Happy New Year!

This year, we missed having Nana and Papa around for New Year's Eve (as is tradition). Charlie has been hospitalized since December 21st due to his diverticulitis, which runs through the Coddington side of our family. Nana and Papa left for Port Charlotte to provide support and help out with the kids and have been down there ever since. He had a successful surgery on December 27th to remove the diseased portion of his colon and should be back up and running within the next few weeks. It turned out to be a blessing that they were down there as Liz and the kids all came down with a virus right around the time of the surgery and their help was much-needed.

We were excited as always to enjoy a visit from the McKee family as they traveled home from a ski trip. We spent some time relaxing, hanging out, and shopping (of course). Not sure what we were thinking, but one of us had the bright idea to cook 10 (!!!!!!!) appetizers on New Year's Eve. Everything was divine, but it started feeling a bit gluttonous after a while. We had entirely too much food for our small group, so at some point, I took a tray of food over to our neighbors to share. They were much appreciative, having just arrived in Tallahassee after traveling in the car for 12 hours or so! In fact, they texted me a picture of them dining in bed, but I won't share it here! :)

Starting at 8pm, the kids popped a balloon every hour and did the activity written on a piece of paper inside (yet another fabulous Pinterest idea).

8pm:  make ice cream sundaes
9pm:  play Beat the Parents
10pm: dance party
11pm: Wii sports tournament

All the kids experience their first "ball drop" and were in bed and asleep by 12:10am! Looking forward to a fabulous Allison New Year!