New Year!!!

This is a picture of New Year's last year. We had snow the day after Christmas and it lasted through the vacation week and it was cold! So cold (even before the snow) that Terry's pond froze and the girls and I went over for an impromptu skating party. (Oh and that's Cash last year, too!)

This year, however, I was able to snap this picture of the girls and some of their friends at Aunt Terry's annual New Year's Day brunch. What a difference a year makes (although it's pretty darn cold as I am writing this....)

We have spent New Year's Day with Terry and her family and friends (and my family, too!) for just about the last 20 years. We started coming to the party before our kids were born and when her kids were small. Now my kids are getting bigger.... Here's Lizzie with Aunt Tina in the sunroom which we sort of take over every year:

Here's Hannah with one of her favorite guys (still in the sun room):

And Lizzie relaxing in the sunroom, too. Seriously, we go, we eat, we relax and only talk to the people who come into the sunroom to talk to us. We had to leave a little early this year because The Three Kings were coming to our parish and the girls wanted to go.

Here are the three kings and their servents and animals as they made their way through the woods and the church parking lot:

Here they are with the llama and horse. All the kids are standing by the door of the church yelling and singing. It's really kind of cool (although the song gets stuck in your ear until at least the first of February...):

Then the three kings come into the church and the kids are introduced to them (they speak their native languages so there is a translator, although it's all part of the 'show'). This year Lizzie got picked to ask a question and she asked how the first king (below, giving Lizzie a blessing) where he got his gold. The answer is that a piece of the star fell to Earth into the king's yard so he picked it up to bring to Jesus.

After that each child got a blessing and gave the three kings a letter about a gift they'd like to receive from them. Lizzie asked for a book; Hannah asked for a candy cane. Then after the blessing each child is given a small bag of chocolate coins. Then everyone returns to their seat and the congregation is asked if they have any prayers they want to share. There were prayers for the military and special intentions for the sick. Then Hannah raised her hand and got the mike so she could ask for prayers "for my grandma in heaven." Made me get all teary-eyed. She's so sweet!!! Here's Hannah getting her chocolate treat after her blessing:

Then the kings go over to the manger scene and leave their gifts. The kids go up after to take a look at the gifts and the manger, and then we all went to the social hall where they had hot dogs and chili and drinks and desserts. It was pretty much the same program as last year, but I think the girls understood it better and from what I heard, the hot dogs were pretty good: