Ringing in the New Year

Last night we rang in the New Year with our small group. We had a great time! I couldn't believe how well all the kids did - they played and played and played and were all very well-behaved. Here are the girls from our life group: Melanie, Me with a sleeping Caleb strapped to me, a pregnant Becca & her daughter Alayna who was looking away, and Angie holding their daughter Allana (sp?). Kiddos not pictured include Abby (Melanie's daughter), Joshua (our son), Becca has a step-daughter who's name just escaped my brain, and Lael (Angie's oldest daughter).The husbands of the group in order of the girls above are Don (pictured below with Shawn), Shawn (of course!), Angel (pictured below on his recliner), and John (who somehow escaped our picture taking last night by walking around).The food was amazing. We had all sorts of appetizers & snacks including shrimp & cocktail sauce, cheese & crackers, chips & dip, veggies & dip, fruit & dip, buffalo chicken dipping sauce & scoops & bread crisps, a crab appetizer that was simply devine, bacon bites, frozen cakes and more! We ate & ate (which helped keep us awake), and we toasted in the new year with sparkling cider and wine for those not pregnant, nursing, over 21, or too tired. That ended up being all of two people. Haaa!!! I just love the two pictures below. First, Lael is looking at Joshua, then he's keeping his eyese on her...We watched Dick Clark's NYE special, but we missed the actual countdown to midnight because we were all commenting on Dick Clark's appearance. Here's Alayna clapping next to Lael, who kept trying to take care of her last night. It was adorable!We had a fun time going to a party where kiddos were welcome. Again, they all did so well. It was a great night! And, while Shawn & I were too tired to share any resolutions with each other last night, we're looking forward to spending 2009 as a family. May God bless each one of you this new year!