Winding It Up!
Stacy knows How To Put. On. A. Party!
Over 50 of us rang in the New Year at the Youngs!
Besides all of our family,
she invited Grit and Sherry, Steve and Barb and their 4 kids,
some of Syd's friends, some of Jakes friends,
and Brad and Synda Wayment and their kids.
That day, we helped her
Deck the Halls . . .
. . . and make lots of yummy snacking food.
This is the sweets bar . . .
. . . and the savories are on the bar behind Jedd and Missy.
They made Italian sodas to order.
First on the agenda was the Cousin Talent Show
held upstairs in the playroom, which has a stage.
This is Luke,
Jackson (Steve and Barb's second oldest)
and Max, doing a dance.
Blake performed, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam,"
lifting up his bottom every time the melody goes up -
"Jesus wants me for a sun -BEAM".
Jack danced robot-style . . .
. . . which inspired Blakey to get up on stage with him
and show his robot moves!
Becca sang a lovely song . . .
. . . as did Sydney,
which was one she wrote,
accompanying herself on her guitar.
Jared fascinated the kids with his magic and card tricks. . .
. . . and those are the ones we got pics.
We had already had piano and violin talent performed
at Ryan and Emily's.
Then it was time for the Harlem Shake!
Google Harlem Shake and watch some of the videos,
if you wonder what it is.
I didn't know what Stacy was talking about.
In fact, when I was trying to remember
what the name of the dance was,
I called it the Brooklyn Shuffle.
I've always been so with it.
Stacy has a great supply
of all sorts of costume components backstage.
Okay, you guys - are you ready?
First, we did it with adults and kids,
and we couldn't get everyone on camera.
So, we had kids go first . . .
Then came the adults.
Smiths are ready! Turn on the music!
Mother/Son Combo
Here's the Stratford family version of The Harlem Shake!
Pete and Rick start out the kid, then the adult version.
Back downstairs, everybody is in the party mood!
Video games were popular in the Diner.
New Year's Eve Revellers!
Pam and Roger
Rick's Family
Ryan's Family
Tom and Stacy
Missy's Family
Mindy's Family
Barb and Steve
Grit and Sherry
And, with the music cranked up,
with one dancin' song after another,
Did We Dance!
Daddy Daughter Dances
Ellie and Jedd
Rick and Abby
Ryan and Sarah Kate
(Jared also made balloon animals!)
Syd with her twin, Noelle.
Blake really got into the action, too.
He loved the music and the dancing,
bustin' some of his own moves!
Jack discovered a fun way to pop the balloons.
Ellie started a Congo line.
Rick received his belated name gift from Jeff. . .
$20 in pennies!
At midnight
(actually, it was fake midnight for the little kids),
we started the countdown.
10 - 9 - 8 - 7- 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2- 1!
Ballon Drop!
The kids thought that was so fun,
they gathered the balloons up for a re-run!
What a party!
Each generation celebrated hard!
I don't remember a New Year's Eve,
even in my youth, when I had so much fun!
It was exhilarating to watch the kids dancing
and practically bursting with joy,
having fun together!
After everyone had gone, around 1:30 AM.
Those of us who were staying at Tom and Stacy's
were sitting around, kind of in a stupor.
Stacy and Tom started whipping around,
picking up trash,
clearing away food, cups and plates,
vacuuming, etc. etc.
We said, "Aww, let's do this tomorrow."
Tom said, "You know Stacy.
I don't argue.
This is how we roll."
So we all pitched in and got to bed after 2.
Winding Down!
And it was nice to get up next morning to a clean house.
Rick and Jodie had to catch a late morning flight,
so we had a big brunch, ready at 9 AM, before they left.
our favorite Lehi Mills mix raspberry muffins
Tom and Stacy scrambled the eggs, cut the grapefruit
off their trees and prepared other fruit,
made the toast and the bacon;
Emily made the sausage and the hash browns;
and Roger and I made the muffins.
It was amazing how much food we consumed,
following the Big Bash the night before!
So the party started winding down, with the first family leaving.
There were still lots of fun things to do in the glorious sunshine
for the remaining families.
And video games never stopped . . .
. . . and lots of kids had fun putting together the many Lego sets.
And Grandma was all pooped out!
(But soooo happy!)
Roger and I left Friday morning,
so the night before,
I made Banh Mi sandwiches for those remaining.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Tom and Stacy and Ryan and Emily
for so graciously hosting a Fabulous Family Gathering!
To sum it all up - a fun time was had by all!
