Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the official start to the Chinese New Year!  I enjoyed teaching my students about the Chinese New Year through literature and related activities.  We were kindly invited to join an international adoption group that is forming in Elizabethtown for a special celebratory dinner at the Green Bamboo Chinese restaurant in town.  We aren't big fans of Chinese food, but what we selected was very good.  It was so encouraging, exciting and fun to meet so many new people, families, and beautiful little girls from China!  Everyone was so friendly and supportive - I look forward to continued experiences and support from these families.  Seeing so many girls - ranging from 20 months to eight years of age - thriving, laughing, growing and being loved was a blessing an inspiration for us. 

We also had our third and final visit with our social worker, which amounted to a 20-minute meeting at a local McDonald's so that we could pass off our final round of paperwork.  She has been very nice and helpful, and we enjoyed being a little more casual and laid-back with her this evening.  We have now completed ALL of the homestudy documents (a HUGE accomplishment...there were so many things to do, sign, collect, etc.).  We are just waiting for the FBI background checks (I feel like we have been waiting forever and it's only been about five weeks - ha!) and our homestudy will be written, signed and complete!  Then we can finish preparing our dossier and be much closer to waiting for something more important...a match! 

I've included a couple of pictures from our dinner, including a coloring sheet Alexis completed.  She was cute...she thought the Chinese symbols were "snowflakes!"  Alexis warmed up to the families eventually, running around telling several of them, "Hey!  I'm going to be a big sister!  We're going to go to China on an airplane and pick out a baby!"  I also included a picture of her fortune cookie message....I  thought the message was timely and appropriate for us as well! 

Hopefully we will have news on our FBI checks by the time I post next week.  :)