Whether you are already home with your child(ren) from Taiwan, waiting for your child(ren) to come home from Taiwan, or awaiting a referral from Taiwan, you're in the right place!!!

TAIWAN R.O.C.ks was a dream in 2010, and a reality in 2011! In 2010, Jules left a comment on Lisa C.'s blog, which Tiffanie responded to, which turned into an e-mail chain with the addition of Lisa R. That e-mail chain was all about a reunion for Taiwan families. Four blogging Mamas who each have a child born in Taiwan turned that circle of comments and e-mails into this. . .TAIWAN R.O.C.ks (Reuniting Our Children for Kinship and Support).

If you missed the first event, be sure not to miss the SECOND ANNUAL TAIWAN R.O.C.ks Event!!! Hope to see you there. Mark your calendars!


July 27th-29th, 2012 in CHICAGO!!

Your Taiwan R.O.C.ks Team,

Lisa C. (Tyler's Mom) - 2012 Team Lead
Jules (Hayden's Mom)

Lisa R. (Paige's Mom)
Tiffanie (Gracyn's Mom)


Monday, January 17, 2011

Getting To Know You!

"This all started with a dream I had about Hayden playing in a room with about 30 other kids, except they were all from Taiwan and had all been adopted and Hayden said to me, "Mommy, these are all my friends and they are just like me!".....
That dream happened long before we traveled to Taiwan to pick up Hayden. I never forgot that dream and I think that dream was rooted in the friendships that I made both while waiting and along the way, as I became very close to the 2 families awaiting referrals both in front and behind us. ( Lisa R. and Heather) Sharing the common bond of having originally been waiting in line with China and then later supporting one another through the ups and downs ( and there were a lot of them!) of International Adoption forged a strong network of friendship. We talked about how we couldn't wait for the day we stood together in the same room watching our 3 precious girls play with one another and how they would always be Taiwan sisters. I literally longed for that day and in October 2009 it finally became a reality when we spent a weekend together in New York, becoming one of the best weekends of my life. I love Lisa R. and Heather and man oh man, do I LOVE their girls! After that weekend I knew I would do whatever it took for our families to maintain these close ties.


We have been so blessed by the sheer number of families we have established friendships with.....each of them having grown their families in the same special way as our own. I sometimes forget that I have not actually hugged them in person........soon to change!

So I made a comment on my dear friend Lisa C.'s blog ( Tyler and Hayden share the special bond of having been Foster Siblings and if their Mama's have any say in it, will be taking one another to each other's proms one day. *smile*) and Tiffanie joined in that conversation. One thing led to another and you all know what happens when blogging adoptive Mamas dream up something BIG......something that seems almost impossible....... yep, they dive into that paperwork! So here we are 8 months away from making this dream a reality and wishing every Taiwan adoptive family could join us for our reunion weekend. And on that weekend I think there will be lots of smiles, laughter and VERY happy tears. Friendships will be made and friendships will be solidified. I dream that it will turn into something big....something no one will ever wish to miss.

And that dream of mine from 2 1/2 years ago.........well I know that our daughter is going to look up at me and say," look at all my friends..........they are just like me."

Jules & Hayden January 2011

We are the Rockaways and live in the DFW area. David and I have been together for almost 19 years and married for 14. I have two awesome stepchildren Taylor, 26 and Connor, 23. David runs a small specialty finance company in the Dallas area and I have been a flight attendant for Delta Airlines for 20 years; I am currently getting ready to return to active flying status, and will be commuting to JFK for international flying. 
Hayden Magee ( 28 months ) had been a dream long in the making for us and she came home to our family April 20th, 2009 at 7 1/2 months. She is the absolute joy in our hearts and is such a sweet, loud, smart, funny, loving little girl with a really BIG vocabulary! I have no idea what we did with our time before she came into our lives but I sure know there hasn't been a dull moment since! We are blessed beyond measure by this little house of power.
This dream of having everyone at the same place and at the same time is actually becoming a reality right before my eyes. I am so overwhelmed by emotions when I see how excited everyone is to get together, reconnect or meet for the first time (IRL). I just can't believe we have families traveling from all over the U.S. (hello Hawaii!!!) to be together for this kinship we have through our amazing children. Thank you everyone for being a part of something so BIG!!
Our journey to our beautiful daughter Paige was one filled with many bumps. We started as a China family, tried a couple months of advertising for domestic adoption and then wound up in Taiwan.
My husband John and I were high school sweethearts and have been married for almost 29 years. Our son Kyle is 20 years old and a Junior in college studying to be a journalist. Our son Coleton is 10 and is an amazing 5th grader whose interests range from playing String Bass to playing just about every sport there is! Then there is our Paige.....our Taiwan beauty.
She completed our family on August 6th, 2009 and just turned 2 this past November. Paige has brought so much joy and happiness to us all. We have made so many friends along the way.......friends that started out on blogs, emails or voices on the phone. Friends we will have forever. Friends that our daughter will have forever. I am so excited to be a part of this Taiwan Rocks event and am looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of you!
 
