New Year's

We had a fun New Year's Eve at home.  This was the first year we let the kids know it was a holiday and they were quite excited.  We started the day by doing a lot of family work: laundry, cleaning, and putting away the Christmas decorations (my living room feels so empty and clean!).  Everyone pitched in and then we made a deal with the kids that they could stay up late if they took afternoon naps.  They were very willing and we had a nice long quiet time.  Aah!  The fun began when they woke up.  We had a special dinner (but not a fancy one) of mini-burgers, smoothies, and homemade potato chips.  Watch out Lay's!  Jim has figured you out!  The kids helped Jim make the chips while I made the rest.  I actually enjoyed working in the kitchen since everyone was helping.  :)  Then we watched the kids play for a while (enjoyment in itself at times) before starting a puzzle my sister had sent us for Christmas.  We actually stayed up past midnight this year thanks to that puzzle!  Logan and Annie stayed up the entire time, and Logan talked our ears off every minute of it!  It was fun, and we were good and tired the next day.  It's a good thing we now have church at 1:00.  (Logan actually fell asleep during sacrament meeting.)  I can now say I've been awake for the New Year at least once during my married life.  :)