Kuai Le!

It is that time of year again - another Spring Festival is upon us. Which means that it has been just exactly one year since we first met Baby G. Last year at this time we were frantically waiting for the one piece of paper that would give us permission to pick her up from the orphanage. I went a little crazy with the waiting. But we were allowed to go get her just before everything shut down for Chinese New Year. What a crazy time that was.

This year, we are all headed to Hokkaido for a few days of skiing. Not a big trip, just a little getaway while things go quiet in Taiwan. Apparently the snow is coming down hard, so we should have some good powder skiing. Not that I know anything about that, having skied on ice most of my days. So it will be interesting.

Tonight at dinner, Chris prayed that we arrive in Niseko safe and "sane" tomorrow. Which is a good thing to pray for after our crazy round-the-world trip of a few weeks ago. The trip which left me questioning any future travels to the US or Europe until after kiddo leaves for college. Chris says I will change my mind in a month, but I don't think so. We have been in recovery mode for two full weeks now. Gioia is mighty cranky when she hasn't had enough sleep. Mighty. Cranky.

Since we missed all of the Spring Festival preparations last year, we were pleasantly surprised to see the lobby of our apartment complex fill up with fruit, flowers and lanterns. All day Gioia has been handing out hong bao - to the guards, to our neighbor kids, to the dry cleaners' kids. People probably think we are a bit odd, but we are trying.

See you on the slopes!