Holiday Rewind: Part Three

It's a new year and, in honor of that fact, this is our final installment of the Holiday Rewind. We already have a lot of good stuff to share from the 1st weeks of 2009 but we couldn't wrap up without the fun and friends of New Year's Eve and Day.

Originally, we had planned on just staying in, the 3.5 of us. However, as the night drew near I thought it would be nice to have some fun people to share the festivities with. I emailed Nannette to see if her, Brian and Chase would be up for joining us. Luckily, they were!

Brian, Nannette and Chase; Sweet mama and baby shot. Gotta love Chase's bangs!

Truitt really took a liking to Brian. That's always a good sign as little children are excellent judges of character. I pulled out several pieces of Tru's old floor mat so Chase could have some tummy (or sleep on the floor) time if need be. Well, Truitt just couldn't resist tearing it all apart. He started wearing the pieces around his neck in an attempt to impress Brian. It was quite cute. Later on, we sat to eat and Truitt was very upset that Brian wasn't at his immediate disposal to play. Not quite having a grasp on names in this situation, Truitt kept yelling to Brian "Down, man. Please. Down, man." Mama translation: Leave the table and come to the floor and play, Brian. Please. Come play. It was very cute!!

Our Chef:

The Menu:

Assorted Cheeses, Crackers, Tapanade

Butter Lettuce Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese

Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa ( Recipe here )

Roasted Root Vegetables

Fruit Torte (purchased)

Excellent Wine (so preggo was told) and Bubbles!

Satisfied customers; a knocked out Chase. Ray was so giddy about holding a wee one again. It made us both look forward to Twosey's arrival!

Sign One it was a good night: Turtle had to have an outfit change

Signs Two and Three of a good night: Empty bottles and a full kitchen sink.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day held equal amounts of fun for Turtle and parents. Our wonderful friends Annie and Mina were in town from the Northeast to spend time with Annie's parents. Mr and Mrs Yim graciously hosted a New Year's Day fete for family and friends. Korean food, duck feeding and chocolate cake. It was pretty much a perfect afternoon.

We were instantly greeted by Mina and her best friend du jour, Mr Smiley Balloon:

Upon noticing the camera (lol) Mina proceeds to tell me that she "looooves" her balloon. Loooves it!

After gazing lovingly in to Mr Smiley Baloon's eyes (my name, not hers), Mina strikes a pose.

Annie, Joe and Mina enjoying some family time and food; Mina and our hostess, her grandmother

Of course, no party is complete without entertainment. Truitt decided that disassembling the alphabet playmat and wearing the letter 'C' on his head would be great fun. This is a bit of deja vu from the night before and still as funny/cute.

Ray and Annie

The Yims' home is on a beautiful bayou with lots of ducks in residence. The kids went down to toss them some bread. When Truitt saw the big kids laying on the edge of the dock, he had to try it too. Monkey see, monkey do and all that. Now, everytime we drive by an office complex or anything with a pond in front, Tru says "Throw bread ducks."

Finally, the two kiddos sat down for some playtime together. How cute are they!?!

Annie and I met a few years ago when we were planning our weddings. We were looking at similar venues and got to chatting pretty regularly. She was living in New York at the time, but got married here. Last year they moved to New Jersey (after a stint in PA) and we are able to get together a couple times a year when she visits her parents. Hoepfully one day we'll be able to take a trip to NY and see them in NJ as well.

In a small world conincidence that is not so coincindental, Annie is good friends with someone else I "know." Sarah is a poster on the Nest message board and we have other mutual (real life) friends in common, as well. We have emailed about this and that, but Annie's house was the 1st time we have been able to meet in person and chat.

Sarah, Annie and Mina

Before we headed back in to town, we tried to take a nice shot of the two families. As you can see, Turtle was no so cooperative. Sigh. Maybe next time :)