New Year's Eve

Just realized I didn't write about our NYE and I wanted to remember it because we actually stayed up till midnight - WHOO HOO! We haven't done that for years!

Neil and I have a little tradition of saving all our change throughout the year, turn it into a change machine and use that money for our NYE dinner. Well, we had to dig into our change bowl a lot this year so we had a whopping $15 but along with a gift card we decided to go all out! The Melting Pot - my favorite! We love going out to a nice dinner just the two of us and talk about what the year was like, what we pray for the next year, what we see happening, etc. It's a great tradition but sometimes a little hard to get a babysitter so we do it on a night CLOSE to NYE =) We went out Wed. night

Thursday was a nice family day at home. Claire had her friend Abbey come over in the afternoon to play and we made a yummy dinner. Burgers with grilled onions and mushrooms, roasted herb potatoes, Texas Caviar with chips and mac and cheese for the kiddos. It was so fun to cook and be together in the kitchen while Claire was occupied with a friend! We kept Claire and Eden up, changed them into their PJ's and packed them into the car to go see the Sea World fireworks at 8 p.m. We stayed in the car because it was super cold and watched from a perfect spot. Claire loved them, Eden fell asleep =) It was wonderful to share the fireworks together and hear Claire exclaim from the back seat. I love this age! So it was back home for the kids to get to bed, we watched The Family Stone, drank a little wine, watched a NY music program on PBS and drank a little more wine. By the time it was 11:15 p.m. I was ready for bed and didn't think I could make it but with all the getting ready and closing up everything, it was 11:45 so we stayed awake for our New Year's kiss.

2009 proved to be one of the most challenging years of our family's life together but it was wonderful and we have been blessed beyond belief. I thank God for the strength He has given us and for the promise of His indescribable peace and grace we experience on a daily basis. I pray 2010 is our best yet with the growth He has planned for us... no matter what that means will be brought our way...