stood in their beds to wait for their lunch. It was clear to me that every one of the precious children had a special need of some sort. There were about 5 younger babies who were asleep and one young one who was just laying there and crying. It turns out that this little soul, who I think would be about 6 months old, had joined her orphanage family just this morning. I had the honour of holding this little one and cuddling her for about 10 minutes. Mental picture taken and will be preserved for many years to come.
After our visit we were escorted to a beautiful lunch with several orphanage staff. It was here that LiQing was able to share some of her accomplishments. I sensed that everyone was happy to know that she was doing so well in Canada. Our goodbyes were said and again we were off but this time it was to go visit LiQing's finding spot. LiQing was found in Houzhai Town, a smaller district of Yiwu and like everywhere else the buildings are all new.

Our visit was short and the memories will last a lifetime. Perhaps this last picture sums up LiQing Day in just the right way...

Children, Peacocks and Tea

Children,

Peacocks,

and tea.

Today we were busy enjoying the sights and sounds of Hangzhou. The weather was great as we had to shed our coats, drink lots of water and think about the risk of sunburn. Yes, it was a very nice day! We went for a boat cruise around West Lake, visited the Six Harmony Pagoda and went to a tea village. In the evening we did a little shopping at a "Toys R Us" store and ate at Pizza Hut. I guess we needed a little break from everything Chinese.
In the morning we head to Yiwu to visit S.S.'s orphanage, the part of town where she was found and stop for a brief shopping spree. Our time in Yiwu will be short as afterwards we need to go to Hefei which will be another 6 hour drive. Not a lot of walking will happen but I'm sure it will be just as tiring.
We've been asked a few questions along this journey so I'll do my best to answer them here:
1) What were those "Mickey Mouse" things that I showed on Day 1? They are MP3 players! They are small enough to hold in your hand and are 2GB.
2) What time is it really? We are 12 hours ahead of Canada. So as you read our blog at school we will already be sleeping, hopefully :) I guess we can honestly say, "Been there, done that."
3) Did we really eat jelly fish? Yes, it feels like a hard jello and takes on the flavor of the sauce you dip it in.
We may be posting very late tomorrow or not until the next day as I suspect our day of driving will end well into the evening. Ta Ta for now.

Centuries Apart

Today we left the modern and under major construction city of Shanghai. By the year 2012 there will 3000 buildings over 30 floors high. Shanghai is expensive compared to the rest of the country, with an average (small by our standards) apartment/condo costing as much as an average home in our neck of the woods. There is so much construction that there is a cloud of dust in the air and grit in your mouth. Yuck!

Shanghai at night

In just under 2 hours we reached the ancient water city of Wuzhen. In the particular corridor of this city we visited we were tourists, yet over 300 families still live in homes along the waterways. Their life was very traditional. While people had modern conveniences such as electricity they continue to wash their clothes in the river/canal.

As I strolled down a narrow walkway I met a little boy. A moment later I went back and gave him a set of pins. With apprehension and curiosity he accepted the gift and said thank you in English.

We watched a shadow puppet show about the ancient Monkey King. The performers were all senior citizens. They played simple instruments, spoke and sang from behind an illuminated screen. R.X. thought they should maybe get some singing lessons as their pitch was at times like screeching.

We went to a museum about beds. Let me tell you I didn't know beds were so significant and had a lot to do with status. However, I'm not sure I would be comfortable having my bed chamber right beside that of my husband's concubines as was done in the earlier dynasties.S.J. got to row one of the boats as we returned to where we had started. He is now an expert! It was so relaxing, I could have spent more time on the canal.This is a real home along the canal. The door was open and no one was around. I guess theft isn't a problem here. This appears to be a more wealthy home as in other homes we didn't see T.V. or fancy furniture. Things were much more simple.

The Girls

Something to thing about, I guess...

After visiting Wuzhen we went to Hangzhou. We will stay here for two days. This is the city where we met S.S. for the first time. S.S. and I went in search of the government building where we went to pick her up. No luck was to be had as the building has been torn down. However, we took this picture as a memory of what used to be.

