New Year’s Eve this year was was about ringing in 2026 fairly quietly. The get together was hosted by us at our house this year and we had a few friends come over. It was nothing fancy, just good food and good fun with good friends.
That’s the way I like it. I’m not about going out to a big public party or a bar. I never have been. Give me close friends and family and a good card game and I’m good.
I didn’t get pictures of all the food we had, but there was more than enough for the six of us. I had BBQ meatballs, Chex mix, ham and Swiss sliders, chips and nacho cheese dip and chocolate chip cookies. My friend Robin brought her famous meat, cheese and crackers platter. Perfect finger food for the night.
Ringing in 2026 wouldn’t be the same without these guys. We’ve been friends for thirty years now. It’s crazy how the time has passed so quickly. In fact, it might’ve even been a New Year’s Eve party that we met at, I’m not sure.
Life is better with good friends, isn’t it?
I encourage my son to always keep up with his friends. The years go by fast and it’s easy to lose touch with people.
I’m so grateful for Bryan and Robins friendship and how we’ve been in each others lives for so long. We’ve gone on multiple vacations together, been through births and deaths, tragedies and the best of times and played more nights of cards than I can even count.
Speaking of cards… We’re playing UNO No Mercy in these pictures. We also play Euchre on the regular but UNO No Mercy is quite fun and a good game to break up the rounds of Euchre.
I’m mentioning UNO No Mercy because it’s fun as all get out. It will make you laugh and scream all in one round! It’s a great party game for 4 or more. We played it with 6 no problem. You can even play it with 2 people though it’s not as fun that way. I’m an Amazon associate now and when I share things that I like on Amazon, I get a tiny kickback if you use my link. Of course, it doesn’t cost you any extra at all.
Side note: I’ve had a blog since 2009 (!!!) and I thought why not when a friend asked if I was monetizing it. I’ll never have those icky commercials that play and pop up while you’re trying to read the article or post. But I have just signed up with Amazon and will occasionally share with you the products that I already use and like.
Okay now that’s out of the way… So this version of UNO No Mercy is way more fun that the original game. You can hold up to 25 cards before you’re out. It can be brutal and we all love to play it.
Euchre is our other card game of choice and if you’ve never played that, I suggest you learn. You play in teams, so really 4 players are best. Another game we like to play is Dominoes Mexican Train and Chicken Foot. But we didn’t bring out the dominoes this night.
I’ve slowly gotten out of Holiday Mode and am thinking more into my art business for 2026 but that’s another post for another day.
Here’s our little gang ringing in 2026. Cheers!
I wish you a wonderful year full of great surprises, good health and love! Happy 2026! Love, Jaime
Leave me a comment, what did you do this New Year’s Eve? Do you have any fun traditions?
P.S. don’t forget I have 2026 wall calendars available and they’re now $5 off! Just use the coupon code Cal2026 at checkout. If you check out using your phone, you have to click “show order summary” in order to insert the coupon code. It’s up at the top by the price.
Learn More
Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.
If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter e-mailed about once a month that gives you special status for invitations, birthday greeting and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!
