Chinese New Year celebration 2008

We have had a great time celebrating Chinese New Year this year. We participated in several activities. First, we got together with the families wetraveled to China with in 2004. The girls have such a wonderful timetogether. I wasn't there but know they had a great time. Two of the families took Rachel to see Chinese dancers the next weekend. She had a blast with 2 of her Hengyang sisters. They took us out to eat Mexican after the show. I was beyond exhausted fromm staying at the hospital and really enjoyed the food and company.

FCC (Families with Children from China) had 2 gatherings. The first was the monthly dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. The second gathering with the big Chinese New Year celebration. There were over 500 people at the gathering. We enjoyed great food, crafts for the kids, shopping, dancing, and gathering of friends/family.

Next year will have to also include Tet. It is going to take some research and outreach to the Vietnamese community. We will do some shopping of Vietnamese items to decorate our home.
Now it is time to take down the decorations and put them away until next year. I am so happy we bought all the things we did while in China.

Peace

Sunday afternoon, at 2:33, my mother passed away. I was with her, along with my younger brother and Dad. She died 10 days short of her 81st birthday. It is hard saying goodbye, but she is now at peace.
M-

Ready for Kindergarten??

I can't believe that my Tatertot is going to be in kindergarten this fall!! Today began the registration for school in the fall. I had looked at internet, talked with my teacher friends and even went on a tour of a school back in October. (and this is for public school). A new school was opened last fall that is awesome. They have a lot of the programs that I think would be great for her. I knew I wanted her to go there the moment I walked into the school.

So, I got to the school at 8:00 this morning (the time registration started) and there was already a fairly long line. I filled out the papers and wrote down 2 choices. I would be okay with the second choice, but I REALLY would like her to go to the first choice. There is no guarantee we will get her in there, but at least I did all I could.

I-600 Reciept

We got an email stating that our I-600 had be received in HCMC. This means that we have up to 60 days to hear back from them. With Tet beginning soon, I predict we will have to wait at least the 60 days. This is going to be a long 2 month stretch...

what comes next...

No, this doesn't relate to our adoption. Tatertot and I had the following conversation.

Tatertot: Mama what comes after marriage?
Me- (totally shocked.) "What do you mean?"
T- after you get married what happens?
Me- You live happily ever after.
T- NO! You have an anniversary and then go on dates. You have lots dates.
Me- You have dates before you get married and also after you get married.
T- Well, I am going to get married, have an anniversary, and then DATE!
Me- You are so funny!?!

She then walks back to her room and continues playing. Where do they get these ideas??

I-600

We got word yesterday that our I-600 was mailed to HCMC in Vietnam. That was great news! We should hear something from the USCIS in about 60 days. This is the new hurdle that makes the wait longer between referral and travel, but will make the trip shorter in Vietnam.

J- and I have spent the morning making chili. Our church has its annual cook-off tonight. We basically took a recipe and did our own twists to it. J- has a pot and I have a pot. He has beans and I do not. It is a spicy chili that calls for a full cup of chili powder, but we used about 3/4 cup. We haven't been able to go the past 2 years because we were celebrating Chinese New Year with FCC. This year they aren't on the same day so not an issue. The church also has a pie auction. It is a fun evening!

More paperwork

We got an email from our agency saying we need to work on some paperwork. Looks like the officials in Vietnam need to see an "authentic" I-171 and we need to redo fingerprints. Our fingerprints do not expire until the end of APRIL so looks like travel is unlikely by then. We were expecting it to be at least May, so not a big surprise on that issue.

Tatertot is a bit out of sorts. J- thinks she is coming down with a cold or something. I hope she isn't getting sick. She has been grumpy and weepy the past few days. She breaks down in tears and just sobs at the smallest issue. I think she is still trying to get on a schedule from the holiday break. I just went back to work this past week, so she's having to re-adjust to getting up and going to the babysitter. Anyway, hope she gets into a routine soon!! Mama is starting to get grumpy and weepy, too.