ringing in 2009!

another year has come and gone! i have looked so forward to ringing in 2009 because it means we have entered the birth month for amelia! yay!! we decided to forego our usual new years' plans and try a little different celebration this year. there's a new, beautiful shopping complex in our town, and they advertised a big new years' celebration... so we thought we'd give it a try. we bundled up, slurped our starbucks, and watched the kids go crazy to the music. we planned on staying out there to ring in the new year, and we actually gave some of our friends and family a hard time for leaving really early. well..... about 10:30, the starbucks had worn off, everybody was freezing cold but me, and my feet were killing me. so we gave in and decided to watch the ball drop from the comfort of our couch. even though we tried something new this year, we remembered to take our traditional new years' picture (see above). 6 year old natalie did a great job taking this picture for us! :)

i love the next picture of jonathan and brian's floating head!


and here are my hot chocolate lovers! ethan and caroline loved this special treat!


on our way home, we found out that brian's parents were on their way out to meet us... so they came by our house with fireworks and donuts instead! the kids loved watching daddy & pappy light up fireworks from afar. at first, they observed from the porch...


...and then once the loud popping of the fireworks began, caroline retreated to the foyer. (the foyer that looks like a scene from home alone!)


eventually, the kids warmed up to the quiet sparklers, and they happily rang in the new year! here are our new years kiddos with nana and pappy!


hope you had a wonderful time ringing in the new year! praise God for the blessing of another year and the excitement that it holds!