I hope that everyone had a great New Year’s — ours was pretty mellow but still fun.  We hung out with the old folks and had our butts handed to us in a mean game of Scrabble.  It was pretty funny — one player is an ultra right wing conservative and the other is a card carrying member of the ACLU.  But everyone gets along when laying the smack-down on  Chucklebutt and Jiggle Puff.  Hahahahahaha!  Oh yeah, and I came in dead last both games and never broke 100.  I can’t believe Chuck beat me.  He’s an NC State grad you know and doesn’t even read.  😀

New Year’s Day was spent cleaning and cooking in preparation for having all the ladies over on the 2nd.  We had such a good time and I still can’t believe we fit 30 people into our house.  Check out the pics:

This is Alberta and her son Randy.  I absolutely adore Alberta and love listening to her stories.  She and her husband camped and explored all 50 states and I hope that when it’s all said and done, Chuck and I will have done the same.

Our yard needs a lot of work, but I still love it.

This is Pon talking on the phone.  She is one of my resident’s daughter-in-laws and I adore her!  She is originally from Thailand and is so much fun.  She made delicious egg rolls for the New Year’s Eve party and Chuck ate 11!  Oh yeah, Chucklebutt loves Pon too.  😀

I wanted to make sure that Chuck got a picture of the bus in front of the house.  I wonder what the neighbors thought?  ;D

I have no idea what I’m doing in this picture, but it looked so funny I had to post it.

This is Kathleen and she is amazing.  She didn’t get to come last year because she had broken her femur and was laid up in rehab.  She is 89 and awesome!  For 30 years, her husband trekked the Superstition Mountains (our back yard) in search of The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine.  Kathleen is really fascinating to talk with and encouraged Chuck and I to take advantage of all the trails and campsites on the mountain.

The bus only holds 25 people, so we also had to bring the van.  The bus drivers — Dave and Ron — are the sweetest guys and really helped make the day special.  Along with Chuck, they were excellent waiters.  It was nice to see all the men waiting on the ladies.

This is Doris and I call her “Bopka” because she reminds me of my mom’s mother.  They are both originally from New Jersey and their mannerisms are very similar.

Once everyone left, I passed out.  I only had 3 hours of sleep and was truly exhausted.  I took a nap, and when I woke up, every single dish had been washed, tables and chairs had been put away and pretty much everything was in order.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Chucklebutt.  We sure do make a great team.  I really couldn’t have done this massive undertaking without your support.  Chuck noted that we need to have people over more often — it’s the only time that we clean our house.   😀

Finally, I leave everyone with some shots of our other Christmas trees — this year we had a total of 8.

Mom gave me this Krinkles Noah’s Ark quite a few years ago.  I love it!

These silver trees sit in my entryway and quite a few of the ornaments are hand made.

I love this cutie!  She was part of the paper doll swap I did quite a few months ago.

This one I got from the ornament swap this year.  Too cute!

Pearl the Pig isn’t homemade, but I love her anyway.

Happy New Year everyone!  May it be filled with love, laughter and lots of joy!