Chinese New Year 2012 - Year of the Dragon

Our celebration of Chinese New Year began with a school performance by Annie.  The kids sang a few songs in Chinese and sounded great!  Annie looked so cute in her Chinese dress and the hat that she made in class.  I took some video of the performance but haven't yet downloaded it from my video camera. I'll have to add that later.

We decided to host a Chinese New Year party this year.  We did one a couple years ago and had a lot of fun so we thought it was about time for another one.  Jeff was really excited to try out his culinary skills on some new dishes.  The kids and I were excited to decorate for the party and we had so much fun going to Asian markets for all our CNY supplies.  It completely made us miss living in Asia.

We had a mix of family and friends at the party and I think everyone had a good time and really enjoyed the food.  On our menu was pork soup dumplings, chicken curry, beef & Chinese broccoli with noodles, a New Year raw fish salad, a whole fried fish, and mango sticky rice.  (Technically the mango sticky rice is Thai, not Chinese, but we decided any dish from Asia was ok.)  I was too busy having fun chatting with everyone and didn't remember to take pics of all the amazing food Jeff made.  Thank goodness for my sister who took most of the pics I do have.  We also had a little entertainment from the kids which was very enjoyable.

Annie all ready to party!

Chef Jeff working away in the kitchen!

Yummy dumplings!  Folding these was my only contribution to the menu.

Well...except for the store bought fortune cookies.  ;)

Henry sneaking downstairs with his "To Go" container of chicken

and sweet and sour sauce.

New Year raw fish salad.

Everyone mixing the salad and shouting "Lo Hei" (toss the fish) for good luck.

The salad thoroughly tossed.....EVERYWHERE!

Party goers....

Annie sang a Chinese New Year song...in Chinese of course!  ;)

Annie and Jack as our New Year Dragon ready to entertain us.

Chloe wondering what this dragon is all about.

Annie and I had fun putting up some decorations for the party.

Our Chinese lucky waving kitty and Annie's homemade New Year signs.

 Annie was in charge of helping kids make these dragons at her "craft station".

 Henry happy to receive his hongbao (red packet).

I have to also say a HUGE thank you to my mom and sister.  They always help out so much.  Because of them, we had a spotless kitchen before the last guest even left!  It was so nice.

Love you both so much!