On The Eve of Our New Year...

Today is New Year's Eve.  

Like most families with a brand new infant, we partied like rock stars all night long.  Oh wait... that was Hope.  And that was last night.  She has her holiday dates mixed up.  It's a newborn thing.  The two of us were up much of the night and I practically slept walk through the morning.  It took us hours to get ourselves together to get out of the house.  You'd think we were total rookies at this baby thing!!

We finally made our way to our favorite deli, "Diane's Deli," to do something fun as a family to celebrate the New Year.

Our friends, Mike and Diane, made it quite special for us.  Not only did they surprise us with lunch "on the house" - but they treated Brian to something really special!  They took him into the kitchen to make a brownie sundae!  Then Diane helped him load it up with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

It was his very first sundae and he loved it!

As usual, my heart is so torn.  

It doesn't feel right to celebrate a New Year without Gavin.

Yet it doesn't feel right to NOT celebrate a New Year with Hope!

So tonight - we celebrated our family.  It's different - but in a way, because of Gavin and all he left us, it's enhanced.  We love harder...we appreciate more...and we try to stress less about the little things.

We smiled today - and took pictures of each other in front of the tree...

...and, as a special New Year's Eve treat, Daddy joined our kitchen dance party for the first time!! Gavin loved our dance parties - and I know that he got a kick out of seeing Daddy bust a move tonight from Heaven.  I bet he was even dancing with us. 

We're going to dance our way into 2014.

We're going to remember Gavin and celebrate him every day.

And we're going to put our shoulders back and bravely journey into the Year of Hope.

(Come back tomorrow for a Chasing Rainbows "Year in Review!")