Our Jiangxi girls: Bryn, Roshandra, Ava, Claire, Caia and Elizabeth. The girls are all 4 years old with Bryn the oldest and Caia the youngest, 2-1/2 months apart.
We only had 2 1/2 days together so we had a lot of visiting and catching up to do in a short time. It really is hard to explain how amazing it was to see the girls together again and how, despite the fact we spent less than two weeks together in China, we were all able to pick up where we left off -- it was like visiting with old and dear friends we've known forever. It's a bond we'll have for a lifetime and we're so very blessed to have such an amazing group of people in our lives. To see how much all the girls have grown and watch all the little personalities interact was pretty awesome.
The kids are at the age where they don't need a lot of planned activities to keep them busy, they had a blast just playing and being together. They got along famously with each other and all their siblings. Our hosts went above and beyond to make our reunion special. The kids did crafts, had an indoor picnic and a party at Build-A-Bear. We had the best smoked brisket ever -- Paul would come out on top at any Texas barbecue challenge -- and the pizza baked in a clay oven in Beth and James' backyard was the best I've ever had.
I took hundreds of photos and still didn't manage to get all the shots I wanted. Between visiting and just watching the kids interact it was impossible to capture all the special moments but here are some (I did steal some photos from the other shutterbug moms, thanks ladies!)
Catching up on the past 3 years.
Bryn and Roshandra checking out Claire and Ren's loot.
Claire, Caia and Roshandra having a tea party with Roshandra's sister Kaio.
Since our hotel was only about six blocks from West Ed we made a side trip to show Bryn the big mall. She was most impressed with the Disney Store and thrilled to find her favorite guy, Nemo.
The kids watching their Canada Day shrinky dinks melt before they
turned them into necklaces.
Craft time!
Ava and Claire discuss the finer points of jewellery design.
Our proud little Canadians.
Claire's brother Ren is a brave little man hanging out with all these girls!
Canada Day picnic.
The beautiful (and delicious) reunion cake.
Build-A-Bear was a huge hit with all the kids.
Bryn concentrating very hard on making sure her new stuffy
has a happy heart full of love.
That was fun!
Bryn and Kate, Elizabeth's sister.
Roshandra's brother Luca had a very important job.
Ava's sister Helena and Kate, two of the three Jie Jies.
No reunion is complete without the kids being weighed and measured.
Dress up time!
Bryn and Elizabeth.
"Mom, this is so good I can hardly stop tasting it."
Bryn and Eli have a special bond -- they lived together in the same foster home in China and I'm sure, on some level, they remember each other. It tugged at my heartstrings when Bryn grabbed her foster sister for a huge bear hug and happily posed for photos.
I'll help you, girlfriend!
One big happy family.
Our last day together.
The days flew by much too fast and saying goodbye again was hard to say the least. Thanks to Monica, Paul, Beth and James and their kiddies for all the planning and the delicious meals and letting us invade your homes, and to Kevin and Catherine and Rob and Aggie and their families for travelling so far. And also to Shea, Caia and Grandma Dar for being our Jiangxi family-in-residence, we'd be very lonely without you here. We had tons of fun and we miss everyone!
We especially miss the families who weren't able to make it to this reunion but look forward to our next one and seeing everyone there. Vancouver 2012 anyone? Maybe Nanchang 2013?
Friends forever!!
4 comments:
Oh my, that was worth the wait.....made me teary again:) I'll have to get on finishing downloading from others' pics - some of those shots are amazing and I was feeling photo lazy those days so thankfully you all got some terrific ones. I can't even say which one I love best but seeing her with Nemo was awesome - nice to see some behind-th-scenes shots when we weren't together. miss you all
Oh, that was worth the wait! Made me teary again:)
So glad we can share the photos, I'll have to finish downloading what I want (too many!!) since I was a bit photo lazy those days. I love the one of Eli and Bryn and all the amazing play moments. They were so good together weren't they?
miss you all
Awwww! Great post, Rae. That photo of Bryn hugging Eli is so precious it brings tears to my eyes.
Thank you for being the one to rally all of us together to make this reunion happen, and thank you for making the trip here. The memories will carry me through till our next reunion - but hopefully it will be soon!
Great pics Rae! They really captured the big moments as well as the little ones, and bring back so many happy memories.
I'm glad Bryn and Eli were able to reconnect. I've said this to many people, but I'm amazed at how well the girls played together. I swear they remembered each other. I'm grateful for whatever reunions we can have, and that we're able to keep in touch as a group. And we're especially grateful for our Saskatoon connection!!
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