FCC CNY

Once a year, we have a gathering with Friends with Children from China - the Atlanta organization. It's usually associated with the Chinese New Year, although the last two years the event has taken place a few months afterwards. Tonight, we had our celebration.

It was a pleasant evening for all of us - as you can see, Ye-Ye and Nana came along as well. For several years now, we've been a part of this group - the goal being to unite families with children from China for cultural events and celebrations. A lot of people turned out tonight for a dinner at the Happy Valley restaurant in Atlanta. There was a big meal of Chinese food, along with a talent show, where children dressed up in Chinese costumes would dance across the stage, or musicians would play the Chinese zither, also called the guzheng. We love the sound of that instrument, and the girl playing it was very talented.

One of the benefits of such an organization is meeting new faces, and tonight was no exception. Madison is shown here with Kate and Sam, who are also both four years old. Kate is from China as well, from the Guandong Province. She was adopted last year and is quite smart. You'll notice her hair right away, and how she doesn't appear so much Asian. Kate's parents told us she has albinism, which results in a lack of pigment in her hair. The result makes her look quite different from her Asian friends, and yet she still looks quite cute! Madison enjoyed playing around with Kate and Sam this evening. While the parents talked and reminisced about the journey in China, these three had fun chasing each other around or going up to the stage real close in order to watch the talent show.

One more note about the outfit she's wearing: Ye-Ye and Nana actually bought that in China nearly three years ago when we went there for the adoption. They bought it bigger, knowing she'd someday grow into it. Today was the perfect day to try it on for the first time, and she looked very lovely.

Speaking of attire, we picked up some "Year of the Rabbit" t-shirts, not to mention a few other items. But the best part of the evening was hitting the pause button just long enough to share some time with others, including Ye-Ye and Nana. It was an enjoyable night for all of us, especially Madison.