Reunited And It Feels So Good

Via Yahoo & Facebook, I've been able to connect with other adoption families, including specifically a group of families that have adopted children from LongGang SWI of Shenzhen, the orphanage in which Shaling lived. One of those special families is the VanCamp family from Kansas. Christie & Mark have adopted 5 Chinese daughters, RaeAnne, ZoraLin, Jordis, Tessa, and Kendalan. Tessa, formerly Long JiXing, is Shaling's "little sister" (mei mei) from LongGang. Christie's blog is Raising Sunflowers.

After a family trip to Wisconsin, the VanCamps graciously agreed to stopover and spend a night in Springfield on their way home so that Tessa & Shaling could see each other again. Tessa was adopted in August 2010, so it's been a year since the girls have seen each other. They've both been through just a few changes since then - longer hair, new names, new living quarters, etc. Oh, and then there's that little thing called a "forever family" that they each have now.

We started by meeting them at the Crowne Plaza, where they'd booked their rooms. The kids all went swimming while the adults chatted. It honestly felt like we were old friends. Shaling & Tessa were a bit shy (or perhaps awkward) at first, but eventually were chattering away. After awhile the Stengel family (or at least part of it - Lynne, Josh, & Jimmy) joined us. Josh & Jimmy are from LongGang SWI as well.

Shaling & Tessa Swim from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Eventually, we were all quite hungry and I talked Mark into trying Springfield's specialty, a horseshoe. We're big fans of Top Cats and it is really close, so it became our next destination. We had a table for 14 -- with 9 of the 14 being kids, we were a noisy group of 14..."Chinese Invasion" as Christie called it. The food was a hit, as most people, including the kids, cleaned their plates. Mark was the only one who did not, but not because he didn't like it. He enjoyed the horseshoe, but was defeated by the quantity.

Though the lighting wasn't ideal, we took a few group pictures (at least of the kids). Left to Right: Preston Reynolds, ZoraLin VanCamp, Kendalan VanCamp (in front), RaeAnne VanCamp, Shaling Reynolds, Tessa VanCamp (in front), Jimmy Stengel, Josh Stengel, & Jordis VanCamp






Shaling & Tessa had a sort of handshake/song/chant that they obviously remembered from China. I thought it was really cute, so I asked them to do it again and I took a video. Unfortunately, again, the lighting isn't ideal, but you can hear the audio:

Shaling & Tessa's Secret Handshake from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.