NYE in the OP

We got a very happy surprise after Christmas. The Avery's snuck into New York to play with us for a few days. Their kids didn't know where they were headed until they were on the road that morning. Our kids had no idea what fun was coming their way. Since they would get to town around dinner time we hatched a plan to meet at Wegmans (the local grocery store). They have a nice food court area and Holly has a passion for their sandwiches. So I told the kids I needed to get a few things there, so we might as well grab dinner there too. They were quite shocked when the Avery's showed up behind us in line. Reagan couldn't speak, she just stood there tapping my shoulder as if to ask me if what she was seeing was real.
We ate dinner there...
and settled in for a few days of fun.
Sledding and snow play were the number one priority.

Off to sled Chestnut Ridge.
My little "pretzel boy"
Hiking up the hill.
Jillie, Saroya, Reagan
Kobe and Saroya
Kobe
Just the girls.
The toboggan runs are open this year, but you need a wooden toboggan to use them
Jillie, 13 years old. :)
Holly and I
Everyone wanted to ride with Uncle Nathan!
We couldn't have had a better day for sledding!
Kobe and Saroya spent a lot of time together on Club Penguin when we were at home. They play this together almost every Sunday now too- by phone.
New Years Eve- Party Time!
Jillie, Ethan, and Reagan
Played some games.
and ate a lot of goodies.
(Sure wish I could figure out how to make that chocolate fountain work right again. It only ever worked nicely the first time.)

I got no complaints though. Chocolate is chocolate.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ethan thought he should ring in the new decade by playing in the snow at midnight...
barefoot!
The other big kids followed his lead.
The Littles enjoying(???) some sparkling grape juice.


LOVE Jaleigh's reaction!
Holly and I had a little nostalgia fest.
We made cheese ball, just like mom's. Sadly, the Blue Roka that her recipe calls for is no longer made by Kraft, but we found one precious last jar of it in my food storage.
We had the kids make the same type of ornaments that we made for a family home evening when we were little... and we still have those ancient ones hanging on our Christmas trees each year. Now there is a new generation.
The most exciting nostalgic moment was making hard candy together-
again, just like mom used to do.
We even used our Grandma Nellie's pot and our Grandma Streeter's candy thermometer while making Mom's candy. How's that for carrying on family traditions?!
Pouring out the boiling hot candy into the trails made in powdered sugar. We figured out that it really doesn't have to be done that way, but that's how Mom did it so we will too.
We did bend the rules a little and made a Hidden Mickey in honor of our new family tradition of going to Disney Parks together. ;)

We had a GREAT time and are glad they made the trek through the snowy weather to be with us.

Credits:
A special thanks to Holly for taking all of these pictures (at least the ones that are really good are hers.) And thanks to Holly for putting together this post on her blog that I pretty much just copied here.