9:28 is the new midnight

we rang in the new year last night at approximately 9:28 pm, and the children were in bed before 10. at 10:00, john and i started a movie, and were both asleep by 11:30...i know because at a quarter to 12:00, i woke up to use the bathroom (first trip of many through the night), and thought to myself, wow, this is the first new year's eve in years (maybe ever) that i've been in bed before midnight. i woke up again, a short time later, to a ton a loud explosions (fireworks) - which i thought were bombs - and looked at the clock. 12:06. i didn't even get an official (and by official, i mean an actual midnight...because i did get a 9:28) new year's smooch-as john (who was just inches away from me)was in such a deep slumber, that he was actually snoring. that doesn't happen very often.poor guy had to have been completely wiped. we both were...are. i think we're still trying to recover from our christmas activities.
for that reason (and also because i haven't been feeling extremely well the past few days), we decided to keep our new year's celebration small (meaning just our little family) and simple..in every way.
john prepared a bunch of little finger foods and dips for our dinner, and also made a trip to the dollar store for hats, glasses, air horns, glow sticks, noise makers, etc. we ate, we had a dance party, john provided us with some awesome entertainment (i seriously haven't laughed that hard in the longest time), we took pictures, listened to auld lang syne, had a toast, started our own countdown, kissed and hugged each other like there was no tomorrow...then we banged pots and pans, blew our noisemakers, ran outside for some sparklers and fireworks, and called it a night. it was awesome. so awesome, in fact, that i think we'll see how many more years we can trick our kids into believing that 9:28 (or earlier...i'm not opposed to earlier) is midnight. this old tired body of mine just isn't cut out for those late nights anymore...and i don't think it has a thing to do with the fact that i'm 8 months pregnant, either. ha.

i am so incredibly grateful for the blessings and miracles that we have witnessed by the hand of the Lord this past year. He has been so extremely good to us...too good to us. oftentimes i feel completely unworthy of His gifts, but i testify that He loves His children and desires to bless us, even if at times we as mortals don't deserve or feel like we merit His blessings.
i look forward to the miracles and blessings of 2012, as well...namely, the birth of our sweet baby jude. i cannot even express how excited i am for this new addition. we have wanted this for so many years, and i seriously can't believe that in 5 weeks or less, this dream will finally become a reality.

so farewell 2011...you have been so good to us.
and hello 2012...i look forward to your adventures, opportunities, blessings, and miracles...and hope you'll be good to us, too.