New Year's Eve

Out with the old, ring in the new! Goodbye 2008 and Welcome 2009!
For the first time in YEARS we celebrated New Year's Eve the proper way, in Salem playing Tripoley and loving every second of it. The boys are old enough to understand how to play and while we have tried to play it in years past here alone in Kentucky, it just isn't quite the same.

Growing up New Year's Eve was always one of my favorite holidays. There wasn't a big let down after Christmas wrapped up because not only did we get to enjoy another week without school, but we got to count down the new year playing my favorite game ever!

The Tripoley tradition started even before my birth. My dad and his family played it growing up and he continued it on with us. I certainly am going to do the same with my brood for years and years to come.

In fact Swensons, who often have joined us in our feast and game playing over the years, gave Rich and me a game of our own as a shower gift. We have since purchased an upgrade and the boys love pulling it out on New Year's as much as I do.
Greg and Kate made these fun party hats and brought some sparkling cider to kick off the new year.
We had an ample supply of goodies, treats, snacks and food. As you can see Josh made a wise choice when selecting his chair- right next to the good stuff.We divided up into teams since we had a large group (everyone except Jeff, Sarah and Kurt). Rhett had a Children's Choir performance, so he was gone for a while, but he brought his friends home to say hello and then headed to a party.The girls kept busy running up to the loft then bringing down their toys to play with near the group. They LOVE these old shopping carts Greg and I got as children.The party was going great, we stuffed ourselves with BBQ ribs, potatoes, salad and many other choices. Then Matt ate something (we don't really know what) that didn't quite agree with him. He had an allergic reaction (which has happened before) and soon his lip was swollen. He gagged down 1/2 a Benadryl and then fell asleep. A short while later, I noticed Matt had run to the bathroom and the smell of vomit. I think the intense gag while taking the medicine upset his stomach and he managed to throw up all over the couch, rug, carpet and bathroom leaving a trail behind him. After a long pause of the game (30 minutes) and some major carpet cleaning the party was back on. Just not for Matt or Trey who soon began to complain on stomach pains (but thankfully never got worse than that....)

Greg's winning stack of chips! Josh nearly made it to midnight, but us EST folks had it a bit rougher. He ended up asleep on a pile of towels on the kitchen counter.

Hello 2009! We can't wait to see what you have in store for us....