A Redneck New Year's

I guess one of my New Year's resolutions should be to quit neglecting my blog in favor of Facebook, so I'll start by posting some pics from New Year's. Certainly not your typically champagne-bubbly-black-tie-little-red-dress-affair, but too much fun was had with big brother, Jim, his family, and a bunch of friends in the Cali desert.

Lacey did her first solo ATV ride, and here she is getting all geared up.Of course, gotta protect that beautiful melon.
Mom Missy rode a bit with her at first to help her get the hang of it, and she and Dad Jim tagged along right at the handlebars as she rode. I'm sure it'll be no time before she's darting around completely on her own!
Friend Peter Awful showed off some of his best desert fashion.
Friend Michelle took the girls (aka Denise in passenger seat, Missy, and me) out for an afternoon ride in her "Rhino," and it was quite the adventure. Safely harnessed into the back seat, Missy and I quickly got into a good rhythm of knowing exactly when to hang our Seagrams coolers out the side of the vehicle in order to avoid spillage. It's all about avoiding spillage, you know.
Michelle's mom, Linda, followed us on a 4-wheeler, and because we ended up in a wash for a large portion of the outing, there were a few points where we had to get out to do some scouting to make sure we weren't going to get stuck on any rocks.
Back at the camp in the evenings, we roasted these gi-normous marshmellows. Of course, I was the one who read the nutrition information on the bag, and the darned things were 95 calories and 16 grams of sugar each!!!

Amanda, daughter of friends Garth and Denise, LOVED the giant marshmellows, and was quite heartbroken when she realized she'd stepped on one!
I left camp to return home on Friday, and it was pretty tough leaving because everyone else was there until Sunday morning. It about ripped my guts out to leave Lacey waving from the camper window!

HAPPY 2009, Y'ALL!!!