Happy New Year!

Tonight is one of those nights that are just not my thing. I have never really been into new years. Regan, however, is a big PAAARRRRTY guy on New Years. Ugh. So each year we have a discussion on if it is a PAAARRRTY year or not. We have had parties here which are just my kind of thing. Family, and/or some friends,fondue, games, you know, that kind of thing. I LOVE that! Last year we had my parents over and we played cards, and after Ellie went to bed we watched MI2. It was heaven! This year, we just didn't get our act together in time. So for the first time in our relationship (11 1/2 years) we are spending the night at home with just our little family. I, for one, love the idea. I think secretly Regan does too. I bought some really fancy cheeses and we are going to fondue a nice giant baguette, and have coconut shrimp, and I bought these little chocolate lava cakes for dessert. Oh, and there may be some wine drinking going on. I also bought these GIANT grapes for us to have at new years. When we were in Mexico a couple of years ago (one of the BEST New Years EVER, and we did PAAAARRRTY) we were introduced to the tradition of eating 12 grapes while the clock struck midnight. As you eat each grape you make a wish for the coming year and you must eat them before the clock strikes 12. The only thing is, these grapes were HUGE! I have never seen such huge grapes in my life! Anyway, Sobey's happened to have pretty massive grapes so I bought them. We definately want to go back to Hualtuco soon, one of our most favourite places in the world. In fact, I can't wait until Ayana is a citizen (not sure what that entails now) so we can start to travel again.

On that note, haven't heard anything. The CIC website still says "in Process". We were kind of hoping her Visa would come in this week so we could travel before Regan starts his next job. Otherwise he has to either not work or leave the show. It's not that big of a deal, they all know at this job that this may happen. There are some shows coming in. Which is fantastic! Not a lot, but enough to sustain us for awhile. There is series in Edmonton that would go for about 5 months! But it would start in Feb and that is just too soon for Regan to be away that much when Ayana is first home. At least if he is working in Calgary, he may see her at night or in the AM and on weekends.

Over the holidays I have been thinking a lot about what it will be like to have a baby around again. A crawling baby. It will be BUSY! And it won't be like it was when Ellie was a crawler, with her "gammy" leg as my friend called it. (She crawled with one leg straight out.). We will do the regular baby proofing with the cupboards and stuff, but for the most part I am going to have to watch her more closely. We have a dog now, and our house is more... "lived in". AKA: cluttered. Maybe I'll finally lose the "adopted baby" weight then!

I joined Weight Watchers again. I love WW because it just reminds me to not eat so much. You know? And because I am constantly aware of how many points I have allotted per day, I usually will say to myself, "Okay, I could make this breakfast burrito with eggwhites and cut out 4 points!!" Or, I could have this giant Toblerone chunk for 4 points, then I won't have cereal at night. you get my drift? It's great. I usually feel better when I do that. Like I have some control.

Anyway, here is to 2007. A very GREAT year for our little family. We had a lot of fun. We laughed, we cried, we camped. We travelled to Germany. We gained another beautiful daughter. Ellie had her first sleep over. Regan's Dad had heart sugery (he's doing MUCH better by the way). My niece became preggers again! I pulled the trailer ALL BY MYSELF from Sask. We went to DISNEYLAND. (Ellie was a bit sad the other morning... she wants to live there, she said. Who wouldn't?)

Oh one other thing, this is pretty funny. Ellie has a pretty great sense of humour. She is very quick witted, which I admire a great deal. We were at my sister-in-laws house on Christmas day eating supper. My BIL was telling this story of our neice choking on a "Life Saver" candy when she was 3. He had to give her the heimlich. It was very scary. Then Ellie pipes up from the end of the table, "And they call it a "LIFE SAVER"? We laughed for about 5 minutes over that one. Just the way she looks for a comedic angle sometimes is hysterical. I told her a couple of years ago that it is so much fun to make people laugh. It feels great to see people laughing and feel good. She told me recently that she makes her friends laugh all of the time. I love that.

Have a great day! And once again... HAPPY NEW YEAR!