New Year's Eve EVE we hosted a sleepover. The kids had been asking for one the whole winter break. Athena would invite Lumen (although she never stay the night because she is uncomfortable sleeping at other people's houses). Ty invited Brandon. And Luke invited Ethan Strickland.
The day of the sleepover Athena almost lost her chance at having Lumen over. Athena lies more often than she should over simple things. It's normal at her age. When she puts on shoes without socks she will lie so she doesn't have to remove the shoes, put socks on and replace her shoes again. Or to get out of trouble.
We encourage positively telling the truth and we have consequences for lying. But she still does it.
That particular day she was lying a lot. She lost her new roller skates for the day, tv time for the day and outside play with friends. I warned her that one more lie would result in her not participating in the sleepover. So she wised up.
The kids had a blast at their party, as always. They played one hour of video games. They played UNO and pretend games. They ate snacks and socialized. Lumen snuck home without telling anyone...as per her usual.
At 10PM the kids went to sleep. Athena on the couch bed downstairs. Luke and Ethan on the bunkbed in Luke's room. Brandon on Ty's bed in his room and Tiberias on the floor in his room.
In the morning they had chocolate chocolate chip muffins made by Sterling. They played two hours of video games then played on the trampoline with their blankets because it was super cold. They played pretend and games in the house until 10:15 AM when we kicked the friends out.
New Year's Eve we started our evening with Burger King as a family. Luke and I were eager to get out of the house so they went on the drive to pick up dinner and bring it home. Which turned out to be super helpful because then I was able to use two BK coupons for dinner by having Luke make a food purchase as well.
As we drove away from BK we saw the sign which has burnt out lights. It current advertises an ER King (Emergency Room King). That made us laugh so I snapped a pic with my phone.
At home we ate dinner while watching Tom and Huck. The boys especially appreciated the movie...which they have never seen before even though we own it.
We drank Caramel Apple cider with our dinner but it was nowhere near as tasty as Apple Cider.
Then we had ice cream! Three flavors to choose from. As well as sprinkles, hot fudge sauce and candy left over from gingerbread house decorating. Mmmmm.
Sterling played with the children while I did my hair, makeup and got dressed for our adult party.
Luke babysat from 8:45PM-12:30AM! That was nice for Ster and I.
We had pulled out the couch bed and had the kids in their pjs before we left. We set a timer to let the kids know how long they were allowed to play video games. Then they had to hang out or watch tv until midnight or until they fell asleep.
Luke had my phone and a plan to go next door if an emergency should arise. The neighbors said they would be home all night and didn't mind being the emergency help.
Sterling and I drove 13ish minutes to the EClub for the party. We met up with a couple from our ward who are pretty new here at Yokota. Jacob and Liz Monson. They got a babysitter for their three young boys for the night.
This party we were attending was a base event. One of two New Year's Eve parties hosted by the clubs.We went to the Enlisted Club. The other party was at the Officers Club.
It was a Covid restrictions party with a Roaring 20's theme. We had to wear our masks and attempt to social distance. Only a certain amount of people were allowed to purchase tickets. However, we did get refunded $20 when they realized they were not going to sell out. They lowered the price trying to convince more people to buy tickets. In the end there were not that many people at the party. But Ster and I hate crowds and we were happy with the turn out.
In one room (the restaurant) we ate some appetizers. I was full from a BK dinner but I tried a few things. It was pretty good. We were allowed to take our masks off to eat, of course. We were also allowed to take off our masks at our table because everyone else was so far away. The tables were so spread out and most people sat only their couple at the table because they didn't meet up with friends, which was sad. Lucky for us we had met up with friends. And I was super excited. I had dreamt for years of having a party night out with friends on New Year's Eve!
Every year I wish to have a new year's even like in the movies (but with much less people in attendance). I didn't know if it was possible but I had real hope.
Sterling and I dressed up because we had what we needed to be Roaring 20's. That is why I decided to spend the money and drag my husband along...because of the fun theme!
Ster gets a little stressed out when we dress up and try to do something social. A bit outside of his comfort zone. So by the time we took a few pictures then got into the car to head to the party he was a bit snappy. I almost started crying because I can't stand to have him upset at me for any reason. And it doesn't happen often. But pushing him out of his comfort zone make him that way and I know this. So, I let him know he didn't have any reason to be like that toward me and he calmed down.
He made my night what I dreamt it to be!
The party was decorated beautifully! The tables had mini games like billiards and basketball. Haha. We got to know the Monsons a bit more but we had to leave the party room to do that. You couldn't talk in that room because the music was so loud!
The Monsons lived in Hawaii, which is so cool. They lived in Colorado and Ohio, I believe. They oldest son relies on his brothers for comfort. He doesn't like going to playdates without them. Our Luke relies on Ty for comfort in the same way. He likes to be with Tiberias and follow his lead. Luckily he is doing that less now that he is getting older.
We took pictures with Sterling's awesome camera. Liz and I got on the dance floor but we left our men behind. They didn't want to participate so we didn't push them. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of good music options to dance to. Nowadays the music styles are not to my taste.
I did go up to the DJ early on in the night to see if there was any plan of playing 20's music. I was wearing a 20s tassle dress so I was prepared to dance 20's style. But, they had no 20's music.
As midnight drew closer we headed into the party room for the countdown and balloon drop. At that point the speakers of the room blew out, it sounded like. So it was a lot quiet from then on. We went to the bar to see if they had a non alcoholic drink as midnight was just a few minutes away. They did have sparkling apple cider and we were the only people requesting it.
We counted down and when midnight hit Ster and I kissed. I said to my husband "You're the first person I've kissed this year." As if it were possible for me to be kissing others as time goes on.
The party moved to another party room where the speakers were working. But our group stayed put talking a few more minutes before calling it a night. It had been a great night!
Once we got to the car I changed from my tassle wrap to a coat. And slid on some winter leggings to warm my legs.
At home the boys were still awake. Athena was crashed on the couch bed. We wished our boys a happy new year and sent them to bed.
The next morning we met as a family. I showed the posters we had made at the beginning of 2020 of the goals the children set. We talked about each goal and how the kids did on achieving them that year. I myself have done well in 2020 to set a fit plan. I changed my diet although I did gain fat in the last week. Even if the scale doesn't show it yet. But I am not worried. Because I know what to do to get back on track. And because of my second goal for 2020...to learn to love the way I look. To stop hating on myself and being so harsh. I did well with that too! So now that I gained some fat I don't really care. I still love the way I look. And I am excited for the summer when I get to wear my wedding dress and renew my vows with my man.
Sterling has a PT test in a month. So he has to set a plan and buckle down really quick.
2020 was a good year for us. It was not a good year for America or for the world. But our little family was not harmed during 2020. We were safe and protected and even thrived. We had to change little things like keeping our germs away from others and keeping ourselves from other people's germs.
So many people are talking about how bad 2020 was and how hopeful they are for the new year. However, for me it's very different. I had a great 2020 with the virus not affecting us too much. But there is a real potential for the virus to ruin my year of 2021. I have dreamt of going home ever since we got to Japan. Now it's approaching. Our trip home to America. Which includes a Roundy family reunion, Boren family reunion, girls trip to Vegas with Jen and Laura (best friends from SD) AND our vow renewal ceremony (a dream of mine).
If we end up not being allowed to fly to America in July then the rest of my year will be hard! That would be depressing.
Praying that all of my loved ones stay safe and have a better year than the previous one! And that my family's trip to America will actually happen. We should know by mid April if that's going to happen or not.
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