A New Year's Surprise!

I had resorted to the fact that I would basically be spending New Year's Eve by myself since Brian was scheduled to take his CPA exam on the 2nd of January. I had planned on going to Aunt Linda's party by myself and figured Brian would join in somewhere around 10pm. Imagine my surprise when Dan called to say that his family wanted to come down...and then Amy's...and then John's! We had a blast! (We missed Phil and Christina but didn't feel too sorry for them since they were getting ready to leave for the Philippines.) All in all, I played host to 13 grandchildren and 7 adults...but I'm not complaining! We have so much fun when we're all together. The kids played non-stop outside. SD really is the best place in the world for kids...they really use their imaginations. There's no TV or movies...they entertain themselves. The biggest adventure this time was going "hunking". (A cross between hiking and hunting, for those of you without an imagination! ;)) The adults enjoyed some good conversation, lots of laughter and a little of Dance Dance Revolution! Some people in my family really have some moves (myself not included). Anyway, below are some pics of the good times we had!

What's that I see in the bushes? Too bad you can't rely on the good ole olfactory for this one! It's a skunk! We've been having issues with skunks for a while. We suspect one may have killed our two kittens and we know they've been eating our cat food. We've been setting traps, but to no avail! They keep getting the bait but are evading the trap itself! Very frustrating. Imagine my surprise when Dan and I returned from the dump and I went to throw something away in the barn trash can and there it was! I quickly moved away from the trash can and whispered to Dan, "The skunk is in the trash." It didn't move when I was really close, so I suspected that it was dead. We finally worked up enough courage to get a little closer and sure enough, it was dead! I had set a trap without even knowing it! About two weeks ago, when I discovered yet another empty bag of cat food, I threw it in the trash. The skunk must have smelled the remains and climbed in to see what it was all about...but then he was stuck...no food and no way out! Who knows how long he was in there...good thing it's been so cold, or I'm sure he would've stunk up the place!

Allen cracked us all up when he came up stairs with his boxing gloves on, his shirt off, and announced, "I'm a boxer, dad." After we convinced him that boxers can fight with their shirts on, we were off to the ring. These are our pre-fight intimidation pics...don't we look vicious?

The fatal blow!

And we have a winner, ladies and gentleman!

After all that hard fighting, I needed a breather, and Allen was so willing to accommodate. I promise...he was enjoying this as much as I was! What a sweet boy! He kept asking, "Aunt Janette, should I use more lotion?" To which I would reply, "Yes Allen, just a little bit." And, so there you have it...the holidays weren't a total disappointment. Family really makes all the difference in the world!

P.S. I forgot to mention that I am so proud of Brian for avoiding the temptation to play and for being so diligent with his studying. I'm sure it was hard with all the family here. He took his test on the 2nd, and we'll find out how he did sometime in March. One down, three more to go! Good luck, honey! I'm proud of you! He did take some time for mental breaks, however, and I snapped this shot of him making 3-week-old David smile!