New Year's Partying: Ugly and Rosey

Our New Year's celebration was a busy one.
We headed back to OC and celebrated with the family. First we rang in the New Year at 8pm with the kids.
Plenty of rocking out to Yo Gabba Gabba tunes:
And once the kids were in bed, we had....an Ugly Sweater Party! It was awesome! (great party Camille and Rachael). Everyone came dressed in ugly sweaters. We had fondue, drank out of mugs, and played fun old school games (Basket Upset, the name game, etc.)
Mom found her sweater in Granner's closet:
Aunt Karen looked like she was from the FLDS church:
And everyone else hoarded Good Will and Salvation Army for their best Bill Cosby sweaters.

Eric and Laura:

Kam and Gerrit:

Rachael and Brennan:

Marty and Karis:

Bryan and Camille:

Mark and Sara:

And Me and Casey. I thought ugly pants would be appropriate as well, especially if my stomach was slightly stuffed (a la "Mom Jeans" from SNL):The boys:

How foul is Mark's hair?The girls, looking all pretty and tame, until.....

Gerrit!Seriously, we were dying when Gerrit stripped down and came out dancing (as you can see in this photo. I think Kam's crying):

Happy New Year!
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at 12:15am we said goodbye to the O.C. crowd and drove back home to Pasadena. We slept till 5:30am and then met up with my family at the train station where we headed to the famous Rose Parade. You gotta do it at least once, right?

My awesome neighbor had overbought bleacher seat tickets for her clients at work and asked if we could use them. Um, yea! $85 tickets....for Free? TOOOTALLY yea.
We were right at the beginning of the parade route on Orange Grove. Our tickets said to be in your seat by 6:30am. Not necessary. But still fun to watch everything come together.
Our seats were on the front row. Awesome. We left Owen with Parry and Linda over night so we didn't have to worry about him falling off the scaffolding.
The anxious (and tired) family:
It was the perfect Southern California day:
The weather was chilly till the sun came up but thankfully we were in the shade, without the sun glaring in our eyes.

While waiting for the parade to start, Mere and Mom took the kids for a walk:
I tried out my new telephoto lens and felt like the paparatzi. I mean, come on...Stars! They're just like us! They wear bangs in their eyes, while going to parades!

Meredith and Lucy:

Our little family (minus Owen) watching the floats:
Our favorite moments were the fun celeb spottings.
Bob from Sesame Street:
And Cloris Leachman. We love her in Spanglish:
This float was ridiculous. Cool dog, but the music blaring from the speakers was a short 5 second loop of "Who Let the Dogs Out?! Who, Who, Who-Who?" Enjoy your two-hour float ride with that obnoxious party!
Nothing says America like a brilliant red and white roses:
The parade was perfect. By the time we were ready to go, it was over! Glad we did it. And welcome to 2009!