Cheers to a New Year!

Okay...well, of course it's been awhile since I've blogged! So, I'm going to make this one of my few New Year's Resolutions! I love all the things my girls are doing, and I know I'm going to forget 95% of it, if I don't keep up with it somehow. I love reading blogs, and I also love to write. I just never take the time to sit and do it!

2009 is history now. And welcome to 2010. We celebrated the New Year with our neighbors, the Cordovas and the Lopezes. We had a great time with all the kids shooting fireworks, eating (of course!), and playing Catch Phrase. I'm so thankful to have found such wonderful friends that live so close by! This has been a tough year, adjusting to life in a new place so far from anyone I know. But that has all changed with time. Doesn't time change most everything? I guess that's why we make resolutions: we want to change. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. As I look ahead to 2010, I have made some resolutions. We'll see if I keep them!!

-Spend more time on blogging (once a week is my goal!)
-Scrapbook at least once a month (two girls = a LOT of pictures people!)
-Be healthier, in general, which I hope results in weight loss
-Do a daily devotion book with Gonzalo (it's a GREAT little book!)
-Take my girls outside EVERY DAY! (yes, even if it's raining)
-Live by the budget (as painful as that is)
-Send more hand written notes and cards
-Keep my house more organized!
-Find a place to volunteer at least once a month (besides church)
-Grow my at-home business
-Get back into accounting from home, very part-time!

I can't wait to see all that God has in store for our family in 2010! I hope it's a year of good health and prosperity for our family (and yours), although I did not eat my black-eyed peas today! Maybe I will make that a tradition next year? Speaking of traditions, here are a few Christmas ones we are going to keep:

-Reading the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve before bed
-Making a paper chain to count down to Christmas
-Putting up the tree the week BEFORE Thanksgiving
-Having ham for Christmas dinner
-Baking Christmas cookies on Christmas eve
-A progressive dinner with friends the week of Christmas
-A Christmas tree in all our bedrooms (and sometimes we sleep with it on!)
-A family photo card and Christmas letter to send to friends and family

We love the holidays! I am sad to see it over, but ready to start a new year. And I'm excited to have Gonzalo home for a 4-day weekend, even though he has to work the next 10 days after that! I will enjoy every minute of it! LOL.

We began the new year today by sleeping LATE...(which was good, considering we didn't go to bed until after 5 AM). Then Rayven & I went to the movies to see Alvin & the Chipmunks - the Squeakwel, and then we all spent the evening at Six Flags for their Holiday in the Park. It was a great day! Cheers to a New Year, and here's hoping it's better than 2009!