The Best Fireworks We Never Saw

Hong Kong sits on a harbour - Victoria Harbor. Every night they have a light show in the harbour (which my sister-in-law, Erin, and I thought was nothing special) and HUGE fireworks displays on New Year's Eve and Chinese New Year.

We've heard that the fireworks for Chinese New Year actually out-do the ones done for "normal" New Year. Brendan and I thought we'd try to see the fireworks for Chinese New Year since they were scheduled for 8pm on Friday after New Year.

But...after Charlotte was not-at-all happy with the loud drums at the dragon dance, we decided that 23 minutes worth of extremely loud fireworks probably wasn't the best idea. Our apartment faces the opposite direction of the fireworks display, and we are on the eastern side of HKG island which is further away from the central part where the fireworks would take place...but Brendan ventured down the the 47th floor viewing deck to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything. He reported that nothing could be seen since a large hill was blocking the view.

Maybe we'll try to go down to the action and watch the fireworks next year. For now, we can enjoy some YouTube footage. Below is a clip of just the finale (~3 mins).

Our 1st Chinese New Year

Last week marked the beginning of the new lunar year, so we had the chance to experience our first Chinese New Year in Hong Kong.

My opinion is that the very best part of Chinese New Year is that last Thursday and Friday were public holidays! Yay! So, we had a nice long weekend with Brendan at home.

Our apartment complex has a large parking garage downstairs where they held a Chinese New Year festival with dragon dance (and other traditional blessing ceremonies that we are not at all familiar with). Since it was so close, we thought we might as well go down and check it out.

A sweet lady who Brendan works with blessed Charlotte with an adorable Chinese outfit, so we got Charlotte dressed up...

Then went downstairs to pose with the CNY decorations...

Then, to the parking garage for the festivities...

Some kind of blessing of the apartment building
was happening here

Dragon dancers getting ready

The group then proceeded to each tower to bless
each one for the coming year

We also found out that Charlotte has hit an age where loud noises and strange people dancing around in costume scare her...go figure! :) This was her response to our CNY experience...

There is much much more we would love to share with you all about Chinese New Year but will have to wait for future posts (which we really want to get around to doing!). Very intricate tradition is wrapped up in CNY that we only scratched the surface of this year.

It is by far the most unique cultural experience we've had in our past year living abroad.

Christmastime in Hong Kong

At the beginning of December, our little family "enjoyed" a 15-hour plane ride from New York to Hong Kong as we made our official move here. When our belongings were packed up in Spain, we expected to have them shortly after we arrived here...however, instead of an air shipment, our belongings are on a "slow boat to China". Quite literally. :)

So we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our "stuff" (including a bag of Christmas decor which will not make it here before Christmas) and enjoying Christmastime in Hong Kong.

Before we left the States, I think numerous people asked us how Christmas would be celebrated in Hong Kong. We - naively - answered that we didn't expect there to be much Christmas celebration at all. Instead we were greeted by Christmas music and decorations at the airport and amazing Christmas lights on skyscrapers around the harbor.


Lights along Victoria Harbor

Hong Kong is really like one big shopping mall, and every shopping center here has their own Christmas display.

We hear Christmas music in EVERY building we are in. The songs are often more religious than we'd likely hear in the U.S., maybe because they don't understand the words? :)

There are even REAL American Christmas trees for sell at IKEA!! We decided we didn't need one this year, especially since Charlotte would probably destroy it, but next year we are SO getting one!


Outwardly, Christmas in Hong Kong is much like it is in the U.S...or any other "Christian" country. We think much of this tradition is a holdover from the days of British rule. Hong Kong does have a very unique mixed culture of British and Chinese influences.

And maybe inwardly it is also the same as the way many people in the U.S. celebrate Christmas...shallow, commercial, consumer-minded, and not really about celebrating Jesus' birth at all.

For many reasons, this Christmas will be a very memorable one for us...maybe even moreso because that bag of decorations is stuck on a boat somewhere. :) Christmas really is all in the heart and all about Emmanuel, God with us!

Merry Christmas from Hong Kong!

Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree

Just the way it should be

Our Thanksgiving celebration was just the way it should be...Brendan prepping the turkey for roasting, me up early (for me!) helping my mom with the meal preparations, Charlotte running around the house playing with cousins for the first time, a house filled with family, lots of love and thanks!

My grandparents - Mommie Mop & Daddy Jack

I've mentioned multiple times in recent posts that I LOVE Thanksgiving and this is why. We were just one big family cooking and eating a big meal together. Watching and playing football together. Taking naps and watching my cousins chase my daughter around the house. It was perfect!

Cousins playing together

Charlotte & her cousin, Noah - aren't they adorable?!

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. We have another big celebration today - Charlotte's 1st Birthday party! Can't wait to celebrate our big girl!

Here she is just being a turkey! :)

Celebration of God's Grace

Happy Thanksgiving to you! We hope you have an amazing time this Thanksgiving with family and friends, and we also hope you take a break from the eating, football watching, eating, and more eating to thank God for what He has done in your life this past year...because the food and football are great but gratitude is really what Thanksgiving is all about.

