Reunion in Ottawa

And what a reunion it was! Three days and nights with the entire first group Yulin took to China, and a few more who weren't there. Only this time, the three girls were four years older: Jade, Jenna and Meili. We stayed at Yulin and Bob's townhouse after the big July event at the Museum of Science and Technology. Considering how close we had come to feel to the other couples on our first trip, this was an opportunity we had long awaited.

We felt tremendous satisfaction to see how wonderfully all three of the girls had turned out -- so healthy and full of gumption. Although Meili (from Fredericton, New Brunswick) hadn't seen Jade's family (parents Donnalee and Jason live in Kelowna, BC) or Jenna Lee's (Linda and Ken live in The Pas, MB) since China, she was quickly able to romp and play with the others, and especially Jade's older brother Josh (Jenna's new sister Asia was a little young to 'romp' with this crowd!)

The parents compared experiences of life back home as all anticipate upcoming kindergarten. Although the couples range from late twenties to late forties, all had similar experiences of bringing a lively infant girl to almost school age -- we had a lot to share.

We spent time with "Auntie" Yulin and "Uncle" Bob, and the girls did remember them because all of us had seen them in the last year or two. We went to the Cosmic Adventures, the Laurentian Club, Parliament Hill, toured the houses in the million dollar neighborhood, went to parks and shopped together. We indulged Yulin and dressed the girls identically once more for a big 'photo op' -- as we had four years ago when she showed up with three identical green dresses in Hangzhou. The first night we took the girls to an open-air Natalie McMaster concert in Rideau Park where they sat on their dad's shoulders to see this lively fiddler on the stage.

For us, the week of July 1st was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to talk and share with the group that had made it all happen in com-pleting our family with a wonderful child from afar. Auntie Yulin was just as radiant and grandmotherly as she had been on our trip, adoring the girls and lending a helping hand. Only this time, we had a little more time to interact while the girls played with one another.

We learned that Jade is a tremendous runner, and has her 11 year-old brother Josh to look up to. Jenna Lee is a graceful gymnast and, along with Meili, gave us a demonstration in Yulin and Bob's living room. The three are almost identical in height (42 inches), and range in weight from 34 to 48 pounds. You would have to say that all three are growing up confident and well adjusted, because each one was outgoing and talkative in such an unfamiliar situation.

Yet, to the parents, the familiarity rang true, and we all have well worn videos of those two memorable weeks in China together to remember one another. When Chinese men and women introduced themselves, admired our babies and invariably told us how fortunate these girls were -- we had said the same about ourselves. Now we saw for ourselves how true this had been for all of us. And as we begin the school year in our respective provinces, we feel we have renewed a very special bond to these families who took a very emotional journey with us four years ago to receive our own bundle of joy.

 Marilee , Chris & Meili