“I love my chili peppers!” Zoey Collins exclaims.
Chili peppers is the nickname four-year-old Zoey Collins has for her 16 sisters.
They're not biologically related -- but that doesn't matter to Zoey.
The girls are just weeks apart in age and come from the same orphanage in the Hunan province of China.
Sixteen American families went there together in 2004 to each adopt one of the children when they were 10 months old.
Today, 11 of those families and their girls reunite from cities around the country for the first time in 2 years.
Zoey's adoptive mom Cynthia made it all possible
“I invited all the families together and said if you guys would come to Savannah I would rent a beach house. My husband said do you think more than six families would show up? We had no idea 11 families would show up!” Collins says.
They're putting together scrap books today to hold the memories of their big family gathering.
“They need to learn about their heritage and where they came from and being an adopted child there's so many sides to their story,” Collins says.
The Cohen family came all the way from Colorado.
Adopting daughter Valerie only makes their family stronger.
“I feel like she's always been with us...kind of like our other two kids who are biological and they kind of showed up and they're always there....it's the same thing with Valerie,” says Valerie’s adoptive father, Andy Cohen.
Zoey is already looking forward to another reunion next year – next time she says he’s hoping for Disneyworld.
Chili peppers is a nickname for the kids because as a nod to their Hunan heritage. Hunan is known for its spicy cuisine.
