Happy New Year 2009!!

The Pictures
Picture #1: Dorma (TJ's nephew Lloydd's wife), Yvonne (TJ's sister), and me.
Picture #2: Our hosts Dino and Lori (Lori is TJ's neice), and Lloydd (TJ's nephew).
Picture #3: TJ and I just before midnight.
Picture #4: TJ's great neice Lena (Dorma's daughter) and me.
Picture#5: TJ and his brother-in-law Dennis.
Picture #6: TJ's nephew Lloydd and his wife Dorma. (They are newlyweds of less than a month!)
Picture #7: TJ's nephew Romel.
Picture #8: These glam girls are Kendra and Kenyata on the left (Lori's daughters), Lori, Dominique, and Keysha (all sisters and TJ's neices).


Living in the eastern time zone has some distinct benefits. It did keep us up later on election night because California is so many time zones away, but we always know when television programs will be on without having to do any math to account for the time difference, and most of all, we get to celebrate the new year when the ball drops in NYC! All my life we have watched the ball drop and then returned to our party which would last for two more hours. Lori and Dino hosted a great party for family and friends as is their tradition--it was a full and fun house! I thought that I was doing well with learning the family names, but it turns out that I still have a long way to go! I met so many new people last night that my head was spinning. I was telling TJ about my memory struggles and he said that I should multiply that by three and I would know how he feels at Christmas with the Ruffatto family! Yikes! Anyway, we celebrated the new year with this incredible family in style with noisemakers, a champagne toast, and hugs and kisses all around. What a great way to begin 2009! I am reminded of how blessed we are to be in Michigan this year so that we can spend quality time with TJ's family. They are a fun-loving and very welcoming bunch! We look forward to 2009 which will bring a few family weddings, many new babies (I have 7 pregnant friends and 3 pregnant cousins!), a move back to Montana, a return to my teaching job, a new career for TJ, and many other exciting changes that I can't begin to predict! We wish you all a blessed and very happy New Year!