S.S. seems very happy and interested in every little detail I share with her. Being back in Hangzhou brings back incredible memories for me. Although everything has changed in this city of 3 million it amazes me that I remember so much. After supper we walked to the famous West Lake to watch a fountain display put to music. It was beautiful. Outside the restaurant that we ate at. You're guess is as good as mine as to what we had for supper. I must admit that by now I'm having a craving for some comfort foods like bread and mashed potatoes.

New friends. Believe it or not the girl on the left and S.S. are the same age and the smallest girl and R.X. are the same age. R.X. and her new friend spell trouble as they play like little girls should, laugh a lot and really do miss some important instructions...like staying away from the edge of the lake! We were all in bed by 9:30 tonight but as usual I'm up at 3:00 am thinking about what an amazing and exhausting time of my life I'm having. Maybe now that I've written things down I can get some more sleep. Good night!

Almost Too Much For Words

It is almost too much to put in words what those first moments were like. We had to find our way around hundreds of people in a shopping mall before we were met by a young lady who lead us to a private dining room. There, my emotions got the best of me and I began to cry. Waiting for us were S.J.'s family. We nervously introduced ourselves and awkwardly hugged one another. Very quickly the gifts began to come out.

This gift in particular touched our hearts. It was Mr. W. who made the beautiful cross stitch picture which will be treasured by our family for years to come.

Then we ate and talked for what seemed just minutes but before we knew it 3 1/2 hours past. We talked about many things but most importantly we talked about S.J. We were touched by every one's love for our family and their concern for S.J. Somehow our meeting has put their minds at ease where he is concerned. They know, as we do, that S.J. is where he was always been meant to be. Precious moments will always be in my mind and my heart ~ like the face of a proud grandfather, an uncle carrying his nephew through the crowds of people and the grandmother who while walking away kept turning to look at S.J. just one last time.

A proud Grandfather and a very happy Grandson!Grandma was a shy and reserve women. Auntie was a lot of fun as uncle looked on fondly.

If only there was more time to build a friendship...

After visiting we looked around some shops and enjoyed some treats.

Dried duck anyone?

I think I'll take a sweet treat any day over dried duck.

This treat was the end to a wonderful day. S.J. says he already misses his birth family..

Send Me Back In Time

The moment we were off the plane, through the airport and out the door I felt like I had gone back in time 9 years to when R.X. joined our family. Sure the buildings look different but the sounds and smells are the same. Amazing!

The children were fantastic travellers. I'm afraid that none of us got much sleep but somehow we kept going until 10:00PM. There were no tears or meltdowns. When we were on the plane from Vancouver to Shanghai R.X. was excited that the food was "free". She turned to me and said "This really is going to be a great trip! Thanks for taking me to China."

The maglev train was amazing. True to what we had heard we were downtown in just 8 minutes. Our top speed was 301km/hr. Too cool!

We met up with R.E.'s friend who helped us get from the airport to the hotel. We went shopping and had a terrific dinner. The kids were adventurous and ate most everything on their plate, even the jelly fish.

In just 1 hour we will meeting with S.J.'s grandparents, aunt and uncle and a cousin. I'm a little nervous but S.J. seems calm, cool and collect.

On the plane.

On the Maglev...

KFC Delivery anyone?

Dinner with friends.

Some night life. This is a street full of restaurants.

Can you guess what these are? Tell you next time! Bye for now.

Leaving On A Jet Plane....

Our bags are packed and we're off! I was a little scarred when at 12:30 I heard freezing rain tapping at our window but all is good. The kids are excited but calm and we should be boarding in about 10 minutes. Just a few bags!

So eager...too bad we're just starting!

5 minutes to boarding...See you in Shanghai!

Then and Now

As I was going through pictures this past month I came across early baby pictures of all our children. Just take a look at our awesome children...

M.T. born December 16, 1987

S.S. born September 18, 1997

R.X. born June 10, 1999

S.J. born August 6, 2000

Just take a look at us now!

