It was a Shirley Temple kind of night....

Ever since I found out we were coming to Utah I had big plans for New Years Eve. It would be the first one where Nate and I actually planned on staying out to ring in the new year, rather stay UP to celebrate.

I pulled out my Texas hair, pleather jacket and fierce boots while Nate stuck on a cute hat AND shaved his face. We were ready to PAR-TY!

We first picked up Larry and Jessica to be their official drivers to the engagement dinner they had planned at a restaurant called Timbermine. Once we got there pictures were in order....naturally.

There was even a secret mine shaft door left open for our viewing pleasure.

I put my trust in Jessica's hands when I handed her the camera to get some shots of Nate and I...deep breath in and *snap*

In an effort to play up my hardness I ordered a Shirley Temple(Sprite and grenadine) on the rocks and  was lucky enough to get free refills ALL night long!  So I shared.....Nate was grateful indeed.

Unofficially, Larry had proposed to Jessica about a month ago in the mall...at a jewelery store. He thought it appropriate and romantic to make it official with all of us as witnesses.

Larry's only brother Scott even came to the festivities. It was great to see these three together and observe their similarities. I insisted we get a photo of this once in every 10 years occurrence.

Both Nate and Jessica's dad made a lovely toast....so I hear...I couldn't hear too much behind my gi-ormous camera, LOL. Jessica's mom Pam made for some excellent girl talk after dinner while the men huddled together and talked about guns and meat and how big their trucks were....or whatever it is guys talk about when they think the ladies aren't listening.

After the nerves were calm and all the congratulatory cheering we all enjoyed our 16 oz bloody steaks, fishy salmon, and teriyaki chicken. I even ordered a steak with cheerful thoughts of how it would be smothered in catchup only to get one that I had to trade for chicken. I asked for it very well done and got one that was still mooing....that was enough to kill my steak dreams...for now. The restaurant more than made up for it by serving us the most delectable piece of cake I have ever had.

We said goodbye to the joint by giving the creepy santa statue some lovin'

....and headed to the parking lot for some more new year's festivities, including the unveiling of our official hats.

We ended up driving around looking for a sign that said 'Fantastic New Year's Eve Party just like the one in NYC that you will surely have fun at HERE'.

We didn't find one and the guys agreed ballroom dancing didn't sound too fun, especially without our formal wear (to be fair, I didn't either...I was just desperate for a party).

So Jessica and I had our own 'cool' party in the WSU snow hills where we almost got frost bite.  Who would have thought that if you jump into 12 feet of snow with no warm jacket, gloves or heck even a hat that it would be cold....hmmm.

At least we looked fierce doing it!

All I could say was thank goodness the car we were in had heated seats for my butt!

Turns out we were having fun all along laughing while being complete goofballs in and out of the car.

Nate and I dropped off Larry and Jessica around 11, hung out at their place for a bit, dropped a ferret and played post for a bird named Joey. Way too much fun for us so we headed back 'home' to see the girls tucked in and to catch the last 15 minutes of the NYC countdown.

Kiss. Happy New year!

Bath.

Bed.

Last night was absolutely the best time I have ever had on New Year's eve...I'm not sure if that makes me a total loser or the coolest person on the face of the planet.

I'm going to assume the latter.

What a great year this will be/already is!