whoopty do, it's a new year

for the past 27 yrs, we have maintained a family tradition of sorts. on new year's eve we get together for a night of board games, homemade donuts, coffee drinking, and composing year end 'thankful lists'. even while living abroad, we have, without fail, found a way to keep this custom alive. so, wouldn't you know, just mere moments before our yearly bash, both our families were bombarded with a heaping helping of the plague.

undaunted, however, sissy and i agreed to leave sick kids and spouses behind and continue with party plans. at first, it seemed a little odd not having the normal commotion that accompanies a herd of kids around; but sissy quickly made up for it by spilling hot chocolate all over herself and then christening me (and the interior of the car) with a cold glass of sweet tea. as expected, sissy's uncanny ability to spill whatever happens to be in her hands would be the common denominator during our new year junkets.

our first outing involved a trip to the woods for catchup time with cousins and some serious doubles ping pong. of course, our night would not have been complete without adam sharing one of his eastern agility skills. here he demonstrates the ancient discipline of wall walking (usually followed by the less popular art of neck breaking). after dinner, i would like to report that we settled down like mature adults and made lofty grownup talk; but actually, we hooted and hollered around adam's computer taking distorted pictures of each other and laughing ourselves into a tizzy.) it's nice to know i'm not the only cousin still stuck in my teens.

new year's eve found sissy and me at dad's house for dinner and a round of monopoly with the gang. jeremiah whipped up a batch of pork chops, peas, and cinnamon fried potatoes (?). and predictably, sissy spilled hot coffee on me. after the food, fun, and burn cream, it was time for reflection. it was at this time i devised a new year's resolution to no longer post pictures of my sister in less than flattering predicaments. to prove my resolve, i offer to you a photo of courage and self control. with pride i present proof that sissy has downsized her H.I.P.S. (Habitual Ice cream intake Per Sitting) from 1/2 gallon to 1 pint!! Good Job sis! we all knew you could do it! now if we could just work on that chocolate addiction...

my only new year's regret was that my lovely wife was not with me to share my first kiss of 2007. unfortunately, jeremiah's dog Sunny was...Happy New Year everybody!