Category: Adoption

  • Multicultural Children’s Book Day

    Multicultural Children’s Book Day

    Guess what day is right around the corner? Multicultural Children’s Book Day! I was thrilled to be selected to participate again this year, ever eager to expand our home library and our perspective via quality, diverse reading material from all corners of the globe. This year I’m reviewing Bonnie West & Diane Carter’s new book,…

  • No Hands but Ours: Attachment Through the Years

    No Hands but Ours: Attachment Through the Years

    Recently, online champions of adoption No Hands But Ours featured our story as it pertains to: Attachment Through the Years. Check it out here, alongside similar stories, or read on… It’s been four and a half years since we first met our son in China. Sometimes that feels like a split-second ago… I freshly recall the nervous,…

  • Six Years & Six Thousand Miles

    Six Years & Six Thousand Miles

    Six years and six thousand miles ago our son was born. At that same time, in Oregon, Husband had just accepted a new job and was poised to relocate our small family of four to Montana. Taking a break from packing, we hosted an impromptu playdate with Firstborn’s sweet pal from school– a cleft-affected girl who…

  • Chinatown

    Chinatown

    My extended family recently met up for a traditional Chinese feast to celebrate a birthday. The birthday girl loves Chinese food, and we’re lucky to live near an exceptional Chinese establishment. I love any chance to celebrate Little Man’s birth culture, and we always say he gives us “street cred” at such venues. Kwan’s is a…

  • Easter Traditions & Throwbacks

    Easter Traditions & Throwbacks

    When it comes to Easter, we’re not really bunny and egg folk– though I dig a yolky Cadbury Creme Egg as much as more than the next guy. Still, we have one time-worn tradition that helps set the holiday apart as special: Easter dresses! Easter clothes, now that I have a son. My late Grandma Norah started the fun…

  • Lan Su Chinese Garden

    Lan Su Chinese Garden

    We were blessed to take a wee homeschool field trip with some visiting Montana friends recently, zipping north to rendezvous in bustling Portland where we discovered a hidden oasis amid the skyscrapers and food trucks. The Lan Su Chinese Garden is an echo of the lushly appointed parks tucked away within seemingly every city in China.…

  • An Old-Fashioned Vacation Pic Slideshow

    An Old-Fashioned Vacation Pic Slideshow

    As I mentioned in my last post, we’ve just returned from a little trek down the freeway to sunny California. Good golly, five persons in a Jeep for two thousand stinkin’ miles is no laughing matter. Despite the sass, stench, and squabbles on the road, we were grateful for an uproariously good time, connecting with…

  • Chinese New Year 2018 (Year of the Dog)

    Chinese New Year 2018 (Year of the Dog)

    Xin Nian Kaui Le! We rang in the Year of the Dog last night with a proper Chinese feast. As a bi-racial, adoptive family it’s important for us to honor Little Man’s birth culture, but any family can broaden their international festivities by celebrating the Lunar New Year. Hong bao (red envelopes) for the kiddos,…

  • What to Read Wednesday: China Edition

    What to Read Wednesday: China Edition

    I’ve been waiting all year for this installment of WTRW… We’re a bi-racial, adoptive, globally-minded family aiming to instill pride in our varied heritage. We incorporate traditions, customs, and celebrations from all corners of the earth into our family framework — Chinese culture certainly not the least of them. As proud mom to a handsome…