Ringing In 2010

Perhaps as much as the kids look forward to Christmas Morning, Andrea and I look forward to another tradition we've been privileged to be a part of: a New Year's Eve Party with our closest friends. This year, it was held at Ryan and Shannon Paul's home, and in addition to the Moses family who attend every year, we were joined by the Staples, Marions and Williams families and had a wonderful time.

I made a chocolate cheesecake for the occasion, which was fun to make and even more fun to eat (working off the calories, though, was not as fun).

Staring at it too long may cause weight gain...

We were sad to celebrate this tradition for the first time without Ryan and Terra Hall and their family, who moved to Canada last year, but we felt their presence, especially when Mark Marion opened his Secret Santa gift: the Jessica Simpson poster which has been given as a gag gift for the past four or five years.

Who's going to get it? Who's going to get it?

Finally, it was time to ring in the new year, and with each kid getting a noisemaker, my hearing still hasn't completely recovered some seven months later...

Tired AND noisy

Ryan makes the ceremonial pronouncement

We are fortunate to be part of such a wonderful group of friends!