Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with our good friends the Shrivers in Latrobe, PA. It's only two hours away so it was a great mini-trip. We packed up, grabbed the dog and headed to PA. We met Ed and Amy at our church about 2 or 3 years ago, when they had just moved to our area. We became quick friends and love them dearly. Ed and Joel both love to golf & hunt and Amy and I love to shop & talk - need I say more?! Their 3 children Hannah, Luke and Noah are great and they treat Raegan like a sibling! That's makes everyone happy!

Hannah is on the left, Raegan's in the middle of course, Noah is behind her and Luke is on the right. It was frigid outside but the dogs needed to potty and the kids were stir crazy - so they climbed a tree! Anyways, the Shrivers moved last summer and we were so sad to see them go, but they are happy to be back in Latrobe again. We spent the afternoon catching up, had dinner and then .......THE GAMES BEGAN!!


Joel playing golf on the Wii. Look at that follow through! ha ha
We all played Apples to Apples - highly recommend it! It's a great game for the whole family.
Joel boxing with Noah. I boxed Hannah and I'm still sore today! Loved it.
Joel was really serious about winning - even if it meant beating a 10 year old!
Raegan and Hannah colored for a while.
Amy and Raegan. We were all starting to get tired but the kids kept themselves jazzed on sugar, they didn't want to miss the one night they could stay up!

We made it to see the ball drop, here's the picture to prove it. Then the kids welcomed in the new year in their traditional way - banging pots and pans, lighting sparklers and setting off confettie bombs! They introduced us to "banging the pots" last year on New Years and Raegan loved it! She couldn't wait to do it again this year. They only broke 2 spoons this year. The neighborhood will never be the same!
It didn't take long for us all to hit the hay and we were out! We all slept in, enjoyed a lazy morning hanging out and then we were off to the mall! Time goes way too fast when you're having fun! We had such a great time and can't wait for another long weekend to visit Latrobe! Thanks guys, you made our New Years special.

By the way, Bailey did great on the trip despite his history of car sickness. Actually, he did great UNTIL we turned into our neighborhood. Then, well.....let's just say he couldn't keep it down anymore! Raegan has a very strong gag reflex and I thought hers was coming up any minute too, but we made it home before anyone else lost their supper on the upholstery. Thank goodness, I couldn't have cleaned up more than one of those messes! Uggghh!

Happy New Year!