Celebrating Chinese New Year

In Tennessee:

Jackson rings in the Chinese New Year
Adoptive parents and their kids gather to celebrate holiday

The year of the rat was ushered in with style Thursday by families gathered at the China Pan restaurant to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

The group included about a dozen families from West Tennessee Adopted Families, a group of parents who have adopted children internationally...

The group meets annually to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Easter and around Halloween, said member Stephanie Coleman.

In Virginia:

Adoptive families join together
International Adoptive Families of the Shenandoah includes 12 families from Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County. The group provides support for potential parents and a place where the children can learn about their Chinese heritage. Since many of these children have no knowledge of their biological history, Wine and Arritt said it's important to teach them about their culture.

In addition to an upcoming Chinese New Year celebration, the group plans to celebrate the Lunar Moon Festival, and both Wine and Arritt expect to enroll Will and Xinru in a Mandarin Chinese class come fall.

"I want to give Xinru as broad a spectrum of knowledge as I can find for her regarding her birth heritage," Arritt said. "I don't want to push her into it, but at this point, I do want to expose her to it."