New Year's Day

My sweet Anna and me in the New Year! Happy 2012! 

A family photo of the girls.  The girls loved their time with Aunt Leigha.  Jillian told me just yesterday, 

"Mommy, why don't we get to see Aunt Leigha more? I don't want to only see her at Christmas-time. I want to go to her house soon. I miss her SO MUCH." I thought that was sweet and am thankful for the bonds that my girls strengthened with their Aunt Leigha during her visit. 

Back to New Year's Day, we were invited to share lunch with our friends!  When we walked into our friend's home, Anna ran as fast as she could (with squeals of delight) to the kitchen to find Michelle in the kitchen.   

Lindsey was given a super cool magnetic bead bracelet/ necklace for Christmas and she was showing us one of her new tricks (do you see the spoon "flying" in mid-air?). 

                  

Jillian having some cuddle time with her Daddy.

We shared a delicious lunch of potato cream soup and chicken tortilla soup and then for dessert we devoured Michelle's famous CINNAMON ROLLS!!!

After lunch, it was game time. Here Brad is explaining the game Tower of Babel (one of my Christmas presents from Brad) to everyone.

Faith was concentrating very hard on the game and was a good helper to Chelsea. 

Meanwhile, Anna was playing peek-a-boo.

"Peek-A-Boo! I see you!" 

Michelle is always prepared for our little ones to have a good time at her home. On this day, they busily worked on some coloring and crafts in the kitchen together. 

Reed and Leigha cheerfully played the new game and were great competitors, but the ultimate winner was Jesse (Chelsea's boyfriend visiting from Colorado). 

Then we moved onto a new game for us and a much beloved game of our friends... QUELF! 

"Quelf is the game that gives random a new name! Use your creativity and imagination to answer crazy questions and perform ridiculous stunts. There’s only one rule – OBEY THE CARD! If a player obeys their card they get to move ahead! You’ll laugh until you cry with this outrageous, unpredictable, and fun filled party game. Be the first person to cross the finish line and you win! Enjoy a non-stop hilarious adventure with Quelf!"

In the photo above, Chelsea is acting as a flight attendant while Michelle gave safety instructions. 

I am not sure what card Leigha was reading at this point but I know it had to be funny! 

Before we started to play the game, my only hesitation to play was that I heard there was snort when you laugh card. First off, I am not a good snorter (I don't know who IS "good" at it, but I certainly am not!) and with my sinus infection,  I knew any added pressure on my cheeks would hurt a little bit.

Michelle assured me that it was VERY unlikely that I would draw that card, because there were well over 400 cards in the deck!  But wouldn't you know, the first card I drew was a "Roolz" card and I had to snort like a pig every time I laughed.  The consequence of me not snorting when I laugh was that I had to move back on the board. And wouldn't you know,  I am far too competitive to let that happen. So I spent much of the game trying NOT to laugh, while some CRAZY stunts were occurring....

First, here is Brad as a cowboy riding an ostrich trying to rescue a beached whale....

He was an incredibly enthusiastic cowboy...Yee Haw! 

He nearly fell off the ostrich trying to rescue that whale! It was a grand old time! 

Lindsey drew a card to be a ballerina. So, she and the little girls dressed up in tutus and danced for us!  It was a perfectly sweet performance.

Then Leigha drew a card to be a luau dancer, she did a great job.  I love her expression in this photo of absolute tranquility. I really felt like I was in beautiful Hawaii enjoying the soft sound of the waves crashing on the beach! LOL! :-)

I honestly have no recollection of what Prescott was doing for this task but it was very entertaining! He was very theatrical and could have a future on Broadway. :-) The game was a huge success in our books! We were sad to leave...

But it was time to take Aunt Leigha to the airport.  The girls were tuckered out from all the excitement from the day, Faith almost immediately fell asleep in her car seat with her sunglasses on. 

Anna was right there with her! Jillian was the only one who stayed awake (and needed to go to bathroom too), so the two of us took Aunt Leigha into the airport to say good-bye.  It was a wonderful 8-day visit with my little sister and I am so happy that she joined us for the holidays! 

On our way to the airport, we spotted this rarely seen sight in Maryland: a car with a Texas A&M University sticker on it! Whoop! Go Aggies.

After saying good-bye to Leigha, we stopped by Little Caesar's for $5 pizzas and went to the Pull's.  The girls were extremely hungry and gobbled it all up.

While the boys conversed on the most recent news. 

Little Anna enjoyed every LICK of her pizza! :-)  

(I feel a little bad Anna wasn't wearing a bib, especially because this dress was a gift from Aunt Leigha. The good news is that Leigha gave it to JILLIAN nearly 5 years ago and all three of my girls have worn it.)

Then the girls set up their own game of ZINGO, while the adults played Agricola. It was a wonderful beginning to 2012!