We kicked off January with a New Year's Eve party at our house. It was great to see lots of friends, especially those we haven't seen as much over the last few years. Most of the group stayed till midnight, with kids playing carpet ball or pretend games upstairs, moms chatting in the kitchen, and dads watching football. A friend brought minute to win-it games and mocktails for the kids too. A couple minutes before midnight, there was a slight conflict of interest, as we were ready to see the ball drop but the football game had gotten really exciting and was about to be decided by a field goal. We did get to toast the new year and then all headed home and thankfully all slept in the next day...Allie till 11:00!
A couple days later we had another celebration- Pa's birthday! We are thankful that he's doing so well through this cancer ordeal.
Then we had our belated Christmas celebration with my side of the family. It was great that we could all be together- even if only for a few hours. We enjoyed a big meal, gift exchange, playing outside, and catching up with each other. Rick and Cheryl were able to come for a little while too. It was just our second time seeing the newest member of the family, JJ. He and Allie warmed up to each other and enjoyed playing upstairs. Matt went to check on them once and they were making a store and in all seriousness asked if he could knock next time. Fun to see them so comfortable with each other. The traditional front yard football games resulted in a mild head injury for one cousin. I went out to instruct everyone to not be so rough and found them all taking a knee, letting me know it was an injury time out for the offended cousin, who had no idea they were out there waiting for him. Play resumed and all seemed to have a great time. We presented Mama and Daddy with a "giant check" for the money we have been putting in an account for them for years in order for them to take a nice trip somewhere. Still waiting to hear their plans!
Other happenings in January:
Game night with the Moores...this "Moose Master" had us laughing so hard.
Boys twinning.
Julia went on a beach retreat with school friends.
Everyone loved her pose and wanted to try it.
Another game night. And trying Julia's pose.
Julia went to her school semi-formal. There was a bit of drama as they tried to get ready, find shoes, lost tickets, etc, but I think they had fun. They insisted beforehand that they would say, "Respectfully, no" if anyone asked them to dance, but it turned out there were no slow songs anyway.
We finished the month like we started- with a New Year party. This time Chinese New Year. The Bakers hosted adoption families and some Asian neighbors and it was a fun night to be together and share this part of Allie's heritage. The little kids enjoyed the broadcast of the show that is broadcast in China on the New Year's Eve and they played lots of pretend games upstairs. The older kids ended up heading to the Sportsplex to skate at the end of the night and the rest of us chatted late into the night.
Now we head into February! The boys have just started their new classes and some seem tough, while others are looking good, like Gray's two AP classes- AP Human Geography and AP Computer Science, both subjects he enjoys. Some of their classes are really small- like Joshua's accounting class, which is only a group of 6! Lacrosse is picking up, with tryouts in a couple of weeks and the first scrimmage soon after. Julia has a new elective- art, which she's loving, and she's on the tech team for the spring drama productions. She has two trips coming up this month- a Wyldlife weekend camp and her big Florida band trip. Allie continues to enjoy school and friends and her after school cousin time. She's excited to have made a new friend in her class who is Chinese and will have her over soon. I have had a good month at work, have been working on my crochet, and am trying to learn how to use the house plan software to hopefully help with Matt's homebuilding endeavor. He hopes to close on his first lot this week and begin the building process soon! We also look forward to celebrating 6 years with Allie in a few weeks, which she's happy to combine with Super Bowl Sunday. It's going to be another celebratory month!