R.E., M.T.,

H.D., R.X., S.S.,

S.J.

Always Take a Gift

Preparations for China continue as we put the final touches on some of the gifts we are planning to take to China. The blankets are done. At the request of S.J.'s birthmom we made two extra blankets. One is for his Great Grandmother who is living with his grandparents in Beijing. The other is for his Great Grandfather who passed away four years ago. They will take the blanket to his grave so that he will know that S.J. is well and happy.

We asked our local, provincial and national governments for lapel pins and look what we got! Don't ever be shy about asking. Everything you see here was free. All we did was arrange the individual pins on cardstock and package them. These will make super gifts for students at the school we will be visiting and for staff at the orphanages.


I've never been a scrapbook person. I figure if I start a project that takes years to finish the result will be... I'LL NEVER FINISH! Having said that, I went through 8 years of photos and put together two scrapbooks of S.J.'s life with us. S.J. will give one book to each set of Grandparents. I hope they will like them as much as I do.

Some favourite pages

Our adoption facilitator and now "Back to China" planner just called. She is arranging the trip for five families but it's really tricky because our children come from all different provinces and of course, we all want to visit our daughter(s) orphanages. As the plan is currently, we will all meet in Shanghai, then head out to different parts of China and then meet up again in Beijing (that's the short version). For us the complicated part is arranging meetings with S.J.'s extended family and not miss any of the planned events. We are going to be one busy family!

Facing Reality

Excitement is in the air as we count down the weeks till we travel to China. In just five weeks we are returning to the homeland of our 3 younger children. S.S.(now 11) and R.X.(now 9) were born in China and like many babies spent the first months of their lives in an orphanage. S.J.(age 8) is our youngest son and is 1st generation Canadian. I'll get to his amazing story at another time.

I wouldn't call this trip a vacation but rather a time of discovery. Our children are adopted and as a result pieces of their story are missing. It's not always easy to talk about what we don't know and often the tears roll down everyones' cheeks as our girls grieve what they have never known. Our girls deal with their loss in very different ways.

S.S. is very analytical and deals with the facts. She gets it and seems very accepting of the path her life is taking. When we have some mother and daughter time I am often overwhelmed by the depth of her thoughts and the logical way in which S.S. approaches her life. She has a humanitarian heart and sometimes I wonder if she will return to China as an adult in an effort to make a difference. Time will tell.

R.X. has a sensitive spirit and wishes for things that are out of her reach. She understands that there must have been a good reason that her birth parents had to entrust her life to people unknown but she is desperately searching for her identity. We talk about the sadness and we celebrate our family. We often reflect on how we have been woven together. More importantly, we give our children permission to imagine "how life might of been" or "what their birth parents were really like". We want them to know that we are there for them as they try to understand.

Tonight we watched this YouTube video:

This video opened the flood gates again as R.X. shared that she was happy to have her family but just wishes that she knew her birth parents. What does a mommy say? I wish that I could take the pain away but I know she has to go through the valley to rise up and feel strong. I hope that our trip to China gives her some of the closure she needs.

For S.J. this trip has a different meaning. He was born in Canada to parents who had just immigrated from China. His birth parents faced an incredible challenge as the doctors discovered that their child had Spina Bifida. Their decision to have him adopted is not for me to explain (at least, not at this time) and is certainly a decision to be respected. We are fortunate to have an open adoption. S.J. knows his birth parents. While we haven't seen them in a few years we regularly write and talk on the phone. When we go to China S.J. will be meeting 2 sets of grandparents, a great-grandmother, some aunts, uncles and some cousins. He will have a connection to his family and will understand the love. Nonetheless I'm sure he will still have some unanswered questions.

In preparation for our trip the children have written important letters. S.J. wrote to both sets of grandparents and the girls wrote to their orphanages. We have received letters, either by email or snail mail and have found out that we are welcomed to visit while in China. As a family we are making blankets for the orphanages and S.J.'s cousins. I have contacted our national, provincial and city governments to request lapel pins and started collecting other souvenirs to share while we are in China. We've started planning the packing and are completing the paperwork for the visas this weekend. Vaccinations were done a few months ago. We will be going to China with other families who have also adopted and there are many events planned. We will be going to a school and the children have already written pen pal letters. I guess we will have to think of a few good gifts to share with their new pen pals.

