In April 2004, a group of people from different countries across the world found that they had something precious in common. Each couple, individual, or family had spent months, in some cases years, preparing a stack of papers, a dossier, to send to China. In April between the 1st and the 30th each found their stack of papers ready. Off dossiers went. Flying on the tiny wings of fireflies and prayers, from wherever they were to Beijing, China. At the heart of each these dossiers - a letter of request. A request from the hearts of individuals, to the heart of a nation. "We would be honored," many of us wrote, "blessed, to adopt a child from your wonderful China." A daughter, a son, or maybe twins, to love, to raise, and without hesitation, hold tight to our hearts forever.

As each of us now wait for our families to grow we've found that our circle of friendships have already grown in the process. We share our wait, our fears, our advice and our dreams. We've already shared many, many laughs and tears. Each of our homes is now an annex to many homes across the world.

Many of us met in a Yahoo Group (Apr2004DTC) where we dubbed ourselves, "The Fireflies." We chose our colors, yellow and purple, and will wear bandanas and pins to China in hopes that we might find each other. This site is intended as a place for us to continue to share, now as we wait, and later as we parent our children, together, across the miles.

The majority of the Firefly families received their referrals in October 2004 and traveled in November/December. A few fireflies landed earlier and a handful later. As I type this, it is March and most of us have settled into the joys of new routines. I am hoping that by Spring or Summer I can provide some updates to share.

Feel free to send any thoughts, photos, updates my way at any point. Email it to: JoanieSmitheroni at aol dot com I'll update the site as quickly as I can! Firefly Out. Joanie.

Okay, so this is really more "Link of the Year" hahaha - I think we are too busy!

Danny's Bagels
Danny's Bagels is somewhat legendary in the APC circles as a great place to stop and get some comfort food while in Guangzhou. The site not only has the menu but some great travel tips and information about Guangzhou.

Treasures to Love
Need squeaky shoes? Visit the online store owned by one of our own Firefly families! Squeaky shoes and other neat stuff to check out!

September 2006
Welcome to the chatroom.