Here on our blog this Thanksgiving we're having a Celebration of God's Grace!

We invite you to read through our family's blessings from the past year, and then add a comment sharing how God has blessed your family. We can't think of a better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than by rejoicing over God's everyday grace in our lives!

Kinne Family Blessings 2010

• First and foremost, we are thankful that we have a relationship with the God of the universe! We have seen the Lord working in new places and new ways this year. What a mighty God we serve!
• Good health for all of us, but we are especially thankful for incredibly good health for Charlotte while living in Spain without much knowledge of medical terms in the Spanish language.
• We always have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs - our needs are always met!
• Safety and adaptability while flying overseas multiple times with an infant.
• Provision of Christian community, especially in a foreign country where few people profess Christ.
• Safety for our family in the military who have served in the Middle East this past year AND extreme gratitude for their sacrifice to serve our country.
• Learning how to do without many of our comforts and conveniences in the United States.
• Friends in many countries who have helped us in our strange transient life this year - living in and taking care of our U.S. home, helping us with language and cultural barriers associated with finding housing, and many other small ways people have blessed us as we've been foreigners far away from home.
• We aren't who we were a year ago - our faith in God has grown through many changes in our life (moving overseas, having a new baby at home, Anne becoming a stay-at-home mom, and Brendan no longer working from home).
• God has given us a unique opportunity to see and learn more about the world He created.
• Charlotte Grace - our beautiful, sweet, happy 1 year-old daughter!
• Each other - our marriage is not perfect - far from it - but because of our relationship with Jesus, we turn to Him to lead us through the tough days (and weeks and months!)
• Each of you - we're grateful for the love each of you give us; you encourage and push us in our faith; our lives would not be same without you!
• Time to spend with our family, especially in the midst of a busy year. {Below are some pictures taken earlier this week with Anne's family in Texas.}

We would love to hear how God has been blessing you this year! At the bottom of this post you can leave a comment, or, if you like, you can leave the link to your own Thanksgiving celebration blog post. We hope you'll also read through comments left by others and rejoice together over what God is doing in our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kinne's!

*Family photos by Sinklier Studios in Abernathy, Texas.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is hands-down my favorite holiday...and I kinda take it for granted. Since we've been living outside of the US for the past year (almost) I am much more aware that Thanksgiving isn't celebrated everywhere. Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday - and without checking specific facts, I believe a few other countries celebrate their own version of Thanksgiving as well.

I cannot imagine not celebrating Thanksgiving. Wherever we go, I know we'll celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with others whether they are Americans or not...and maybe moreso if they're not, because I think it's important for all Christians to set aside time to reflect and celebrate how God has blessed our lives.

Today, in addition to sharing the blessings I've experienced in the past week, I also wanted to share some Thanksgiving traditions that have evolved in our family...and tell you about a new one! As Charlotte gets older and as we have more children, I'm sure other traditions will be added...but always pointing us towards thanks to God.

Our Thanksgiving Journal

The first year Brendan and I were married we began a Thanksgiving Journal. I found a simple kraft journal at Barnes & Noble and decorated it a bit. Each year we include a picture of all the people we gathered with on Thanksgiving Day and then give everyone the opportunity to write down what they are thankful for that year. I love having this record of thanks. It's so simple, yet such an important part of our Thanksgiving celebration.

Inside look at the journal

Our second Thanksgiving tradition is one that many families are familiar with...but associate it with a different holiday! We send out a Thanksgiving card and letter every year instead of a Christmas card. We love the chance to share what we are thankful for with our family and friends. This year, we're taking that tradition a step further...

On our blog Thanksgiving Day, we're asking all our family & friends to join us in a Thanksgiving Celebration - a celebration of gratitude! Brendan and I are going to post some of the ways God has blessed us this past year, and we'd like to invite you to do the same. If you have a blog, you can write a gratitude post of your own and leave a comment with the link to that post - OR - if you don't have a blog, just leave a comment on our blog telling us and others about how God has blessed you & your family this year!

We're excited to invite others to join us in gratitude to our Lord this Thanksgiving! And we hope this becomes a new Thanksgiving tradition!

My continued counting of everyday graces...

543. flat horizons as far as the eye can see

544. autumn colors in the Texas sunset

545. Little Girl's attempts at words

546. relief from allergies

547. Charlotte "talking" to 2 little friends on Skype

548. Charlotte spending time with her Papa & Popo - free time for Mama! :)

549. fun ladies shopping day

550. beginning to really communicate with my 13 month-old daughter

551. my parents' hospitality & generosity as they've welcomed us into their home for 2 months

552. hearinng Baby Girl whisper "be-be" during the night - in her sleep? :)

553. flocks of migrating birds

554. Charlotte running to her daddy at the airport

555. the end of a too-long time apart from my husband

556. watching Charlotte show off for her daddy