Ringing In The New Year 2015

New Year's Eve began with our regular Wednesday pancake breakfast.  This year I decided to shape the boys pancakes in the number of the new year.  They don't understand the whole "new year" thing but I thought it was fun anyway.  I added whipped cream, sprinkles, and some star shaped watermelon to dress it up. I wished that I had done one plate with 2-0 and the other 1-5 so when you put them together they make 2015.  Oh well, I'll save that idea for next year.

our New Year's Eve pancakes

 

This was Cruz's reaction when we told him over breakfast that we were about to pack up and go to a hotel with a swimming pool for the holiday.  They both squealed!

David and I quit exchanging Christmas gifts years ago.  Instead we have made it our tradition to take an overnight trip to celebrate New Year's.  It's a fun thing to do and if I had to choose between a gift and travel I'd pick travel every time. 

In between packing and loading the car we stopped long enough to take our family photo.  A holiday is just not a holiday without a family photo to remember it by, ha.

our family ready to ring in the new year

David and the boys clowning while I got the camera ready

I made a batch of these bell shaped cookies the day before to take with us to snack on. 

 

Our first stop was McDonald's in Chiquimula for lunch.  What kid doesn't love a Happy Meal and some time on a playland?  Mine sure do!

My boys playing at McDonald's on New Year's Eve.  Sadly, the restaurant was all out of boy toys for the Happy Meals so they had to settle for a Hello Kitty toy instead.  They were not very happy about that at all, but they played with them anyway.

Once we left McDonald's this is what they did for the rest of the short trip to the hotel.  Ahhh, can't you just imagine the silence, ha.

 

We traveled to Rio Hondo which is about an hour away and stayed the night at Hotel Pasabien.  It was our first time to stay there.   The rooms were not what drew us to this place.  They were very basic, but you get what you pay for I guess.

our room

What did draw us to this place was THIS!  They had a beautiful pool area with a wonderful kiddie pool area.  They had lots of slides and shade.  It was a fun place to ring in the new year and my little guys had a blast.

another view of the pools

As soon as we got checked in they put on their swimsuits and jumped in.  The water was a little cool but they didn't mind one bit.

 Cruz loved this big slide most of all.

Another thing we loved about this place was the playground area.  It had several things to climb and play on including a trampoline.  When my little guys finished swimming we dressed them and then they spent the rest of the afternoon playing here.  I just pulled up a chair and sat and watched.  Oh, to have just a small bit of their energy!!!

Captain Cruz- looking through his spy glass for bad guys
 

Another plus to our trip was meeting another family from the States that were also staying there.   They are not a missionary family but they live near Coban.  Cruz and their youngest daughter Eva became instant friends and they spent our whole time there playing together.  Cruz told me "mama, I just love this place!  The people here speak English!".  ha

Here's Cruz playing on a tire swing we found while on a little hike to explore the property.

Cruz, Ben, and Eva swinging in a hammock by the pool on New Year's Eve

We ate New Year's Eve supper at the hotel restaurant.  What did my little guys order?  A traditional Guatemalan plate of scrambled eggs, refried black beans, fried platains, cheese, and tortillas. 

After eating it was time to get settled in for the night.  Ben had a little accident while running back to the room.  He fell and scraped both knees.  "Dr. Daddy" took great care of him and bandaged him up really well before bedtime.

Here are my little guys clowning around in the bed before falling asleep.  We spent the rest of the evening flipping back and forth between the MSU vs. Georgia Tech bowl game and Fox New's New Year's coverage live from New York.  The game didn't end very well for us Mississippi folks.  But, what I did enjoy watching was the ball drop in NYC.  Watching that every year is one of my favorite things to do on New Year's Eve.  We listened to the midnight fireworks exploding all around us before calling it a night. 

We were up early on New Year's Day (just like every other day of the year, ha) and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before putting our swimsuits back on and spending some time at the pool.  We stayed until almost noon before we had to check out and leave. I pulled up a chair by the pool, grabbed my copy of Southern Living magazine (my very favorite magazine of all!!!), and just chilled out all morning long while my boys played.  It was lovely and even though I left a little sunburned it was an enjoyable time to have that still, quiet moment. 

We checked out and then ate lunch at Burger King in Teculutan before returning home.

My boys playing at the Burger King playland on New Year's Day

Cruz snapped this photo of David and I with my camera while we ate lunch.  We rarely ever take photos of just the two of us anymore.

We arrived back home mid-afternoon I got busy unpacking and washing clothes. I then baked a surprise pumpkin pie for my guys.  It is one of my family's favorite desserts for me to bake.  For supper we grilled steak and had black beans and rice to go with it.  We then all enjoyed a slice of my pumpkin pie.  We got baths and then watched "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown".  I wanted us to watch it outdoors but we were just too tired to drag all of the equipment out and set it up.  Instead we snuggled up on the couch and watched it in the living room.  It was a fun way to end our holiday time!

Special occasions are my favorite and holiday traditions just thrill my soul.  I look forward with great expectations to the wonderful memories we'll make and new traditions we'll start in the year 2015.  We hope you'll continue to read along and enjoy them with us.  Happy New Year everyone!  May the Lord bless you greatly in the days, weeks, and months to come!!!