New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We stayed up until midnight here at the Kountanis house...kids too! This is the first year we've done it, but Steven and Amanda Lily sure felt it was special. I overheard Amanda Lily telling Yia Yia on the phone today "I got to watch the ball drop!" Which I recall her little 5 year old mind working overtime trying to figure out what it meant that 2009 is over and it is now a new decade. She asked me every question in the book. Her biggest concern however was if the ball got broken when it "dropped." LOL. Such innocence. I wish I could just freeze time.
George set off fireworks again this year. Yall, I'm not kidding when I say they were spectacular! Thank goodness we have good neighbors! They were soooooo loud!
Anyways, I want to leave you with a poem. One of our good friends sent us a beautiful Christmas card this year that included many of her poems. I asked if she minded if I post it, and she was very shy about it, but eventually said yes. I hope we all take the time to reflect on words like these in this coming New Year. Blessings to you all.

Ring Out the Old Year

Ring out the old year...
Ring in the new...
With a silver bell chosen
Especially for you.
Just as a bell rings
With sounds that are clear...
So may a brightness
Shine throughout this year.
May you leave behind
Any worry and fear,
And take only gladness
Into the New Year.
May God bless each day
From morning's first light,
And continue His peaceful
Care through the night.
May He guide you with wisdom
As you look above,
And receive His Grace,
His Power, and His Love.
By Patricia Byrd Shamrock