New Year's Eve

Once again for New Year's Eve we held our annual dinner and party at the Painter house. As tradition states, we had to have Prime Rib. This year my parents decided to cook the Prime themselves. In times past we have had local restaurants cook them for us. I don't know if my parents found a recipe or if they stumbled across a rub, but the prime rib this year was awesome! My mom and dad did a great job with the main course. Additionally we had shrimp, baked potato and Ali made her pretzel salad. This year I was in charge of bringing 7-Layer dip (thanks Allissa, because of you I always get to make this) and dessert. Sunday at church Amber gave me a list of things that would be an acceptable dessert, Brownie Trifle, Eclaire Torte, or Oreo Cheesecake. I was leaning towards the Oreo cheesecake, but it had been a few years since I made the Eclaire, which made my decision more difficult. I ended up making the Eclaire because, well it is the easiest to make. It wasn't until I had the dessert made that I realized I had bought items to go with the chocolate fountain. So trust me, we had plenty of dessert.

With dinner I had a Dr. Pepper. Oh man, did it taste awesome. It has been over six months since I had any soda pop to drink and I bet it had been well over 3 years since I had a regular DP, I usually go with a diet beverage. But let me tell you the original could have been the best soda I have EVER had in my life. (Did you like that little ramble?)

This year we had an extra guest as Amber brought her boyfriend Landon to join us. He sure seemed like a quiet guy, I am not certain if he is ready to handle the craziness of my family. But he was able to step up and helped us cheer on the Jazz to victory over the Trailblazers. In addition to dinner and watching basketball, we played the Wii. I have to tell you--I need a Wii!!!!! We played Guitar Hero for a couple hours. When I strummed my first chord I new that I was hooked. I thought to myself, I can buy this to go with my PS2. My first challenge was against Chris as we strummed out La Grange by a Painter family favorite ZZ Top. I beat him by a thousand or so points. My second challenge was Chase and he was so confident that he was going to beat his Uncle Clint. Well, he didn't realize that I got to pick the song, so I went with a little Poison, "Talk Dirty to Me." I think it must have been the extended version of the song, because it seemed to go on for 10 minutes. I ended up beating him by less than 300 points, but a win is a win! My last song was Pearl Jam's Evenflow. I don't even remember who tried to challenge me, but victory was mine all mine. Everyone else got play as well, but I don't know if anyone else had as much LUCK as I did. Mom even went for Rock Star Status and took a turn or two. She is definitely a rocker.

Chase and Mom rocking out

We then turned our attention to Baseball and Boxing. I was absolutely hooked. No longer did I think that I could get the Guitar Hero for my PS2, I need the whole game system. After one boxing match I was dripping sweat, but still dancing around the house because I once again beat down my helpless nephew. Mind you, he is almost 12 and is in much better shape than I am, so don't feel too bad for him. He told me I got lucky. I corrected him and told him that luck does not consist of a knockout early in the 2nd round. I have added a few boxing pictures. I hope you enjoy the facial expressions and dance moves everyone was using.

Chase and Paul

Ali and Mike

Mom and Chris

We turned on Dick Clark and counted down the year while toasting with our Sparkling Cider. Usually after the toast the party winds down as everyone goes home. However, this year we decided to play a round of Trivial Pursuit 90's edition. (We played "Totally 80's" on Christmas Day) The game was pretty intense, it seems like there were very few questions missed. In the end, the team I was on was barely victorious.

Before everyone became zombified (not like the "I am Legend" people, but more of the docile Zombie) we decided to call it a night. The party turned out great and a good time was had by all.