Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

Happy New Year everyone!!  Welcome to the Year of the Rabbit.

Hannah and I enjoyed 2 New Year celebrations together with friends this past weekend.  Fun!

Saturday night we went to a beautiful CNY banquet in Toronto with the local Families with Children from China (FCC) group.  There were around 300 people at the banquet and we enjoyed an authentic 10 course Chinese meal.  Well…I enjoyed about 8 of the courses and the others I wasn’t brave enough to try.  It was a reminder of the meals that we ate in China although I must admit that when we were in China I ate very little as I was so afraid of getting sick and not being able to properly care for Hannah.  Dad and Norma were much more adventuresome in their eating!

This past summer a group from my agency received referrals from Hunan province which is where Hannah was born.  I was invited by our agency’s director to come to this group’s pre-travel meeting, sharing some of what I’d experienced and answering questions they might have.  It was a wonderful group of 5 families and we hit it off immediately!  Since then their group includes Hannah and I in their group activities including attending the FCC dinner.  What fun it was to spend time with them and their sweet children!

Here is Hannah with her friend Siena who both lived the first months of their lives in the DaoXian SWI.  One of the neat things is that Hannah’s Forever Family day is November 2, 2009 and that is Siena’s birthday!

From the moment we arrived at the banquet hall, Hannah was ready to check out all the celebration had to offer. 

On a side note, check out how my little girl has grown!  The pic below was taken the end of April 2010 and the dress went all the way to the floor yet now it’s just to her knees.  Hannah is now 34 1/4” tall which is in the 95th percentile on the North American charts!  Still my long and lean sweetie. 

After dinner and a children’s entertainer it was time for the lion dancers.  Last year Hannah enjoyed the lion dancers and I was hoping she would feel the same this year.  Oh boy did she!!  (Please excuse her Mommy who mistakenly kept referring to them as ‘dragons. Oops!)

Hannah getting a closer look at the lions

After the dance was finished, the children we allowed to climb under the lion and walk around with the costume on.  Look who was in there keeping up with the big girls!!  I love watching this as it shows Hannah’s fun, outgoing personality and that she lets nothing (including her age of only 23 months) hold her back! 

Sunday we enjoyed our second CNY dinner with friends Liz and Ava.  We travelled back into the city and went to a restaurant at the same mall we’d been at the night before for the FCC dinner.  How funny that both places ended up being Just doors from one another.

The girls both enjoyed the yummy noodles while this mommy was partial to the dumplings.  Delicious!

This is the second year that we have enjoyed sharing a CNY dinner together at this restaurant.  I think a tradition has been born!

Gung Hay Fat Choi!!  From Hannah and I, Happy New Year everyone!!