Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! I can't believe we're at the start of a new decade! Wasn't it just a few months ago we worried that all the world's computers would crash when the date rolled over to 2000?
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We saw in the New Year in the very best way, with family!

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After Sarah, Jacob, and Dylan spent 3 hours with their dad, we all headed to Organ Stop Pizza (above photo), where my nieces Celesta and Brianna work. That's Celesta at right, on the job.
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We left my car there for them so they could join us to party after their shifts. Then we piled into Karla's suburban and drove out to Queen Creek, a tiny little town on the fringes of the Valley. That's where their sister Genevieve (Karla's oldest daughter) and her husband Scott live with their 2 little girls, Brooke and Jaycee.
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We enjoyed visiting and munching on taquitos, chips, and crackers with homemade bean dip, guacamole, and cheese ball (my mom's old recipe we adore).

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The girls had fun on Brooke and Jaycee's new trampoline. I love this shot of Jaycee (bottom), Brooke (top right) and their Aunt Addison flying through the air.

We ventured into the cold to admire Scott and Genevieve's new garden. They've built garden boxes and a fence, and their radishes have already sprung up!

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Side note: Their dog Lady, who is our Diego's litter-mate, jumps the new garden fence. Guess who else now has a shiny new shock collar?
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Next came a rousing card game called "Swap." I'd never heard of it before, but it's a fun game that can be played with up to 10 people.

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It also involves a lot of slapping and the danger of large, sharp-edged rings!
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We paused at the end of the game to turn on the TV and see in the New Year with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. Hey, it's been 37 years of tradition with Dick Clark!

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We toasted the New Year with sparkling cider. A very little sparkling cider, since Karla only had one bottle and I left my 2 bottles in the fridge in my hotel room! We'll enjoy them today, I guess...

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After the midnight festivities, Scott treated everyone to delicious chocolate malts. At least, I presume they were delicious since everyone was sighing with pleasure as they drank them. Sarah and I stuck with our MacTurtles. We even passed up the tortilla chips, crackers, and taquitos, so we were good!

We hung out for about another hour before heading back to Mesa.

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By the time we dropped Jacob and Dylan off at their great grandma Helen's house, and Sarah and I returned to the hotel, it was after 2 a.m. By the time I took off my makeup and crawled into bed, it was almost 3 a.m. (Groan...)

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Then my dad called at 9:00 (extra-long groan...) to say he and Kathy were loaded up and heading to the Valley this morning.

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The family Christmas party is tomorrow, so the gathering has begun. My niece Amber and her new son Ian are also in town. They stopped by yesterday and Karla fell in love with our beautiful new grand-nephew!
In these final three shots: Karla with Gabby; Celesta with Sarah and Dylan; and Brianna with Addison.

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The world is a scary place right now. I hope 2010 will be a year in which balance and reason are restored, but as long as we can look forward to see faith and family in our future, the New Year will stay bright!