New Years and More

Well, we headed out for our mini road trip on December 30th. I've mentioned the Paragon Casino in Marksville before as we have been before. Matt used to do overnights here with his old job as his territory was larger. I know it sounds crazy to say this place is kid friendly but it is and the kids had so much fun this time around. There is also a 3 movie theatre but the only movie halfway kid-friendly was Gulliver's Travels and I had my doubts so we opted out of a movie this go round.

Here is a view of the pool.

Family pic on Thursday.
Before we left Friday, we had to pose in front of the alligator exhibit that is located in the lobby of the hotel. This was another highlight of the trip for the kids. There are approximately 15 small alligators in the water.
We left on New Years Eve and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Bossier. They slept a good bit of the way so the drive wasn't bad at all. We spent the night with GG and went out with some friends for dinner. Here is Jake on his new bike that GG gave him. He was riding like a pro(with training wheels of course!). After his second fall he called it a day. If he only knew how many more times he will fall off a bike! But so glad he is getting the hang of it.
We ate at "Four Winds" inside the Horseshoe Casino with Matt's childhood friend, Jay Turner, and his wife Ashley. We had no definite plans for the night other than dinner but ended up staying out well past midnight. It was so much fun and we had some good conversation. So glad we were able to bring in the new year with the Turners! Thanks GG for keeping the kids.
On New Years day(do you capitalize NY in a sentence...ignorance!) we headed out to the country for a great home cooked meal prepared by Aunt Lou. Jake loves his Uncle Mark! They were out "working the cows" just before I took this shot.
And last night we got home just in time to head out for a get together with our Sunday school class at the Madden's new home. Just about everyone showed up and the kids had a ball! Ryan put on a really cool firework show as captured by LG's face below.
Here are most of the girls from our class. It was a fun night.
Thought this picture of the Reeder family turned out great! I've known Heather since elementary school and we graduated from high school together as well. Maybe I should go into professional portraits. Ha!
Sweet Reed Sexton was kind enough to cover up Landry Grace's ears during the firework show.
It's hard to believe that 2010 is over and done with. Overall it has been a pretty tough year for us and we are holding true to our faith and trusting in God to see us through life as we know it. We are looking forward to a new start, a clean slate if you will. I don't really do New Year's resolutions anymore but I did decide to deactivate my Facebook account as I spend WAY too much time on it when I should be doing other things. Not saying it's a bad thing at all. Just needed to prioritize a little better this year.

Matt and I have decided to train for the Mardi Gras half marathon in New Orleans at the end of February. We had planned to run last year but Matt's dad got sick and ended up passing the week of the event. Papaw's birthday is Wednesday, so if you would please keep Matt and his family in your prayers. It's still tough. Tomorrow morning will be here soon and training begins(for me anyway). BRRRRRRRRRR!