CNY Eve dinners

I must shamefully admit that SQ and I barely follow any of the Chinese New Year traditions.  A quarter of the reason is that we don't know what the traditions are but majority of the reason is that we are (truthfully) just too lazy. We barely get the house tidy up, let alone deep clean.  We don't have any CNY decorations, candies or tangerines in the house.  We wash our hair on the day of and we eat meat.  I guess we are less superstitious than most Chinese.  However, during this time of the year, the CNY Eve dinners are a must.  They are equivalent to the American Thanksgiving, where everyone gathers to have a nice family dinner.

This year, my side of the family had our CNY dinner on Saturday (1/21) at my parents' house.  My mom prepared a lot of the dishes, with names symbolizing good luck and good fortune.  The sisters, BILs and kids all had a chance to talk (in most cases, scream because it was so noisy LOL), laugh and catch up on things.  Even though we see each other very often (at least once a week) and are in constant communications via FB, Twitter, or Email, there is still so much to talk about!!

The Tong Grandkids (all 13 of them!)

the Z gens (R to L): Hailey, Sarah, Tyler, Kyle, Hayden, Evan, Ethan

the Y gens (R to L): Catherine, Caitlin, Cadence, Crystal, Derek, Darryl

On Sunday (1/22), we drove up to Sacramento to SQ's brother's house for our CNY Eve dinner.  This year, the family decided to eat at a restaurant instead of cooking at home.  We went to Asian Pearl  and enjoyed a delicious feast of black chicken & herb soup, whole abalone, lobster 2 ways, quail, fish, and giant clams. All the dishes were very tasty - and must have costed quite a bit of $$! 

The Quach Grandkids (R to L) : Kenneth, Derrick, Alex, Sarah, Alyssa, Albert

Sarah doesn't get to see this side of her cousins often, but it was amazing how well she interacted with them.  She was playing with them, giggling, and laughing.  She was even willing to give them kisses! In case you're wondering, yes, Sarah is in her jammies, getting ready to hop back on the car on a long ride home!  And yes, no luck in getting all the kids to look in the camera at the same time!!