New Years Eve

This year New Years Eve was full of many activities all out in Wilton. We drove out early to my mom's house to get started on the orchard pruning. Normally we prune in January, but with this baby due on the 20th, we need to get our share done sooner than later. John usually is in charge of pruning the apricot trees, however, this year they get a reprieve and our sights were set on the Santa Rosa plum tree. I've been itching for years to prune this tree and finally I got the green light! The kids helped pick up the pruned sticks and take them to the bonfire in the back field. The fire starting was quite the spectacle, with plenty of wet, green wood to burn. Lots of smoke and many ideas later the fire was going pretty good. (you can see the arm of the catapult in the background of this picture)
After a while of pruning we took a break to watch the launching of the Christmas tree into the bonfire with the catapult. The idea to light it on fire as it was launched was vetoed. The tree survived 3 failed launches before a successful 4th launch landed it into the burn pile. The kids will have good stories about their crazy uncles' antics to tell their friends!
The traditional New Years Eve pinata was an over sized Hello Kitty made by one of Justin's students. The pinata took quite a beating until it finally let it's goodies out for all the kids. This year it was filled "coins" that the kids could turn into the store for trinkets. Sariah informs me now that it was a "penny-ata"!

John and I had saved some sparklers from the 4th of July for just this occasion. I think we had about 16 boxes of sparklers and my mom had about the same. If you can imagine a yard of running kids holding sparklers... it was quite a sight. As always we celebrate midnight EST so that the kids can settle down to a movie at a decent time leaving the rest of the time before the real midnight for the adults to play games and do puzzles. Happy New Year!