Winter Wonderland 2009!

Okay, well not quite a winter wonderland, but it's as close as we've seen around here in a long time. It did end up snowing most of the day, but unfortunately, did not accumulate very much. Nevertheless, the boys made the best of their day off of school and played in the falling snow. It was the first time they have seen snow and while they still don't fully understand what it means to play in the snow, they at least know now how it feels (Jackson thought snow would feel like cotton balls rather than ice!).

Our house in the snow

The deck got the most accumulation

Austin and Jackson

Of course Austin had to try riding his scooter in the snow. I drew the line at skateboarding in it though!

Happy New Year 2009

Our family attended a special "Family New Year's Eve Party" last night with some friends (and former neighbors) of ours. Before the party, we gathered at the Grants new home in Landfall and were in awe at how beautiful it has turned out. The Grants used to live 2 doors down from us, and although we miss them a ton, we still see them a lot (maybe more than when they lived near us!!!). We also met up with the Inghams there and enjoyed getting to know them better. After the tour and the girls finished getting dressed, we headed over to the Country Club for the party.

The party started at 5:30 and was totally geared towards families. There were two separate buffet tables; one for kids and one for the adults. Both were awesome. After we ate all that we could, we hit the dance floor. The kids had a blast and definitely worked off the sugar rush that they had acquired at the dessert table! We danced for over an hour and then just before 8 pm, the dance floor cleared and was covered in bubble wrap in anticipation of the countdown. Bubbling cider and champagne was passed out and at 8pm sharp, the countdown began. At "midnight" (well 8:00) balloons were released from the ceiling and the kids (and some adults) went WILD jumping on the bubble wrap making as much noise as humanly possible! We all had a blast. Some of our kids literally crashed on the dance floor out of exhaustion but we are already looking forward to doing it again next year!

Shayla and the boys (although Austin didn't want to be in the picture!)

Austin comes around to be in the photo!

Counting down!


The balloon drop!



Maris enjoying something yummy!



Tod and Austin with their cheesiest grins!



Austin finally found a balloon on the dance floor. He had been trying to score one all night!




Chocolate Chip Face!



Happy New Year!