FCC CNY Celebration

Last night we celebrated BIG! The Houston chapter of Families with Children from China (FCC) had their annual Chinese New Year (CNY) party at a huge Chinese restaurant. It was quite an event. Children were everywhere. (My dh keep commenting on how many children there were. We were mesmerized.) There were Lion Dancers, firecrackers popping (bubble wrap - great idea!), children singing in Chinese, crafts, door prizes, and yes, wonderful Chinese food.

Speaking of the food... it just kept coming! This was our first experience with eating Chinese food in courses. We keep thinking we were full and another plate would be sat before us. Let's see - eggrolls, wonton soup, crispy chicken, brocolli beef, pork and shrimp fried rice, fried fish with sauce, and finally cake. Okay the cake was not on the Chinese menu, but who passes on cake! We may not be able to eat take out from Wok Delite again!

The festivities were lots of fun, but we truely enjoyed the families we met. We sat with 3 families - 2 "pioneer" adoptive families with their 10 and 11 year old daughters and one mom with her 2 girls; one adopted 2 years ago and one came home 6 months ago. The stories we heard and the advice we got were invaluable. We look forward to seeing them next year with our own daughter and adoption stories to share.

We also had a chance to say hello in person to the "Clear Lake" group members. We have all been chatting on occasion by email and I've met several moms briefly in person. We continue to try to get together on our side of town. I look forward to new friends and playgroups for our children.

One last thing, call it a lesson learned, from the FCC CNY event... "I hate my camera!" The flash kept delaying, then the low battery light flashed, and most of my pictures came out blurry. Some may yell "operater error", but I'm not buying into that. I usually am a good photographer. It just makes me worry about our memories in China. I mean what if all our Gotcha Day photos are blurry or the camera keeps shutting off. I'd freak out!! So note to self: reread the camera manual to see if you can fix the problem or go buy a new camera!