Happy Chinese New Year

Year of Ox

Our local CNY celebration was amazing! It was hosted by our local chapter of Families with Children from China. There were Lion Dancers, little girls on up to adults doing traditional dances in colorful costumes, Chinese food, games, face painting, slide show, portraits, drawings, and even goldfish in little bowls to decorate the table. There were 375 friends there! Amazing turn out don't you think?

We made some sweet memories. Steve recorded some of the Lion Dancers and I will try to get that posted here sometime soon...we'll see. Anyway, memories:

Jesse made a slide show that showed many of the adoptee's referral picture and their recent picture. As it began, she had SCC's song Cinderella playing. Sophie said,"I know that song mom. That Steven Curtis Chapman?" looking up at the screen "Who's it gonna be, me?" "That me mom?" "Mom, why they up there?" Well Sophie, I said, those are the children who are adopted from China. We sat and watched, then, the slide show quit working. Sophie kept saying "What's wrong??" I said, oh well, it quit working, and moved along. Sophie turned my face to hers and held my face in her hands, " I adopted" over and over. She was so sad her picture wasn't there. Steve got up to go help Jesse's computer cooperate and much later in the evening, it worked! Sophie sat up in my lap, so excited to see her "adopted". She beamed with pride when she saw herself up on a big screen and that is was her adopted, to SCC no less! She has gone on and on about that!

Sophie also loved loved loved the little Chinese dancers that were about her age. "Mom, can I get up on that stage and dance?" Umm, no. "Oh, do I have to work real hard?" Um, well, yes, you would have to go to dance class and work real hard to get to dance up there. "OH"..."Hey mom, next time, I get big, I dance up on stage right there, you hold baby right there(pointed to my lap) and baby watch me dance, right?" Sure Sophie, if you want to. "Yes, I do"

Sophie loved every single detail of the evening. She was a little nervous this year as she put her red envelope in the Lion's mouth, but she did it!

Oh how much do we love this little girl!