New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is a fun time of the year, and this year was no exception. As opposed to Christmas Eve where we have a yearly tradition, the last night of the year has been unique on each occasion. It's always fun and always spent with friends and loved ones. This year we invited a few friends over to our house to bring in 2009, but we started at the Burge family home with a cook out on their roof top. (Aren't the tropics wonderful!) Friends Bud and Karen Simon joined us as we grilled hamburgers and enjoyed our meal there under the nighttime sky. From there we headed over to our house, which is just behind the Burge home. In May Brittany Burge will be headed off to the States, so this was our last 'bringing in the new year' with her still living at home. I will miss her a lot, but looking at this picture I think you can see who will really feel the void the most! We had several different games and a lot of food ready to pass the time until 11:00. As it turned out, we played CatchPhrase right up until the time we wanted to stop to worship the Lord and pray before welcoming 2009. The game kept everyone on their seats, thinking and shouting! In fact I wondered what my neighbors might be thinking. The noise level reminded me of the line from the country song, "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight". Most of us made through the night without a nap, but the slowed down pace of singing and praying put 12 year old Isaiah down for the count for a bit. He did wake up and join us on the rooftop to watch the fireworks though.