Happy Thanksgiving with SO much to be thankful for!

Here is a shot (by Noah) of me cutting the material.  I know I should invest in some tools of the trade but why when you have tools from another trade?

This finished product was amazing!  I was so excited all day to be dressed the same in outfits I made with my own two hands - not outsourced!!!! I think we look adorable.

Dinner at the Ayer's house was wonderful...of course.  The table spread was tasty and beautiful.  There are special candles on the table for all the new and soon to be new members of our three families - Ben, Evie, Riah, Myra, Miss B.

The kiddie table....to much fun.

Just because...

Stay tuned for our Thanksgiving recap and pictures of our matching outfits!!!

Ceremony, Traditions, Family

My birthday celebration posts created the desire for more information on how we celebration birthdays exactly.  Truthfully, it looks different each year as we add more to the ceremony of it all but the core idea is still the same. All of this got me thinking more about our family and the importance of ceremony in our everyday lives....

I guess my strong desire to create ceremony is an inborn tenancy that was nurtured during my 11 years in uniform. Is it just me or is there something magical about a flag slowing waving in the air or the flicker of a candle?

One of the favorite “make fun of Leah” stories told by my sweet sister and brother involves my uber-creative tea ceremonies. The tea ceremonies were popular afternoon entertainment during the time before middle school but after the first tooth was wiggled loose. Costumes, fancy food, tea and some creative dancing made for hours of entertainment and the entertainment just keeps on coming each time the story is retold.

West Point is ripe with ceremony and tradition. “The Core has” but despite that the Point is still a training ground for all things ceremonious. Weekend parades are at the top of my list. The green grass, marching music, plebe trivia, and itchy uniforms. Ah the memories....they just keep on giving. Another favorite are the rite of passage traditions at West Point. My Mother used to say “no sense in doing college aged activities when you are in high school.” The military has memorized this mantra and turned it into a way of life. Hair cuts, the type of socks you can wear, the speed at which you have to walk, the doors you can use, the hours that you can have trash in your trash can are all tied into your grade, rank, status etc. Nothing makes you feel accomplished that trash in your trash can whenever you want :). Seriously, rite of passage is a big deal to cultivating unity of purpose, team and in some ways family.

Ring Night 1999

Rite of passage in a family looks a bit different than at West Point (or at least it does in our family).  Trash CAN be in the trash can at any time of the day.  However, the idea is still the same.  Big boys help little girls.  Mommy helps the children. We all help those with needs around us.  All things point to the message that "we belong together...no matter what."  

The Army has some great ceremonies/ traditions too. I think the real reason I joined the Army was the uniforms.  Have I mentioned that redheads look really good in green.  Uniforms go a long way in saying "we belong together."  

Mosel, Iraq 2004

This is often very important for a transracial, transcultural family. We use uniforms during many times of the year (especially those times prone to lead to questions of who belongs with who).  Matching t-shirts, coordinating colors, same hats etc.  This drives Brian crazy but Noah LOVES it!!  Guess who wins??!!?

That is just it – ceremony helps bring people together.

Tools of the trade:

Candles - The lighting and blowing out of a candle is magical.  We use this during Advent, Easter, Birthdays both on the cake and during our birth family prayer time, waiting for new family members (as in we light a candle for them at dinner while we wait etc). 

Flags - This is often too nationalistic for me but the flag business has been a big deal for centuries.  Who am I to stop it??  We use flags on birthdays, family days, national holidays and family parties. The birthday flag ceremony is the most special.  We make a VERY big deal about the birth country.  We sing the national anthem.  We review cultural topics.  It's fun.

Music - Everyone has a waiting song as in waiting to come home song.  We have a few family songs.  We have cultural songs that we LOVE.  Music is the icing on the cake!

Matching Outfits (ie uniforms or as some like to say costumes)!!


Resources -
Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper is an excellent resource.

Many of my wonderful blog friends have helped me cultivate tradition in my family -
Mayhem and Magic
Third Mom
Heart, Mind and Seoul

Happy Birthday Baby Myra

She greeted the day with her trademark smile.  This is the way that she greets everyday, but she was especially bright as the entire family sang the happy birthday song first thing morning.  

Myra really enjoyed the flag ceremony.  The birth family ceremony was very personal for both Brian and I this year.  We remember, vividly, Myra's Ethiopian Mother.  We are trying to get a meeting with her this February when we travel back to Ethiopia.  I'm curious to see how the CHSFS PAS system works for Ethiopian Adoptees.  It seems that there might be the possibility of a good system.  We'll see.

Myra picked cupcakes for breakfast with some help from Noah.  We think she really, really like them!

Our baby is a baby no more!  Happy 1st Birthday little girl!

Wordless Wednesday

It's a Girl!

We saw her picture a week ago but today it's official.  AAI email this morning with the good word that we can give our entire hearts away to her.  She is the sweetest little 5 to 7 year old girl with the most adorable big, brown eyes and pink lips.  We are hopelessly in love.  

Some fun facts about little Miss B -

She is a slightly shy little girl with a very sweet spirit.

She is super cute.

She is in excellent health and is described as happy and social.

She loves to help with the younger kids and babies and play with her

friends.

She loves to practice letters and numbers.

She wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

She's wearing a size 4T.

Her waiting animal is the bumble bee (get it...Miss B!)

Last night Noah's prayer went like this - 

"Jesus, thank you for the awesome, awesome, awesome new sister...Mom what's her name again...Oh ya B... what an amazing blessing Jesus."  I love that boy, and I love that he is so ready to be a brother again!  He did make it clear that he does not want her sleeping in his bed, and that we do not have room in our KIA for her so we need to get a new, must faster car.  

My check list is trying to come out of the drawer but I'm working hard to leave it alone.  But maybe, God willing, by summer our family of 5 will be together.  And maybe we can go to Ethiopia this winter to give Miss B a kiss and tell her that we choose her forever to be ours.  And maybe she will feel like she has a place to belong.

Happy Birthday Ichi Ban

Four years old and so sweet, funny and joyful.  What a dream baby boy!  The morning started off with a little chocolate milk in bed followed by the flag flying ceremony.  Noah is starting to understand the difference between Korean and American but he still does not quite get the whole flag thing.  Still I think it is a cool tradition and we will keep it up.

Some seriously fun birthday booty.  I set everything up last night so Noah would pass by it on his way to our bedroom in the morning. Unfortunately a midnight poop ruined the surprise.  While on the potty Noah stated, "I've been asleep a long time so...."  Very funny but no dice.  Back to bed for 6 more hours :)

After the flag ceremony we light a candle and pray for Noah's birth family.  In my imagination this is a hard day for Noah's first mom and dad.  We shared memories from our recent trip to the birthing center where Noah was born and talk about the memories that his doctor shared with us.  I'm glad we have actual facts to talk about this year instead of just things that we imagine happened.  We love Noah's first family and pray for their loss today.

The birthday breakfast by Noah's request was sausage rolls, soda and cheetos.  Gross.

We also celebrated Noah's birth a bit in the mountains this past weekend. Ms. Julie made the absolute best cake and we are still talking about it at least 7 times a day here at the Young house.