Happy New Year!

After the late and frolicsome New Year's Eve party, everyone was in surprisingly good shape this morning when we all gathered mid-morning at Nicole and Jesse's house for brunch. After a great weekend, it was sad to bid everyone farewell. On our way out of town, we drove downtown to see the marquee for River Cinema 12, the new movie theater that's making fans for its spacious and relaxing seating, variety of refreshments and free refills, and cheap admission prices. We also drove past our previous house and the girls' previous school just for old times' sake. (P.S. I saw our former next-door neighbor Judy at the grocery store yesterday when I went with Jay to pick up some food for the party. It was so good to see and visit with her again!)

We spent part of the afternoon with our friends Jeff and Janelle and their kids in Harwood on our way home. A flu bug has been making its way through their family, so we didn't spend Saturday night with them as originally planned, making this brief visit instead to exchange Christmas gifts and give Suzanna a chance to visit with her godparents. Even ill, those kids are darned cute (and so are the parents, if you're reading this, Jeff and Janelle). Visiting them is like visiting family, and we enjoyed even our short time with them.

Austen's pretty cute and cheerful for a baby with the flu!

While Suzanna opens her birthday gift from her godfamily, onlookers include Jaden, Austen in Hillary's lap, Jordan, and Megan.

Janelle distributes the Moberg family Christmas gift.

Jaden helps Janelle and Jeff open their family's gift from us . . . will they like it?!

We stopped in Fargo for more shopping and an earlyish supper at Chili's before heading home. By the time we were fed and the vehicle was refueled, it was late-afternoon dark and feeling especially sleepy out to this driver, who could have benefited from a nap today after last night's revelry. I stopped frequently at the various rest areas on the way home and, each time, took a little walk in the brisk winter wind before getting back in the van. We're safe and sound back home now and ready to start the new year!

(One of my goals for the year is to do a little pleasure reading every day, so that's where I'm off to next! Still wrapping up The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.)