Thursday, January 26, 2012

New Year Gathering & Taiwan Pals

 Last weekend we headed over to Nashville for a fun gathering to celebrate Chinese New Year with our fellow adoptive Taiwanese families!  It was a huge success and a ton of fun for all!  We had quite a few families come with lots of Asian cuties and plenty of darling siblings!  We met at The Discovery Center (An awesome and fun hands on place for the kiddos, btw) and explored for a few hours.  Some families we'd met before and some were new to the group and all were just wonderful to hang out with for a day!

 We even got a pretty decent group photo!  Oh ya, we sort of took over the place...

 Sammy had soooooo much fun, with all the hands on trucks, cars, trains and all sorts of stuff!

 Simone enjoyed it quite a bit too!  And she renewed a friendship she made at the last gathering!

 Sammy called this the "excavator ride" and we had to pry him off so other kids could have a go!
 More group photos!

 You may know that Sammy Wei just loves babies.  He's always been interested in any baby he sees, and has finally gotten past his little stage of pinching their feet, thankfully!  Now he just loves to snuggle and rub heads.  This little cutie has been home for about a month -and oh how cuddly she was!!
 After a few hours of play we invaded stopped by a very yummy Chinese restaurant.  Simone sat with her pal and they talked Star Wars and DSI stuff for the whole meal!
 And we sat with a family I've been in contact with throughout both our adoptive journeys.  It was so wonderful to meet somebody I've "known" for years!  And the boys were so similar, it was so funny to compare stories!  Now I really can't wait for R.O.C.k.s in Chicago, and meeting all of our other Taiwan families!!!


 After filling our bellies we decided to head back to the Discovery Center to explore some more!  We already made plans to stay the night in Nashville so we had plenty of time to play! 

 Below is Sammy "fixing" the car.  He loved all the hands on and had such a blast!
 Cute kids.....

 We went to the hotel after, swam for a bit and all promptly fell asleep  -  what a day!!!!
In the morning we played around in the room...


 And hit the pool for another quick swim before heading home.

It was such a great time and as always so wonderful to meet and hang out with all the Taiwan families!  We've made some great friends and hope our children will carry these memories and friendships with them.  I am so appreciative of those that help to organize these events to keep our kids culture alive!

Gong He Xin Xi.....Happy New Year!
J

7 comments:

Mark & Kris said...

It was so fun! I can't wait for the next one! I am so glad our Sams got to meet. We enjoyed visiting with you all!

Dianne said...

We loved seeing you guys! We can't wait for Chicago!

michelle said...

Love seeing some familiar faces in that group photo! It's so wonderful when we can bring these children together. We're going to have a little reunion with some of our Hawaii families for the Lunar New Year, not quite as big as yours, but still lots of fun!! We're so sad that we won't be in Chicago, but I know we'll get Sammy and Lexie together at one of these reunions in the future.

Lisa said...

This was wonderful and you guys are creating your own TN version of ROCks in your own right ~ what a large and wonderful group!!!

AND yes, can't wait for the Windy City ROCks to finally give out a big ole squeeze and see our dumplings in action together!!! :) And if we are lucky, some time for the Mamas to chat too!!!

Darling pics of your beauties ~ Sammy just radiates joy, as does Simone!

Hugs!! See ya soon!! I can say that now cuz we are less than 6 mos. out! ;)

Child injury said...

It looks that your having fun bonding with your family there :)..

cute pictures ♥

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