Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! This New Years Eve found us at home with just the 3 of us. We had made plans to celebrate with the Troemner family...some late night apps, followed by a kid friendly Happy New Year celebration. But due to a demanding work schedule, Jason was out of town until 8pm on New Years Eve. So we cancelled our party plans and decided we would have our own very low key, but very kid friendly party.

Like Christmas, I was very excited for this New Years Eve party because it was going to be soo much fun for Isabel. From the beginning, I was planning a kid friendly party. I had a grand vision of Isabel and her cousins jumping up and down blowing horns as they screamed "Happy New Year"!! So even though we had to cancel our plans, I was determined to still have my grand vision. Earlier during the week, Isabel and I went shopping to buy supplies for our party. Crowns for mom and Isabel and a groovy hat for dad. We also got all kinds of noise makers, leis, and silly string.

I was able to get Isabel down at 6pm for a VERY late nap. By the time dad got home, Isabel was up and ready to rock and roll. Poor Jason was exhausted from a 13+ hour work day, so while dad took a nap Isabel and I watched our new favorite movie Anastasia. The movie end with only 15 minutes until the new year. So Isabel and I quickly woke up dad and I got out all the party supplies. Finally the big moment.....we watch the countdown on TV, Jason and I joined in at 5, 4, 3....while Isabel was confused and counted 5, 6, 7, and then HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Isabel jumped up and down and blow her horn. She was so excited, even though she really didn't know what we were celebrating. She kept saying "it's 2009" (because we told her that), but she also kept asking for the cake (Isabel completely associates cakes with parties). There was no cake, but we had silly string. Jason and I had a good laugh spraying Isabel with silly string. Unfortunately Isabel was not as thrilled with the silly string. She was actually quite scared of it!!!

By 12:10am, our party was over. We quickly cleaned up while Isabel entertained us and herself by singing and dancing and of course posing for the camera....she's a chip off the old block (haha). Finally by 1am were all in bed...together. Our little New Years party was small and short, but we sure had fun:-)

That night I layed in bed going over the last year. What a great year 2008 was. I became an aunt, I gained a brother in law, Jason was back in school, Isabel moved to the preschool dance class, I saw life-long friends get married, Isabel became a fan of politics (well actually a fan of Hillary Clinton), and most importantly we spent the last year surrounded by great friends and family.

As I thought about what 2009 will bring....I was filled with excitement. Jason will be graduating from UND in May. I will be going back to school (UND) and Isabel will be starting preschool and Jason and I will celebrate our 5th year wedding anniversary!! And those are only some of the huge milestones we'll face in 2009. I'm so excited. I'm not one to make new year resolutions, but if I had to, here's what they would be. I would make a commitment for Jason, Isabel, and I to participate in a charity event or volunteer somewhere as a family. And I would also committ to Jason and I continuing our efforts to be loving and accepting of everyone in our lives and everyone we meet. So with that....Happy New Year!!!!