Chinese New Year 2011

Happy Chinese New Year everyone, it is now the year of the rabbit!

For our celebration this year we decided to visit one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in town for dinner. As expected, the Ladybug was extremely excited when we told her we were going out to dinner for Chinese food. Upon hearing this news she immediately ran to her room, pulled out every Chinese outfit she and the baby Butterfly have, and spent the next 30 minutes dressing and undressing her and her sister. I should have known that she had to be dressed perfectly for the night (what was I thinking?)!

Once they were dressed, I used the opportunity to take some photos of the girls in their adorable garb. Of course that is much easier said than done! Those who know me know that I love to take photos... a ton of photos. I often post some of my favorites of the girls (my best models!), which frequently receive positive comments. I have even had people ask if I ever take a "bad" photo. To answer that question, "Yes!" I absolutely do take bad photos, and with two very mobile and impatient girls, bad photos are often the norm. Below are a few of the photos from the batch that I shot of the girls tonight. In them you can see the impatience, movement, and the most common occurrence, photos where one girl looks great and the other is rather bored and could care less. So, just to prove that my photos don't always turn out for the better, here is tonight...

Of course, these are just a select few of the BAZILLION I took tonight, but at least you can get the picture (pun intended!) that not all is perfect over here in photo-land. I will admit that some of the photos do look good... of one girl or the other, but I do not like any photo of both girls, sigh.

After all was said and done, I settled on this one below where both girls actually look ok... but I am still not super excited about it. Oh well, at least I was able to get a few photos for remembrance sake.

Lastly, I also shot a short video this evening of the baby Butterfly. It is about a minute and a half long and is of her talking a bit and squeaking around the room. Enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

~~Aloha!!!

Happy Chinese New Year

Sunday, February 14 is not only Valentine's Day, but also a wonderful day in our household... Chinese New Year. Goodbye year of the Ox, hello year of the Tiger!


Each year, a group of families get together to celebrate Chinese New Year together. All of the families adopted children from China through our adoption agency, Holt International. Watching each of these adorable little girls grow through the years is very special. I love watching our little Ladybug playing, talking, laughing, and enjoying her time with other little girls who share a very special past. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to share each other's lives and listen to the ups and the downs that our children go through.

The biggest surprise for everyone at the party was when we shared our referral news for the baby Butterfly. Everyone in the room was so excited to hear that another Chinese baby girl was going to be coming home to our tiny town within the coming months. They all wanted to hear about the details, and were especially excited to see the photos I brought to share. I cannot wait until next year when the Butterfly will go with us to share in the celebration of Chinese New Year.

Below are two photos from the evening. The first is of all 10 girls, sitting on the couch together. The Ladybug is right in the middle of all the fun. The second photo is of the Ladybug in her beautiful Chinese dress, enjoying the celebration.




Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

~~Aloha