Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy Chinese New Year)

We welcomed in the year of the pig with a traditional (well, as traditional as Lori knows how to prepare) Chinese breakfast of mantou (steamed bread), porridge (which Annabelle LOVES), a cold dish of tofu and cilantro, jaio zi (pot stickers) and a few other goodies. The kids and I got up early and made "xin nian hao" cards for Baba and they excitedly ran up, jumped on the bed to wake him, and gave him the cards. He came downstairs to the breakfast and to some music from our "old days" in China. He seemed happy with our efforts :) The New Year is such a HUGE deal in China and sometimes I forget just how challenging it must be for William to be away from China on such a significant holiday. No matter how much he loves us :) and has adapted to the U.S., his zhong guo xin (Chinese heart) must hurt a little this time of year. He'd probably deny that if you asked him, though, so don't! :) On the eve of the new year (well, during the day) we "partied down" outside as you'll see from the pics. Then on the actual New Year, we went to church in the morning and to a festival in town put on by the Chinese Cultural something or other. Pleasanton has an Asian population of about 12% and so they make a fairly big deal out of the New Year here, which is great. Anyway, in other news...there is no news. Every day we hope today is the day that "baby Alex" ,as the kids already call him, will come but no baby yet. We'll let you know. In the meantime, happy New Year!