The Year of the Ox!

Today is Chinese New Year. We celebrated last night with the Nhem's. The evening was very entertaining...and informative. Last night we munched (and totally blew our diets) on a wonderful spread of Chinese cuisine: duck, broccoli and chicken (I am sure it has a more formal Chinese name), sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and Kaci's famous homemade egg rolls. Mostly, there were married couples, but there were two unmarried couples and it was pretty funny watching them react to 6 children, all under the age of 6, running around the house screaming. Not to mention sweet princess being quite the hit of the house sitting in her Bumbo!!

Anyhow, back to Chinese New Year. Every year, Paul hands out the traditional red evnvelopes (they contain money). The tradition is you keep them with you at all times and do not open them unless to use in an emergency. For example, Paul tells a story about being in Chicago (I think) and he was running late. Well, he comes to a toll booth and realizes he doesn't have enough money. Well, Buddah...good lookin' out because Paul pulled out one of his trusty red envelopes. So my question is... is Sonic sweet tea and emergency? Well, talk about bad Karma because every year I think I have used mine and stolen Wesley's for sweet tea in the morning. This year, my Chinese New Year Resolution is to save mine until I truly need it.

Anyhow, red is also the color you are supposed to wear. I think Emerson was the only one wearing red...see pic! Isn't she just a butternut pumpkin pie lover bean? Also, Kaci (The Nhem Family) is supposed to post a pic on her blog of her son Chance and Emerson. They are 15 months apart (Chance will be 2 in April) and I think they might be the same size...not kidding. So check her blog periodically for that pic...Hurry up Kaci!

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed my brief lesson on a few of the CNY traditions. Happy Year of the Ox!!!