A Great Ending to 2008!

Nate and I got to spend the end of the year celebrating Christmas with his family, and bringing in the New Year with our friends. I'll try to keep this post as simple as I can, but I can't make any promises.

The festivities all started on December 24th at the Durbano residence. We had a very yummy dinner that included one of every ones favorite meals... Lasagna! It was so fun to sit around eat and laugh. We then entered into a competitive round of Spoons! We decided to set the stakes higher then just the pride of beating everyone, but the ultimate winner would be exempt from any dish duty on Christmas Day. Needless to say everyone had their eyes set on the prize. After a few scratches, broken nails, and brutal battles over spoons the winner was announced... Nate! He is quite the spoon master.

After a night of fun we all retired to our own beds to await Santa's arrival. On Christmas morning Nate and I (mostly I) woke early to prepare the Christmas Hams. We decided to try two different styles of ham. One was a sugar glaze and the other was a pineapple glaze. Both equally yummy! (Note to all of you cooks out there. If you decided to try the Pineapple one use the non colored tooth picks. That way the color wont bleed.)

We then enjoyed some exchanging of gifts that ended with a crazy treasure hunt.  My mother-in-law put together a run up and down stairs, trap family members outside, and do anything you can to be the first one done treasure hunt.  It was a blast!

Soon after all of our tummies were growling and we knew it was time for the carving of the ham!  I would have to say the it was pretty close to perfect.  The only thing that could have made the day even better would have been having my family (the Buckley's) there.  They got to spend Christmas at my Britney's house in Arizona.  We missed them.

It's is amazing how things change when you get married and get older.  There is no more urge to spend New Year's Eve in some crazy place like Vegas.  The only thing that you care about is being with friends and the one you love.  We spent our night playing Mario Kart tournaments and enjoying everyone's company.  All of us had so much fun!

Nate and I are very excited to see what 2009 has in store for us.  2008 was a long but fast year. I am sure that you all understand.  The economy made the end of the year hard on a lot of people.  I would just like to say how grateful I am to have a home, job, and to be staying ahead of the economy.   

I love my family (both of them) friends, and Husband so much and can't wait to continue the memories.  Goodbye 2008 and Hello to 2009!