Gong Xi Fa Cai

I got it in my head that us Wigs should host a little Chinese New Year celebration and before I knew it that "little celebration" morphed into thirty people in our pad sharing an asian dish of their choice and learning about different people and places and cultures. If we had even an extra square foot of space around here we would have invited more, but we feel so blessed with what we have (the home and the friends!) We had friends in attendance who had lived in China, Korea, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan and it was so fascinating to learn just a little about those different places and eat such delicious food. I was the happy recipient of leftovers as well and gosh, lunches that week were the cream of the crop. Happy Lunar New Year, Gong xi fa cai! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Finally able to hang my pretty asian ladies I bought in Taiwan so many years ago! And it wasn't long before that table was full to the brim of the yummiest food ever, and boy was I happy about it.

James and I wrapped over 200 dumplings and by the end we were owning them! We used a Taiwanese recipe from Mad's dad that we've made before and it was once again a total success. We fried 120 and they were gone in minutes, the rest went in our freezer to enjoy later. 

The dragon led the way to the party!

Our backyard looked like a Chinese restaurant, and I wasn't sad about it at all!

Ummmmm, right?! It was such a feast! Egg rolls, fried rice, dumplings, egg fried tofu, waterfall pork, Thai chicken soup, chinese chicken salad and so many delicious fruit and veg options.

I loved seeing those chairs fill up one by one.

A picture of most everyone, missing a few friends who had to leave early.

And when they said I should get out from behind the camera and be in the shot I sheepishly said, "Who, me?!" Ever the timid and shy one.

When everyone else left the six of us went out into the backyard to enjoy the lanterns and reminisce about how fun the party had been (Talmage was quick to mention that we should make it a tradition!)

She had already brushed her teeth and we were halfway through our bedtime story when she ran out of the room, only to be found a few minutes later elbow deep in a turnip pancake! I love how both of my girls are such adventurous eaters...maybe someday it'll serve them well on missions or adventures of their own.