I was one of the most fun times I have ever had with my family. We threw caution to the wind and let our kids stay up ‘til (gulp) midnight. Well, Carina only lasted until 10:30 – not even fussing or crying, just happy to be hanging out with so many admirers. We had brother Levi and sister-in-law Audra there with their seven kids, and my sister Christie and brother-in-law James with their three kids, so 14 kids in all. Callie, age 4, was the only other one who didn’t make it.
The cousins had such a fun time – I think the only fight of the night broke out around 11:00 and it was between two of mine (shocker). Everyone got along amazingly well and kept busy with Just Dance 3 on the Kinect downstairs, Harry Potter on the Wii upstairs, a fire outside, and………
Uncle James’ spritz gun. He helped the kids made, like, a million of these spritz cookies. He had some very captivated helpers and all the patience in the world.
Christie made a bingo game with all the cousins’ faces on it, and we broke that out not long before midnight. We an impromptu prize of McDonald’s coupons, the kids had a really good time. It was really cute to watch them looking for their cousins faces.
The game ended just in time to countdown to the New Year.
What a wonderful way to ring in the new year, surrounded by people I love.
This last picture was shortly after the clock struck twelve, with Ollie starting to fall apart and Chad telling everyone to wrap it up.
