Happy New Year!

Okay, so maybe we are still a few hours away from the New Year, but, I wanted to say that now anyways. I trust that everyone had a great Christmas. We sure did. It was kinda chaotic here with all the kids and their gifts. But it was a lot of fun. The Doan family tradition is to have a delicious meal of steak, twice baked potatoes, strawberry jello salad, and my mom's delectable rolls. Quite a few years ago we started having this meal because we were all tired of ham or turkey. Anyways, it was so yummy! Then, we attempted a family picture, which we try to do every time we are all together.
One thing about my family is this - it is NEVER boring when we are all together. Something always seems to go wrong or get messed up or something. Two funny things that have happened since we have been here both involved Liam. First, last week, Liam was taking a nap up in our room. It was about time for him to get up, so I went to see if he was awake. He was - I could here him crying a little. Now, I thought it a little strange that he had not come out of the room. Usually, when we wakes up, he just comes out to find us. But he didn't this time. Well, I soon found the reason why. Apparently, he locked the bedroom door somehow. Until then, I didn't even know that there was a lock on the door! This lock is the kind that you turn , not the kind you just push in. Well, he was crying because he couldn't get it open. My parents have the little pin thingys that you can stick in the hole on the outside to pick the lock, which is a great idea - if it works! But, neither Matt, my mom, nor I could get it unlocked. For some reason, that lock is really hard to pick. We tried another lock, and got it undone right away. Poor Liam was crying, so we told him to sing his ABC's. He stopped crying and started singing. It was so cute, and we were laughing so hard! Then he cried again, so I stuck my fingers under the door and he was trying to hold my hand. It was sweet. Finally, my mom called her neighbor, and he came over to see if he could get it. After quite a few attempts, he got it, and all was well!
Then, on Sunday, we were getting everyone ready to go to church. We were loading up the car. My dad put Liam in, then Andrew pulled the car out of the garage so the rest of us could get in. He got out of the car to help with the kids, and that was when we discovered that the doors automatically lock, for some reason. My mom and sister and her boyfriend had just left for church, and my dad said he did not have another key. So, there was little Liam, sitting patiently in the car while we were all standing outside trying to figure out what to do. We called my mom, who said the extra key was in the car! So, my dad went searching in the house, and finally found an extra key they did not know they had! Praise the Lord! We were about to call the fire department to come! :-) Poor Liam. Seems to be getting locked away a lot! :-)
Well, I am making supper for my fam tonight. Hope it turns out well! Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Years!
Oh, by the way, I am so excited to report that my brother, Jeremy, and his wife, Jenni, are expecting their 4th child! Yay! We all just found out but she is already 20 weeks along! They are good secret keepers! They found out today that it is a girl! So this is grandchild #11 for my parents!

p.s. I would like to make note that the previous post regarding a parrot was NOT posted by myself or Matt. I made the mistake of not signing out of my blog, and my goofy brother, Jeremy, took advantage of that. So that should answer any questions you may have regarding that!