HaPpY NeW YeAr!

Games - Pretty dresses - Weird food

Our New Years Eve is always spent with Strider's family playing hours of games and eating too much.  We love it! 

This year, I suppose as a testament to the inlaws getting older, his dad wore this silly magnifier in order to read the questions for Cranium. It was so funny and we just had to document it.  Look how my mother in law is looking at him in the top picture LOL.

The girls got to wear their pretty Christmas dresses from grandma - it's hard to see, but they are holding adorable mini purses that match perfectly.  Perfect for a little tube of lip gloss and holding coins for Princess' church tithing.

We knelt down for family prayer and Potter snapped this one.  She's so cute I want to bite her.

But the most important thing this morning (ok, other than prayer)?  Getting the pork started before we left for church.

The oldest tradition we have on my side of the family is that every January 1st we do the Pennsylvania Dutch (German) meal of pork and sauerkraut. 

Read more HERE.  Also love THIS blog post about it. 

That stinky pork that I didn't love as a kid but now cherish, is said to bring good luck throughout the year.  In fact the purists eat it at midnight.  But we eat it for New Year's dinner.

When I was younger, dragging my sleepy butt out of bed on New Year's morning meant that the first thing I'd run into was a wall of that distinctive cabbage smell.  The memory is also closely linked to watching football bowl games with my dad. 

Last year, because my parents were away on New Years Day I tried my hardest to do it like my mom and my first attempt wasn't too terrible. This year they are traveling again and I did even better.  I bought a huge pork shoulder roast and it was perfect.  We had Uncle David here to celebrate with us.

Since today was Sunday I had to prepare ahead of time but it was glorious to walk in the house after our meetings and be greeted by the scent of my special family tradition.
I did 6 hours in the crockpot and 2 in the oven using my mom's borrowed roaster.  It's imperative that it be a huge pan to get lots of surface area for the final step.

Mashed potatoes on the side are a must!

The last 15 minutes of roasting are when the dumplings are added.   Delish.  There are also hot dogs under the dumplings, bubbling away in that stinky juice.  Simply the best ever.  Don't judge till you try it.  Or till you're about 30 years into the tradition and the thought of not having it just about breaks your heart.

Happy and blessed 2012 to you all!  And mom and dad, stop traveling on Jan 1!