Happy New Year to me!!!!!

[M&M's Mommy]

and to anyone who celebrates Lunar New Year today!

Too bad I still have to work today - but at home, the atmotphere is a whole lot different! There are HUGE celebrations going on everywhere!!! Tonight, after going to Church to thank God for all the blessings He had bestowed on us during the last year & ask for his continue blessings for the New Year, we'll be joining my father's side of the family which included his 6 brothers & sisters, (all of them are in their 60s - 70s who live within 10 miles from each other and see each other every week at Church!! ), and all my cousins for dinner tonight. After dinner, all the youngsters in the family will line up to wish the elders good health & good luck for the new year, and receive the "lucky money" from them. This money will be traded around when we stay up until the wee hours to play Blackjack

Then tomorrow night we'll be at my in-laws' house where my husband will be surrounded by his entire family!! (we're talking about 50+ people here) and everything will be repeated.

On Saturday we'll be visiting my 96-year-old grandmother. She lives with my mom's youngest brother. There we'll be celebrating New Year with my mom's side of the family. My mom has 12 brothers & sisters (my 24 aunts & uncles!!) Each of them has at least 3 -5 kids (my cousins), most are married and each has 1 - 2 kids (my nieces or nephews). Imagine how many people I'll be meeting with . My mom's oldest sister is 78 year old. Her husband is probably a couple years older. I can't describe the way I feel when I see them folding their hands like a little kids in front of my grandmother to wish her Happy New Year, and receive little red envelopes from her. It's a sense of sacred tradition, of cultural, or heritage and a feeling of thankfulness that usually overwhelms me.

On Saturday night we'll be celebrating with our friends at Church. We're consisted of about 15 couples who've been in the same prayer group together for the last 14 years. All are now married with young kids. We continue to meet one a month to pray the Rosary together, share our stories over dinner, support each other in our ministries at Church & in life, and create an environment where our kids can play together.

All that, plus there will be a HUGE New Year Festival during the weekend that we plan to attend - only if we can fit it in somewhere

I'm sure I'll have a Happy New Year. Hope yours are, too.

[Karen]

Happy New Year to you AND the M's!
Moon cakes for M-pups?

[Ginger's Mom]

Happy New Year to you!!! And thank you for sharing at least a little of the tradition with us. It sounds like a really joyous time with your family.

[Lilith Cherry]

Gong Xi Fa Cai! I am here among all the firecrackers and lai see! It is really wonderful to see how much everyone enjoys being with the family at this time of year here in China! I wish you and your family Joy and longevity and of course prosperity!

[cassiesmom]

M&M's Mommy, Lilith Cherry! Happy New Year, a wish for joy and prosperity! One of the men in my choir at church is Chinese-American, so he is going to bring some photos and tell us a little about the New Year celebration at tonight's rehearsal. He invited us all to wear something red - I'm thinking that's part of the festivities too.

[M&M's Mommy]

M&M's Mommy, Lilith Cherry! Happy New Year, a wish for joy and prosperity! One of the men in my choir at church is Chinese-American, so he is going to bring some photos and tell us a little about the New Year celebration at tonight's rehearsal. He invited us all to wear something red - I'm thinking that's part of the festivities too.

Yes. Red is considered a lucky color.

Thanks for your good wishes. The Lunar New Year ("Tet" in Vietnamese) is very important to us. You can think of it as a combination of the most important Western holidays: Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Memorial Day & the spirit of Christmas!. Tet is when families get together to give thanks to God, and celebrate the elders. Those who've been deceased will be remembered & honored. Their gravesides will be visited by all members of the family.. It's when everyone who's living apart from their families during the year will come home.

There are certain types of food we only eat or certain things we only do during Tet (which will be celebrated for many days to a month). Tet is when one's house is at the cleanest, his debts are defered or paid off before the new year so he start anew, it's when broken relationships are mended, and everyone will be joyous around each other..

[Taz_Zoee]

Happy New Year!! I just love reading/hearing about different traditions.
You will have a fun, but very busy weekend.

[pitc9]

Happy New Year to you both, and anyone else celebrating!

[kimlovescats]

Sounds like quite a celebration! Happy and Healthy New Year to you and yours!

[phesina]

Happy New Year to you, your family, and all the others celebrating!

[M&M's Mommy]

I am glad to report that I've survived the holidays & now I'm all tired *yawns*

We selled out ~$300 in lucky envelopes to our nieces & nephews on all 4 sides of the family! In return, hubby & I both got $50 each from our parents -so we made $200 total!!, plus my grandmother gave each of us $10. So all together we have $220 in our pockets at one point!! - Unfortunately we lost most of it over a blackjack game at my sister-in-law's house yesterday. Playing blackjack is also one of the Tet tradition for every family, as even the littlest member has $1 bill in their hands & it's one way to try our luck in the new year! . Our 10 year-old niece was the biggest winner this year. Starting out with $5, she ended up with $93!! (half of that was lost to her from us, the other half was from her parents or her other aunties/cousins!!
I don't think she's ever been more happy in her life!!!