My name is Tiffanie and my DH and I have been blessed with 3 sweet peas. We have a son who is almost 6, a daughter who is 4 1/2 and another daughter just over a year old. We ventured on the adoption journey back in 2006 and logged in with China. We started a concurrent adoption and began paper-chasing for Taiwan in early 2007. We were originally waiting for an infant but our agency had just began a toddler program and we expressed our interest. In November of 2007 we received the referral for our then 15-month old daughter Gracyn. She came home in September of 2008 just after her 2nd birthday. The friends I've made along the way and the support through the blogging community.....on-line chat groups...the friends on the other end of instant messaging while I was in Taiwan and scared out of my mind...blog comments received...phone messages and a flowing email inbox before, during and throughout our journey...these are just some of the reasons why reuniting with other children who were born in Taiwan is important to me. The opportunity to stay connected with the beautiful families of those very children. My adoption experience, "the journey" definitely grew my faith and my circle of friends. Taiwan came to life by the connection of a blog, a few comments and an email. Selfishly as a result I hope that I will have the opportunity to meet more of you and those cyber hugs will become real hugs; that the many "profiles" I consider bloggy pals will become names, faces and friends. It is your name and your face I want to know. It is my wish that the journey...your journey, my journey...our journey continues. That our Taiwan connection and Reuniting Our Children for Kinship and Support is embraced and celebrated for years to come.
My name is Lisa C. (DH Scott) and I am the happy Mama of 2 children, both through the miracle of adoption. We adopted our beautiful daughter Lauren in April of 2003 at 7 mos. of age from Kazakhstan. Several years later we embarked on our second adoption journey, this time to bring our precious Little Man, Tyler home from Taiwan. (February, 2009 at 7 months of age) Both of our children were and are an answered prayer and I am forever grateful for the privilege and joy of being their Mama. Both of our journeys were quite different, each one unique and each one life changing; but one common thread throughout has been the connections we have made through this incredibly warm, supportive and diverse adoption community. Connections forged through blog comments, emails, chat boards, phone conversations and visits.....connections that have become cherished friendships.
Last summer our family had the wonderful opportunity to attend a weekend long Kazakhstan adoptive families reunion with over 80 families attending from all around the U.S. and Canada. It was a chance to visit with old friends and to create new ones; and more significantly, it was something tangible and important for our daughter.....a connection to other children born in Kazakhstan and to other families forged much like our own, but on a much grander scale than anything else previously attended. We came together in celebration and in a collective effort to fund raise for those angels left behind. In a word, it was incredible. At about the same time an email thread prompted by (of all things!) a blog post was being bumped around by a few of us and a crazy, goofy and oh so wonderful notion was born!
A reunion ~ Taiwan ROCks ~ but this time for our Taiwan families. A weekend of celebration, fellowship, fundraising, friendship (both old and new) undisguised joy and community. Connecting our children, born a world away and connecting the forever families they created. How amazing it would be (and will be!) to watch these beautiful children grow and flourish with one another year after year . To watch friendships made and friendships grow both this year and beyond.....at age 2 or 3.......at age 5, 6 then 7! As tweens and beyond, confident and grounded, greeting old friends with hugs and high fives ( or whatever a "cool" greeting looks like by then!), effortlessly easy within the foundation that begins this August. For our Tyler... ...for the 3 Taiwan beauties featured above......and for all of your amazing sons and daughters. And honestly? For all of us Mamas and Dads too!
I hope to see (and finally meet!) you all in Texas this summer; our family is beyond excited and beyond thankful for the unwavering enthusiasm and support of our co-planners and each of you!

34 comments:

  1. The blog looks great! You all have done such a great job putting together this event. I'm disappointed we won't be able to join you this year. We recently learned our little guy from Taiwan has a little brother, and we hope to be traveling this summer to bring him home from Taiwan. I hope we will be able to meet up with everyone during another reunion in the future. Our blog is http://adopttaiwan.wordpress.com

    Cindy
    Adopted from SLC in 2009, and returning to adopt our son's little brother in 2011!

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  2. The blog looks wonderful, great job by all involved!!

