Happy New Year!

We said that 2013 would be our year (Jeremy was born on a Friday 13th so has always maintained that 13 is a lucky number for him!) and it was a pretty good one!

It was a typical year of ups and downs, of trials and triumphs but more important to us than the holidays and fun times was a hospital free year! There were the regular check ups but just to have made it through a full year without any major dramas was such a gift and we are very grateful!

So how did we say goodbye to the old and hello to the new?

With a fun evening with friends and snow!

We headed over to a friend's house just up the road and spent a lovely evening eating, drinking, chatting and sledging!

Despite the 11oF (-11oC) weather, we bundled up in snow gear and sledged down their front yard.

With their dog chasing the sledges and the snow falling on our shoulders, we had fun watching the kids sledge and 'surf' down the snowy hill into the deserted street.

At 10pm our kids were getting tired and cold and we were about to leave but we managed to help them set off some chinese paper lanterns.

They looked so beautiful rising up into the night sky (narrowly avoiding the house!!) and disappearing off over the neighbourhood.

But soon enough Toby was asking to get into the car and Charlotte was raiding the snacks bowl so we made a swift exit - just in time for Toby to fall asleep in the car and Charlotte on the sofa!

Then the big kids snuggled up on the sofa to watch the ball drop in Times Square NYC, sip some local fizz and watch the movie 'World's End'. I followed Charlotte's lead and also fell asleep on the sofa! Whoops!

Today we are wearing our Spartans' gear, watching the big hockey game (Detroit Red Wings vs Toronto Maple Leafs) before the Rose Bowl Spartans vs Stanford at dinner time.

A very American-style start to the new year! (And much needed relaxation time after very little sleep last night!)

Let's hope 2014 is a happy and healthy one! ...

P.S. Let's hope this isn't how the rest of the year will pan out... A face plant on the carpet whilst dancing round the living room led to a fat lip just as we were getting ready to leave for the party last night! Bless her!

P.P.S. This is my 200th blog post! Wow! :)