Happy New Year!

 New Years Eve--we've gone big, we've gone small.  Going small is where it's at!  No set menus.  No outrageous prices.  No fighting the crowds to get a drink at the bar.  Blah.  It may have taken us a while, but we're finally learning.  This year, we hosted three other families who all live in our neighborhood and it was just perfect.  

Everyone brought yummy appetizers and desserts and Jared made his famous chili.  So easy--and good!  Lila was so ready to spend the evening with her friends.  Her party hat went on early:)

Since the college football playoffs were on, we decided to make it a little more interesting.
Each square was $4, making each quarter worth $25.  

We watched Clemson beat Ohio State on the TV outside.
Lila was the only winner from our family--way to go, girl!

  Miss Madison arrived just in time to go swimming.

Tucker and Jackson were the first two in...

but very soon we had a hot tub full of happy kids.

Everyone was all smiles all night long, whether we were outside...

making s'mores...

doing sparklers...

or shooting off Roman Candles in our cul-de-sac!  

Our laid-back night was so nice.  Well, I guess it's all relative.  Not sure any event that has 12 kids all under the age of 10 can be called "laid-back," but it was still a great time.

Since we had a few sleepy heads in the group, we decided to celebrate at 11:00 and watch the ball drop in New York.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Happy New Year!  These kids loved their sparkling cider.  Loved it.

After our first celebration, I suppose Cami didn't feel quite fancy enough.  She insisted on changing into her Rapunzel dress, Ariel shoes and a crown.  The girl knows what she wants!

An hour later, all 12 kids were still awake, so we watched another countdown and had more toasts.  Happy 2017!

We are all looking forward to a new year full of new adventures.
Cheers!