    Our blog is ourcicleoflove.blogspot.com

    It is private but I will be glad to invite anyone interested although I have been very bad at updating it lately mostly due to how easy FB is.

    Michele

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  3. Here is my blog. I am busily searching fun things to do after the reunion. I always end up with more things to do than time allows.


    http://journeytomyfunbabybrotherintaiwan.blogspot.com/

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  4. Thanks, ladies, for all the hard work you've put into making this reunion a possibility. I'm really hoping we can make it out to Texas this summer.

    I blog about William, our 3 year-old wonderchild, and the rest of his crazy family at www.anatomyofafamily.blogspot.com.

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  5. The blog looks great, you guys!!
    My blog address is:
    http://blog.billigmeier.org

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  6. Love the blog! You guys are all so gorgeous! :) Of course, so are the kids! heehee.
    Can't wait to follow along-hoping to make it to Dallas in August...but not sure yet.
    My blog is outdated. I used to post all the time, especially while we were in the processing of adopting K.
    But, i haven't updated it since September-but here it is, if you'd like to look back and follow our journey!
    Nicole K.
    www.korenskyjourney.blogspot.com

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  7. Yay! Open for business! :) You can add me. www.mylittlelantern.com

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  8. You ladies did an outstanding job on the blog! Just beautiful! Great job!
    "These are all my friends and they're just like me"... wow... What an amazing gift to give to our children. Thank you for giving life to your dream!

    www.dunnchild.blogspot.com

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  9. This is so awesome! We are waiting for our daughter from Taiwan...our first court date is March 24. Our blog is www.oursilkroad.blogspot.com . Since we are moving this summer and just getting home with Sophia, we probably won't be able to attend this year's reunion, but we look forward to being able to attend next year!

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  10. Awesome job, ladies! This is so great! Our blog is www.warneradoption.blogspot.com. It is private but I will invite anyone who wishes on this site. Email is kris_warner@yahoo.com

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  11. Oh, my god, this is totally awesome! I love all of the pictures and the stories. I was in tears! Thank you, ladies for this wonderful opportunity that you're putting together for us. I'm so excited and I think Lexie is too. Everytime she sees a plane, I tell her that's going to be us soon!

    You can add me, my blog is www.lovinglexie.blogspot.com

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  12. Ciao from Sicily, Italy! We are thrilled to see this reunion happening. Kudos and big thanks to all of you who are organizing this special event. Sadly, I don't think we'll be able to make it this summer but we are already planning to make it for the 2012 gathering. This Valentine's Day will mark five years since we held our daughter, Camille (Cathwel 2006) for the first time.Time seems frozen while waiting for that life-changing referral phone call, but it sure does fly by once you hold them for the first time, doesn't it? Our family blog is: www.bagelsandcrawfish.blogspot.com

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  13. Love what you folks are doing. I loved all your stories about how each of you became a family...made me cry. I, unfortunately, can't make it to the reunion this year, but really hope to make it to one in the future. Keep up the great work.

    I'm getting back to blogging again after a year break. wwww.asonforus.blogspot.com.

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  14. This is great! I'm so happy that you ladies took the bull by the horns and created this group and this blog. I'm thrilled that all of us Taiwan Mommies have such a fun way to stay connected.

    Typically my blog isn't grammatically correct or spell checked, but you are more than welcome to add it:)

    cole-connection.blogspot.com

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  15. This is wonderful! Thank you so much for planning all of this and bringing our children together to celebrate their culture.
    Scott and I (Jami) live in PA with our two wonderful children Shasha (5, China) and Po (2, Taiwan). I am so very sorry that our family cannot attend this year's reunion but we surely hope to plan next year's and many of the reunions to come! This August, we may be in Disney World but our hearts will be in Texas<3!

    We are currently updating paperwork for #3 from China (maybe switching to Taiwan in the near future)... follow our blog at http://w8tn42and3.blogspot.com/
    Can't wait to meet you all!

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  16. We're really hoping to be able to make it. You can link our blog www.jeffandabbey2001.blogspot.com

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  17. I am so excited that you have brought everyone together. IT is so fun to see everyone in one place. I loved reading your stories. We brought Lauren home in September 2009. You can add our blog. www.ababygirlforus.blogspot.com

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  18. You guys have done a wonderful job with the weekend and the blog! Your kids are so beautiful and Jules' dream made me tear up. I have dropped off the blog face of the earth, but I have been keeping up with the event through others. We are really excited and I have already booked our room :)

    Anne Marie (mom to Alex 3 and Ryan 21 mos.)

