Celebrate!

This is Hope's "Yeah" face. Though this was taken a couple weeks ago, I thought it was fitting.

"Do you want to go find the moon tonight?"

"Yeah." :)

HAPPY MID-AUTUMN/MOON FESTIVAL EVERYONE! Admire the (almost) full moon tonight if you can. It is a pretty overcast night here, but maybe we can see the full moon tomorrow. I'm hoping in the future that we can do more to honor this holiday. For those who aren't familiar, the Mid-Autumn Festival is second only to the Chinese New Year for celebrations in China. According to the reading I've been doing, there is amazing rich history and legend surrounding this celebration. I'm hoping that someday we'll figure out how to make mooncakes and we can all sit outside for a little moon gazing of our own. Tonight just wasn't the night for us. However, it is still so important for us on this day to contemplate the vastness of creation and the amazing gift we treasure in Hope. To think that she has journeyed so far to join our family is nothing short of a miracle and we are incredibly blessed to have her in our lives. We will be forever grateful to her birthmother and family, her orphanage care givers and "aunties," her second/foster mother and family, the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs), and all those who have touched our hearts and gently nurtured and encouraged us throughout our adoption quest. On this day, we can follow the moon and think that maybe, just maybe, there are others in the world strongly connected to us because of one small precious girl, who will also gaze at the moon and whisper "thank you."