New Year's with the Thompsons

Our New Year's trip improved considerably when we finally arrived at Nephi's sister Deann and her husband Zak's new home in South Carolina, just outside Charlotte where they very graciously hosted all twenty-one gathering Thompsons.

The whole family was together except for Martha and her family; the logistics of getting seven people, including five small children, across the country over the holidays just didn't work out. We missed them! On New Year's Eve Deann and Zak treated us all to a terrific (and legal!) fireworks show right outside their home:

The next day the kids had a good time driving toy cars and riding bikes around in the street.

Well, they were supposed to be in the street but Joseph immediately started off-roading it until we corralled him back, because that's just the sort of guy he is.

Zak spoiled us all with some really good food - a chicken and rice dish with a chipotle/roasted tomatillo sauce for dinner one night, mushroom and chives omlettes one morning for breakfast. I admired his knife and Foosball skillz over the three days we were there. The first night when we arrived it looked like my old TenFold Foosball days might make me a legitimate challenger to Zak, but it soon became apparent that he had just been getting his groove on and I had no real chance. But it was very fun playing anyhow.

It was wonderful to see Nephi's parents again and hear about their new practically-off-the-grid house they built, pretty much with their own hands. Their newest project is an in-ground greenhouse that will grow food all year round.

The cousins had lots of time to play together - house, Wii (oh, the excruciating experience of playing Wii golf with a four-year-old who will not under any circumstances accept any help whatsoever!!), Hannah Montana sing-alongs...

They watched Kung Fu Panda about 15 times, we got to see Wall-E (which didn't live up to the hype, in my opinion), and they also watched some 3-D movie, which made for a funny picture.

Remember my fiasco/success with Caleb's glacier cake awhile back, when I mentioned the total pro-cake-decorator in-laws? Well, behold the handiwork of a certain miss Ellen, who made a rockin' Hannah Montana birthday cake for Michela's ninth birthday, complete with real guitar strings and a chocolate bridge and tuning pegs. It tasted good, too.

And just because it's getting to be a sort of tradition on this blog, I thought I'd include a bad family picture.

Overall, it was a great way to celebrate New Year's! Oh yeah, and watching Utah beat up on Alabama in the Sugar Bowl was fun too. Many thanks again to Deann and Zak, and to all the rest of the Thompsons for travelling so far so we could all be together!