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  19. The blog is wonderful gals! We are Ryan and Suzy and brought our daughter home in October 2009. Our blog is www.suzyandryan.blogspot.com, it is private but anyone can email me and I will add you to the list at ryan_suzy @ ymail.com. We look forward to attending, we have already book our room!

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  20. Loving this blog! Please add me to the side bar.
    www.hernandezherd.blogspot.com

    Victoria

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  21. Awesome job ladies! Our blog is www.2intaiwan.blogspot.com. It's private, but you can email me to be added. lattessc@aol.com
    Can't wait to see everyone in TX!

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  22. Jules, I noticed you were a flight attendant for 20 years with Delta. My sister did over 20 years with Delta. Do you know a Donna?
    Victoria

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  23. I LOVE the blog and the reunion is a dream come true for me! THANK YOU LADIES! YOU put the dream of alot of us I think to REALITY!!!!! YOU were bold enough to say this can happen! :) YIPPEEE :) For Jule, being youare in DFW area I would love to see yall other times too. We are about 4 hours away. Wondering how many are in this region. Would love to do a Chinese New Year get together one year. Anyway, I would love our blog to be on the blog list. it is www.tillGodbringsthemhome.blogspot.com

    Can't wait to see everyone in Texas :)

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  24. The blog is so super cute! Just added the button to our site!! www.littlelaneybug.blogspot.com

    Thanks so much you guys!

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  25. Great site! Love it!! Love all the info and getting to know other families!!

    My blog is:
    www.twosunshinedays.blogspot.com

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  26. Hi guys. Really nice site. Love the idea of a reunion - Great Wolf is great fun :-). Also a central place for us families to connect. We have a little guy from Taiwan, Ryan, who is three. My blog is about him and his two big sisters. Mom & Dad make an appearance every once in a while, too :-). www.threetimeslucky333.blogspot.com

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  27. Yay! So glad to find this blog!
    We adopted our son, Kyler, from Taiwan in 2007. He will be 4 in March! We are also in the process of adopting a little girl from Taiwan and praying to have her by Christmas 2011!
    We are planning to attend the reunion!
    I have TONS of friends who have adopted from Taiwan....(we have our own little network of people who adopted from the same orphanage)....I am passing the reunion along! We are actually celebrating our own reunion on Feb. 19.....for Chinese New Year!

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  28. I love your blog. The reunion sounds like a wonderful idea. We hope we can come but we aren't sure yet. We live in Mississippi. We have a 6 year old little girl we adopted in March 2005 from China at the age of 11 months. We have a little boy we adopted in April 2009 from Taiwan at the age of 3. Here is our blog for our two sweeties.

    http://blessingsfromasia.blogspot.com/

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  29. Hi! We are Rob and Shawnee, and we have two from northeastern Taiwan, Katie (3 1/2) and Logan (19 mo.). We are in the process of adopting an older child from China.

    Our blog is http://20stuff.blogspot.com.

    I just started posting on the blog this weekend, and will add something this week about your reunion. We probably won't be able to attend the reunion, but we're excited about it and supportive.

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  30. please add our blog to the list of blogs :)

    www.tillGodbringsthemhome.blogspot.com

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  31. www.preciouswondersandlittlemonkeys.blogspot.com

    Totally there baby!!! Milana and I are heading to Texas! Just recently purchased our tickets and wanted to make sure I had them before I said I was coming! eek! We are Donnie and Sara. My family includes Nika, Kole, Jadyn, and Milana. Our daughter Milana came to us from Taiwan in June 2009 at two years old. I love this idea & can't wait to see those I know and meet more I don't! Looking forward to bringing all the children and hubby next year... that will be a feat.

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  32. I'm way late to this party, but my blog is: www.helloholanihao.blogspot.com

    I would love to come to TX, but not sure finances and schedule will allow it this year.

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  33. Great blog! We look forward to attending a Taiwan R.O.C.s function in the future. We are the parents to a beautiful daughter who came to us in 2009 and a son who will join us later this year, both born in Taiwan. My blog is "Our Little Treasures" at www.keoughtumblemonkey.blogspot.com.

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  34. I would also like to try and attend future events! We adopted our daughter Lauren (now almost 5!) from Taiwan in 2007. This February, we received news that her birthmother had a baby boy and asked if we would adopt him. What a great surprise! We are currently waiting on our first ruling (our hearing was June 3rd). Our new son, Kai, turned 1 at the end of May. We also have an 8-year-old son, adopted domestically. I don't update the blog very often but may use it when we travel later this year, www.laurenling.blogspot.com.

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