Photos: Easter Egg Basket

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Lydia's second (and larger) Easter basket with Peter Rabbit, who is surrounded by M & M Easter eggs

For the Families with Children from China Easter egg hunt today, each family was asked to bring a dozen Easter eggs, and I bought these prepackaged Easter eggs at a local grocery store the previous day when Lydia and I ran errands together. I purchased this wicker Easter basket from a local nursery.

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Another rabbit surrounded by M & M Easter eggs in a colorful Easter basket, which I purchased from the same grocery store that stocked the eggs.

Lydia used this Easter basket for today's Families with Children from China Easter egg hunt.

Note: These pictures were taken around 7:30 AM on March 15, 2008 on the table in the dining room of our home using a tripod-mounted camera, a light stand with a 43-inch, white shoot-through umbrella illuminated by one portable flash unit set to an ultra-wide angle of 14 mm that was to the right of the camera, and seamless white background paper that was draped on the table.

Photos: Easter Egg and Sticker

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Lydia is peeling a sticker that she found inside one of the Easter eggs.

Stickers are such a good idea -- fun for kids, particularly toddlers and preschoolers, and healthy for them too!

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Lydia is trying to open a blue Easter egg to reveal its contents.

Note: Both of these pictures were taken on March 15, 2008 in the dining room of our home after we returned home from the Easter Egg hunt at Matthews Beach Park that was sponsored by the local chapter of Families of Children from China.

Photos: Easter Egg Hunt, FWCC, With Mummie

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Lydia and her mom are placing the Easter eggs on the grass prior to the Easter egg hunt.

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At the end of the Easter egg hunt, Lydia's mom is carrying Lydia's Easter basket as Lydia holds one egg in her hands.

Note: These pictures were taken on March 15, 2008 at Matthews Beach Park in Seattle, WA during the Families with Children from China annual Easter egg hunt.

Photos: Easter Egg Hunt, FWCC, Bunny and Lydia

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When Lydia first saw the Easter bunny, she was scared and did not want to walk near it even if SiowFong or I accompanied her. Within fifteen minutes, her fears gradually melted, and she felt comfortable with the Easter bunny.

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The Easter bunny is giving Lydia a hug, and Lydia liked the Easter Bunny so much that she returned to the Easter bunny for many more hugs this morning.

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When the Easter egg hunt concluded, Lydia sought out the Easter bunny again.

Note: These pictures were taken on March 15, 2008 at Matthews Beach Park in Seattle, WA.

Jesus Goes to Jerusalem

March 15, 2008

Jesus Goes to Jerusalem

As nice as Easter eggs, bunnies, and lilies are, however, the true meaning of Easter dates back nearly 2000 years ago when Jesus, the son of God, was living in the region that is modern day Israel and Palestine. In 2006, the year before Lydia’s adoption was finalized, we purchased a Bible for her called the Candle Bible for Toddlers at a local Family Christian Bookstore. Although the bookstore stocked a number of similar offerings, we selected this one because of its short stories with large text and its outstanding illustrations.

In 2007, we periodically read parts of it to Lydia. In the first half of that year, Lydia was much more interested in looking at the artwork, such as its front cover that features Noah, the ark, and a variety of animals, than in following the story line. Sometimes before SiowFong or I could finish the one or two sentences on the page, Lydia was already flipping to another page. By autumn, however, Lydia’s attention span and patience had increased to the point where she did less page turning before SiowFong or I finished reading the text to her. 2008 has brought yet another change since Lydia regularly searches for the toddler Bible and asks us to read it to her instead of relying on us to initiate that process.

Here’s the story of Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus was given a royal welcome in Jerusalem and seven days prior to Easter Sunday.

“Jesus decided to travel to Jerusalem again. ‘Soon I am going to die,’ he told his disciples. But they didn’t understand. It was festival time in Jerusalem. Jesus borrowed a donkey. He rode it into Jerusalem. When the people saw him coming, they waved palm leaves. ‘Jesus is our King!’ they shouted.”

(Source: Juliet David and Helen Prole. Candle Bible for Toddlers. Candle Books: 2006. pages 326-328.

Photos: Easter Egg Hunt, Families with Children from China, Part 2

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The Easter egg hunt participants and their parent(s) stand on the path to wait for the signal to begin the hunt, which was sponsored by the local chapter of the Families with Children from China. SiowFong and Lydia, both of whom are on the right side of the picture, are walking towards the path. The light colored points in the grass are the Easter eggs.

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While her mother is videotaping Lydia's first Easter egg hunt, Lydia, who is dressed in the pink coat and whose Easter basket is full, is searching for more eggs.

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The scene at the end of the hunt

While SiowFong continues to videotape, Lydia is standing beside the Easter bunny.

Note: All of these pictures were taken on March 15, 2008 at Matthews Beach Park in Seattle, WA.

Photos: Easter Egg Hunt, Families with Children From China, Part 1

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Lydia is placing a yellow egg into her Easter basket.

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"My Easter basket is full!"

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Lydia is opening a blue Easter egg to discover its contents.

Note: All of these pictures were taken on the morning of March 15, 2008 at Matthews Beach Park in Seattle, WA.

Lydia's First Easter Egg Hunt

March 15, 2008


Lydia’s First Easter Egg Hunt

Lydia’s first Easter egg hunt occurred this morning around 9:15 AM at Matthews Beach Park, and this was the first time that we have participated in an event that was sponsored by our local chapter of the Families with Children from China.

“Families with Children from China (FCC) is a network of parent support groups in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. While some of the chapters are formally organized organizations with by-laws and boards of directors, others are less structured groups of families who support one another with a variety of activities.
Virtually all FCC chapters share the following three goals: To support families who've adopted in China through post-adoption and Chinese culture programs; To encourage adoption from China and support waiting families; To advocate for and support children remaining in orphanages in China. FCC chapters generally organize some or all of the following activities: newsletters, membership directories, family picnics and pot-luck suppers, celebrations of Chinese festivals and holidays, pre-adoption information meetings, playgroups, Chinese language and culture classes for children, parent speakers.” (Source: Families with Children from China website)

About fifteen adopted children from China and their parents participated in this annual event. In Lydia’s age group, there were several other toddlers. Without mom or dad helping her, Lydia managed to pick up eight Easter eggs, some of which were filled with candy and others with stickers.

After she returned home, SiowFong put aside the Easter eggs with candy, allowing Lydia to open the Easter eggs containing stickers. Because Lydia’s day care class has been playing with stickers recently, she was delighted with the fruits of her labors, and she placed them in one of her sticker books.