What a way to start the new year

I started off this year with a bang.  Our first day back to work went well.  Budgets, budgets and other budgeting issues (all having to be done by the 15th and having several office administrators putting things off to the last minute like, oh, I don't know, their budgets).

After lunch on the 4th, I didn't feel too well.  We were getting lots of snow and I got home right after Dave, Lindsey and Zachariah.  Of course, the first question out of everyone's mouth was "what's for dinner."  Sigh.  So, we had left overs.  We had crackers and cheese, potstickers, kielbasi.  I went to bed by 9:30 (the last one to hit the sack) and woke up at 2:00 in pain.  Turns out I had to have my gall bladder removed but because I had sooooo many gall stones and a couple had blocked my pancreas, I was also suffering from pancreatitis and was severely dyhydrated.  I ended up not having surgery until that Thursday.  I go back to work this coming Tuesday. 

So, I knit and frogged and reknit and organized my knitting patterns and some yarn.  The one thing that I did finish was baby booties for Erich and Caity's baby. 

These were made with Bernat's Baby Jacquard.  I had already finished the sweater and cap but didn't get a picture of the cap.  The baby shower was the Saturday after my surgery and while I had plans on going, I decided that I just couldn't which meant that I had time to make the slippers. 

Since we were celebrating Zachariah's 9th birthday today, I had until today (or actually last night) to get the booties done.  The pattern I used came from Megan Mills. 

And here are some pictures from Zachariah's birthday . . .  except for the pictures of Zachariah, Zachariah took the pictures. 

He is into music so we had a musical cake.

Adn we also got the drums to go with the Wii and Lindsey and Andrew put them together:

And Zachariah had to blow the candles:

Caity and Erich have another little girl, Ava, who just turned two.   She is very cute and funny and got very, very tired.

And this is my youngest sister, who is Erich's Mom and Ava's grandmother.  She would love to knit except that she goes nuts with the patterns that are K, P, K2T, PSSO . . . so she either crochets or rewrites patterns so that everything is all spelled out.  We laugh.  This picture doesn't do Jeanne justice.  She is incredibly pretty. 

And this is my other younger sister . . . she also knits but does more crocheting because she does lots of afghans and such.

Over Jacquie's left shoulder is one of my older sisters.  She is a knitting, spinning, plying, dyeing fiend.  She sat and almost finished a sock during the party.  She is a show-off. 

And here is Mary (Jacquie's youngest daughter . . . her kids are 29, 27, 25 and 7 . . . and you thought I was nuts with kids that are 23, 15 and 9), and MacKenzie (who is 4-1/2 and Hayden, who just turned 3).  MacKenzie and Hayden are Jacquie's grandchildren.