~Your children are like fingers; all similar, but no two alike.~

Easy Chinese Moon Cakes

Chinese Moon Cakes are usually very fancy and as a result hard for the ametuer chef to make. A web search for something we could make at home lead me to the recipe below. True to the name these cookies were easy to make and fun for the kids.

Easy Chinese Moon Cakes

1/4 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup strawberry jam or red bean paste (which is used for a more authentic version)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk, stir.
3. Mix in flour.
4. Form the dough into one large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate dough for half an hour.
6. Unwrap the chilled dough and form small balls in the palms of your hand.
7. Make a hole with your thumb in the ce3nter of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam or red bean paste.
8. Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet.
9. Bake for about 13-15 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown.

***One of guest had an egg allergy so we made an adjustment to the recipe: instead of stirring in an egg yolk use 1 tablespoon ground flax seed in 3-4 tbsp warm water (set aside for a few minutes) and melt the butter before mixing. Omit brushing the moon cakes with egg.***

The adjustments worked great and I think I liked the flavour better then the original cakes.

Hope you give this recipe a try!

Xin Nian Hao!

A great time was had yesterday as we gathered to prepare for Chinese New Year. I was a little worried when 3 of the young ladies helping prepare the dinner had a sleep over the night before. Given their lack of sleep I was quite thrilled to experience their high level of enthusiasm and attentiveness.

Here we are preparing the Jiaozi (dumplings)

While the ladies prepared the meal my husband and our youngest son, SJ put up the couplets outside our front door. These special couplets were made by an exchange student from Taiwan who lived with us in 2001/02 for 9 months. I can't remember what they say but I recall something about spring...yeah, that's a few weeks away :)
The beautiful lantern below was a gem we found a couple years ago hidden away at the Chinese Lantern Festival in Toronto ~ by the way~ an event well worth taking in.

The hard work was completed and we all had time for tea before the men arrived to this wonderful meal. 7 main course dishes were served along with drinks and some lovely desserts...

SJ certainly enjoyed the punch!
SS, our oldest daughter made Nian Gao and our version of Moon Cakes.

Then there were the silly but fun games... oh what you can do with a blind fold, rice and chop sticks!

The whole evening was a lot of fun. I hope that the children who attended learned a little about the culture that our 3 younger children share. Hopefully the ladies left with some new recipes to try and maybe, just maybe the men left with full bellies.

~Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I'll understand.~

Chinese New Year - Canadian Style

So, tonight we started preparing for our family Chinese New Year Celebration. This year we are having 3 neighbourhood families and another good friend (yes Paula, that's you) over on Sunday to celebrate. In years past my husband and I would go crazy making a meal for 30 or so people, decorate, create crafts for the kids to do and plan games.
This year it was decided that since the younger kids are older now they should really be a part of the preparations. In fact, one of my daughters will use the experience to earn an interest badge in Girl Guides. Check out her planning meeting picture. She and a few of her friends made invitations, planned the meal and made the shopping list. R. took her role as Chairperson quite serious as she encouraged everyone to get the work done and of course, eat the snacks.
The plan... the ladies (young ones included) will arrive at 1:00 to help prepare the meal and the men will come later to eat it. We will make dumplings, garlic ribs, chow mein, Cantonese Pork, Bok Choy. We'll order out for egg rolls. For dessert we are planning to make Nian Gao and our homemade version of moon cakes.
Now my oldest daughter and I are off to Costco to make a few purchases.

A Starting Point

All to often we find it difficult to write down those stories that are most precious to us and before we know it our memory fades. I often cringe when one of my children says, "Mom, remember when..." and unfortunately I don't. So, in an attempt to remember all that is important to me I begin blogging. May my family enjoy my memories of how we were woven together by the hands of our Lord.