New Year's Eve Party- Welcoming 2015 with a Party!

We like to throw parties.  It had been a good 9 years since our last big New Years Eve party (back in our childless days!) so we thought it about time for another one.  Since Josh and Ramona were still in town, they helped me kick it up a notch by preparing some decorations and pretty but delicious appetizers!

 The boys and Beth waited for guests by watching our neighbors pop firecrackers.  They all got a little dressed up for the party, though Jack insisted on tucking his button-down shirt into his windpants. :)

 We planned for the party to go to at least midnight and knew we'd have a few friends stay even later, so we put Caeli down to bed and sent the big kids upstairs to work on a Nativity play that I'd downloaded.  I printed off several scripts, handed them to some of the older kids, and told them to get to work!  A few hours later, after the lines were rehearsed, the choir practiced, and the costume designers worked their magic, we had a full-on performance by the kids!  It was super cute and we were all so proud of them!

 We had sparklers for the kids too.  There were a LOT of children in our backyard with sparklers.  I wasn't out there at this time or else I seriously might have freaked out.  That's a lot of kids and fire.  I heard that some of them were talking about how cool Mr. Ryan was the next day, so I guess the sparklers were a hit!

We had a few guests make it with us all the way till midnight!  We toasted and cheered with champagne while the kids had some sparkling grape juice!  The party lasted until 2 am or so, even the kids stayed up playing with their friends!

Our nephews had already gone to bed by time the other kids did the sparklers so Ryan saved a few for them.  They had to get up pretty early the next morning (considering we'd gone to bed only a few hours earlier!) to get to the airport, and it was raining, so Ryan lit some sparklers for them in the garage at 7:30 am the next morning.  It was a special way to end their long visit to Texas!
Yes, Beth, Luke, and Jack were awake too- of their own choosing!  I wish those kids would sleep in!

  While Ryan took them to the airport, I stayed home and got started with the aftermath.  Yeah, it was pretty bad, but oh so worth it!

Advent Activities

In keeping with the idea of being an innkeeper, we opened our home many times this Advent to host families and activities that reminded us of the birth of Jesus.  One thing we've been wanting to own for several years now is a firepit, and all of these planned festive activities seemed like a great reason to go buy one!  

We had Caeli's godparents and our dear friends over for minestrone one night that wasn't too cold.  It was the first time we used the firepit and a fun night of friends and s'mores!

The following week we had other dear friends over along with our new priest and his family.  This was a bit of a bigger gathering, with 12 children overall, and unfortunately the wet ground and the drizzling weather kept us all inside!  Once the drizzle slowed down, we ran outside for more s'mores!

That same weekend, my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister came to town as a quick stop before their big drive to North Carolina.  We exchanged gifts with them before they left!

They left early on a Sunday morning, and after mass that afternoon we welcomed in Ryan's brother, sister-in-law, and their two sweet, sweet boys!  Cousins we reunited after nearly 6 months!

Caeli warmed up to Uncle Josh within a few days!

Poor Finley had to spend a lot of time outside or in his crate when we had so many people over!

One morning the three older boys were particularly quiet, then they came downstairs to annouce they were ready for us to come upstairs.  They had seats ready for us, told us where to sit, and started a rock concert!  They built guitars out of trio blocks, jumped up and down and lip-synched, and had a Matt Maher CD blasting as loud as it could go as their "music."  It was so cute- and they did it all on their own! And Ryan joined in on the electric keyboard at the end!

I will save Christmas pictures for another post. :-)

Decorating our Tree

Our Christmas Day

As the last day of Advent came to an end, we were just preparing ourselves for midnight mass.  This was the first time our family had ever attended a midnight mass (which actually began at 11!) but Ryan and I really wanted to share it with our family at our new parish.  This is truly what Christmas is about, and we wanted to give God the first part of our day to celebrate His birth!

We got to church early enough to get a seat in the front row, which isn't uncommon for us but I was nervous about it because it was SO LATE and the boys were so tired.  They both fell asleep on the way to church and it was difficult for them to wake up and go inside!

Once we got settled, Luke was asked to carry baby Jesus up with the procession.  He was so very proud! 

 

 

Christmas morning came very early the next morning, since we didn't get into bed until 2:30 am!  They were still up bright early at 7 am, ready to see the presents under the tree!  They opened their stockings and had some breakfast before tearing into more gifts.  It wasn't chaotic- we took our time, opening a gift, eating some cereal, opening another gift, eating some homemade cinnamon rolls, then a few more gifts.  They had a chance to play and enjoy their things while the adults had a chance to get some coffee!

The boys got matching fireman jackets and hats from Grandma and Grandpa, along with some walkie-talkies!  They also received a lot of new knights and an amazing castle for their collection.     Beth received some knitting needles and yarn, a kit to make felted animals, some matching clothes for her and her doll, and some other crafty-type items.  Caeli received some clothes, two baby dolls, and some fancy silver shoes from MawMaw and PawPaw.  Ryan got some tools and I received some nice black boots, some books, and a stand mixer from Ryan!  

We had had dinner around 2:30 and then Beth and I went to visit my grandmother for a little bit.  We all went to bed a little early that night. :-)