新年快乐
Xin Nian Kuai Le
Happy Chinese New Year
and
Welcome, Year of the Snake!
I had fun with our first official Chinese/Lunar New Year celebration this year with our daughter home for the past 8 months.
Normally I'm not a crafty person, but with home schooling, I need to get my boys to do creative, artistic things. So on Friday and Saturday we made snakes to decorate the house. We made toilet paper roll snakes and we made construction paper chain snakes (two-headed snakes, no less) and construction paper lanterns.
Of course, my love of cooking always plays a role and I planned my menu. For my friends who love to cook, please check out this cookbook. It was given to us by Jay's Godparents who lived in China on sabbatical and thought these recipes looked quite good and authentic. We haven't found a recipe we dislike! They are all great!
I knew I wanted to search for an Asian market in town to see if I could get some authentic decor for TheYear of the Snake and I found Tim's Oriental & Seafood Market here in San Antonio. Much to my surprise, they didn't have much in the line of holiday decorations but their food selection was great. What I also found out was that Tim's Market was planning a New Year Celebration for that Sunday afternoon. I immediately knew I wanted to attend and we made our plans to go after church.
We dressed for church on Sunday, L in her chi pao, my boys in their China shirts and we took lots of pictures. But the unexpected happened. Our church had planned a pot luck that we didn't know about because we missed church the week before with a sick girl and a sick mommy. We were still invited to attend even though we didn't bring a dish and Jay had the opportunity to connect with an old friend from his Student Ministry days at Willow Creek. What was extra fun about that lunch was that we have a few Korean families attending our church and they brought some amazing Korean food. Oh YUMMY! What a treat.
Watching the clock, I fully felt that we had missed our window to see the New Year celebration at my new found Asian market but we drove over there anyway just in case it was still going on. We made it! And WOW! It didn't disappoint. We watched the show and then I showed Jay around the store that I had visited with the kids that week prior. I won't say much about the show because I'll let you see for yourself in a quick 5 minute video. It was awesome!
We came home and enjoyed our meal of Hot and Sour Soup, Cashew Beef over Noodles, Chicken & Pork Fried Rice, and Dumplings. L gobbled it all up. Later we opened our Red Envelopes which I filled with chocolate coins instead of traditional cash and we ate some coconut jellies and oranges (the kids ate the oranges, Jay and I were stuffed!). The only thing I wish I would have done was to pick up some of those floating red lantern things that you can buy at the fireworks stands. It would have been fun to send 5 (or maybe a luckier number like 8) lanterns off into the sky before bedtime.
It was a full, fun day and it was simply a privilege to celebrate my daughter's culture. I'd by lying if I said I didn't tear up every now and then. That's why for me and the passion God gave me for other cultures, international adoption was simply right for our family.
Wishing you a healthy and prosperous Year of the Snake!
Of course, my love of cooking always plays a role and I planned my menu. For my friends who love to cook, please check out this cookbook. It was given to us by Jay's Godparents who lived in China on sabbatical and thought these recipes looked quite good and authentic. We haven't found a recipe we dislike! They are all great!
I knew I wanted to search for an Asian market in town to see if I could get some authentic decor for TheYear of the Snake and I found Tim's Oriental & Seafood Market here in San Antonio. Much to my surprise, they didn't have much in the line of holiday decorations but their food selection was great. What I also found out was that Tim's Market was planning a New Year Celebration for that Sunday afternoon. I immediately knew I wanted to attend and we made our plans to go after church.
We dressed for church on Sunday, L in her chi pao, my boys in their China shirts and we took lots of pictures. But the unexpected happened. Our church had planned a pot luck that we didn't know about because we missed church the week before with a sick girl and a sick mommy. We were still invited to attend even though we didn't bring a dish and Jay had the opportunity to connect with an old friend from his Student Ministry days at Willow Creek. What was extra fun about that lunch was that we have a few Korean families attending our church and they brought some amazing Korean food. Oh YUMMY! What a treat.
Watching the clock, I fully felt that we had missed our window to see the New Year celebration at my new found Asian market but we drove over there anyway just in case it was still going on. We made it! And WOW! It didn't disappoint. We watched the show and then I showed Jay around the store that I had visited with the kids that week prior. I won't say much about the show because I'll let you see for yourself in a quick 5 minute video. It was awesome!
We came home and enjoyed our meal of Hot and Sour Soup, Cashew Beef over Noodles, Chicken & Pork Fried Rice, and Dumplings. L gobbled it all up. Later we opened our Red Envelopes which I filled with chocolate coins instead of traditional cash and we ate some coconut jellies and oranges (the kids ate the oranges, Jay and I were stuffed!). The only thing I wish I would have done was to pick up some of those floating red lantern things that you can buy at the fireworks stands. It would have been fun to send 5 (or maybe a luckier number like 8) lanterns off into the sky before bedtime.
It was a full, fun day and it was simply a privilege to celebrate my daughter's culture. I'd by lying if I said I didn't tear up every now and then. That's why for me and the passion God gave me for other cultures, international adoption was simply right for our family.
Wishing you a healthy and prosperous Year of the Snake!
I am so very sorry to hear about all the things that are happening. I tried to leave a comment under your newest post, but I didn't see a spot to do so. Did you ever find out what happen to your poor little dog? Healthy and young and just like that. I too wonder why sometimes things happen to us and why won't they get better. When things go wrong, it seems like forever before anything good comes our way. I ask myself that all the time. Truth in God, I don't believe he's against you, he's for you and we know he plans his ways and his timing. I'm so sorry, for you dog and husband.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you and your family.