Wednesday, January 02, 2008

New Year's Eve Countdown In Word and Pictures

At 6pm, our small crowd of guests arrived for dinner. But before we ate, each of us wrote one thing we want to improve or change or a bad habit to stop from 2007 on a small slip of paper and sent it into a roaring fire. Then, we each lit a candle, off a tray of votives, as we said a silent prayer for the coming year.

At 7pm, for the fourth time in as many years, we wrote our Ten Year Predictions with sometimes humorous (the invention of Baby T's new line of hair products--Fro and Go) and sometimes sweet (CB's prediction that in ten years, Mom and Dad will still be loving us just like today.) Then, despite the blowing snow coming down, everyone traipsed out onto the front porch to blow bubbles in the dark.

At 8pm, mini bags of M & Ms revealed our Sweet Fortunes and we began the first of several rounds of card games (Spoons, Go Fish and Scr*w Your Neighbor--which I'm sure must have a nicer name) provided lots of laughs.

At 9pm, the Boy cranked up the ITunes CD he made for our "Blast from the Past" Dance Party. Everyone tried their hand at guessing which decade the songs came from, while the youngest revelers cut some serious rug. By special request, the last song was The Chicken Dance, which provided background music for many rounds of musical chairs.

At 10pm, we lit the sparklers on our Confetti Cake and enjoyed our final dessert of 2007. We also watched Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest (along with Hannah Montana and co.) at the ball drop in NYC.

At 11pm, we chose from a list of games and played until just before midnight. Santa's gift of the popular dice-rolling game, Yahtzee, was chosen hands down over "Memorable Events Charades" (charades of defining moments of 2007).

At 11:50, we donned party hats and scrambled for noisemakers and party poppers. As the Boy dropped balloons (decorated with fortunes for the New Year) from the balcony, we raised our glasses and toasted one another---even the little ones stayed awake!



From all of us on the Ark,
May God fill your 2008 with abundant grace and blessings!

Remember us, 0 God; from age to age be our comforter. You have given us the wonder of time, blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.

Bless your children at the turning of the year and fill the months ahead with the bright hope that is ours in the coming of Christ.

You are our God, living and reigning, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing for the New Year from Catholic Culture

11 comments:

Mama of 5 said...

Wow, what a fun party!
Becky

Laura said...

You definitely know how to throw a party!!! Looks like everyone had a fabulous time! Loved the photos you shared!
Happy New Year!

Life in Fitzville said...

Sounds like a fantastic time! We had a crowd here, but not nearly as organized!

Tom D. said...

Happy New Year to you and your whole family from an old friend at IHS in Danbury, CT! Drop an e-mail if you have a free moment. All my best, Tom L.

Faith said...

Happy New Year to all! It looks like a great party - I know where I want to be for NYE next year. :-)

Hi Tom! Long time no see! I hope all is well with you - definitely a blast from the past.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year to everyone on the ark and to Faith and Libo too!!! Are we going to have a 20 year reunion or what?
Love,
Kate W.

Jane (a.k.a. patjrsmom) said...

If I might put my two cents in here, couldn't the reunion NOT be in the Fall? How about a nice June '08 reunion when out-of-towners :-) might be traveling East...

Jane

Lisa@UnexpectedJourney said...

Looks like everyone had a great time! What fun that even the little ones stayed up! May everyone on the Ark have a great year!

Easter Almuena said...

Jane,

I just love, love, love your family! It is a picture of love, joy, and oneness in Christ!

I must say this is the family I envisioned when I was younger, but God had other plans. I have 5 loving ones and maybe, who knows, when they are older, I will have a family photo similar to yours!

Love,
Easter:-)

Easter Almuena said...

BTW, if you get a chance, please visit my other blog: A Tribute to Our Priests and say a prayer for Fr. Daren, the priest it adopts this week. He needs our prayers esp this week as he hasn't been feeling well. I thank you greatly! Happy Weekend ahead of you, Jane! :-)

S. said...

Thank you for the great ideas for next year! Loved the pics too!