HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow! So 2008 has come and gone. I'm starting the new year still behind one here...oops! What can I say, life happened :) So it's that wonderful day everyone says they are going to start those resolutions they've been waiting all of last year to start. So why can't we start them whenever we want during the year? What is it about a new year that makes us want to wait until then to start? Who knows! I surely don't :)

Well, we rang in the new year simple at home. Mom, dad and David came over. Everyone minus Ray and our 18 yr old wanderer who has spent most of break at a friends house. Ray was spending his new year moving his things from his current truck, to a newer model truck that the company assigned him. He was excited about that! Men and their toys :) At the homefront, we visited, ate, did puzzles, watched t.v., played with toys and played games on the computer. A couple of them even talked non-stop right on through the new year...*cough, cough*...David & Tommy.

We invented a new non-edible recipe for shrimp dip...lol...Thanks Annette! Let me tell you about this interesting event that took place and a little story behind it. We grew up in NY with the Miller family. They are wonderful friends! For a lot of events there would be this shrimp dip that they would make. Always very yummy and it even looked great! Thinking of it the other day and not having it in such a long time, we decided we wanted some for our "party". So I called my dear friend, the daughter of the friends that always made it. She gave me a list of ingredients and a very vague recipe to follow. Let's just say, something was not right there! Mom made it accordingly. She brought it to my house and something wasn't looking right...or tasting right for that matter! I called my friend back and she realized she had given us an incorrect ingredient! So, since the first version was non-edible, there I went to the sink and washed the gelatin mixture off of the shrimp. Hey, don't laugh! I didn't have the heart to let the good shrimp go to waste :) So I check for the ingredients around my kitchen and I actually have them all. So I make it all over, stick it in the fridge and wait. Check it. Check it again and again. It's not setting up!! So now what are we going to do! It looked good, it tasted right but it just wasn't working. Ohhhhh the frustration! We were all so looking forward to it. So here we have the shrimp covered in a gelatin concoction that we are suppose to be able to spread cream cheese over the top once it has set up. Well, let's just say, it didn't become one of those pretty dishes you would serve anywhere but at a close family gathering! Use your imagination. It turned out looking like a pretty scary, chunky soup. But, don't let the look fool you...it still tasted pretty darn good on the crackers! Thanks anyways Annette! It didn't become a total waste at least :) Julienne, I need the real recipe with measured ingredients this time please!

Now that that story has been told, on with the evening. This is the first year Jerrud and Corbin have stayed up until midnight. We told them all about how the ball on the roof of the building drops. They were excited but a little confused. Then Grandma jokingly says to them that she is going to climb the big tree out front and drop a really big ball from the top. Sadly, they believed her. About an hour before the ball drop Corbin says to me "Is it time to go outside and watch Grandma drop the ball yet?" I just laughed and explained to him that that wasn't really happening. He seemed a little disappointed about the whole thing. Poor guy! So a little later, the countdown begins for the ball drop...15, 14, 13,....4, 3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Everyone starts saying, except Jerrud and Corbin. They are sitting there staring at the t.v. and saying "That's it?! Why didn't they drop the ball off the roof?" And off with playing again! Needless to say, I don't think they were quite expecting it to happen that way!

A small family gathering, but it was still fun. So off with another year of the good and bad times. The happy and sad moments. The fun and laughter and tears. But the best part of it is that we still have our family to do it all with all over again!

Happy New Year Everyone!