Happppppy New Year!

 well 2013 is here.  Time marches on.  We had the most splendid holiday season.  And I have a lot of blogging catch up to do.  I found the holidays to be a good balance this year, not too crazy and just the right amount of fun.  I get better every year at deciding what to nix and not worry about, and what to incorporate into our celebrations.  Christmas should be fun.  Christmas should be about other people.  Christmas should be about remembering the Savior's birth.  And I feel like we did pretty good with these categories this year, so I give you Melissa, an A-.  There is always room to improve.  By the time Christmas day rolled around, I was exhausted and bummed around the house in my grubbies and smeared eye liner, pretty much all day.  I will improve upon that next year.  Next year's goal: shower.  Anyway, here are some pictures from our New Year.  We rang in the new with our friends Richard and Julie, who treated us to some sparklers, a steak dinner, and a rousing game of "Loaded Questions."  We left at 11:30 PM and didn't realize it was midnight until I heard the fireworks going off as I snuggled under my blankets.  Today is Don's birthday as well as New Year's Day.  We took the kids to a trampoline place and they played a few hours with their cousins.  So it has been a pretty great, pretty low key day.

 The girls had a tea party yesterday.  I love having girls.  I love that they have tea parties and borrow tacky fake flowers and use baby blankets for tablecloths, and call each other "Princess." I find it a little frustrating that Macie insists on dining in a summer dress when it is 60 degrees outside, and tears off the forced tights and sweater within seconds.