Seven years ago, my husband and I came up with the idea of having a dinner party on New Year's Day - we call it First Dinner. It's a sit-down, pot-luck style dinner for our absolute closest friends to start the year off on a good note, with people we love, and delicious food. 

Each year, we invite a limited number of guests to join us in our home for this special dinner. And each year, its harder and harder to squeeze just "one more" chair around the dining table, but we do it. It's one of the toughest invitation lists we make – I have a hard time leaving people out, but I know they understand. As the kids get bigger and our circle grows, I am sure we'll have to update our format a bit, and we're okay with that too. One of the best parts about this dinner is just that it is just that, a sit-down dinner.

My husband makes the ham, the last couple years smoked in his awesome hand-made smoker. I make about 10 pounds of my delicious buttery mashed potatoes and gravy, and each family is asked to bring a salad, vegetable or dessert. Sometimes we get lots of vegetables, sometimes lots of desserts, but it always works out just fine!! 

Some years we write new year's wishes for the coming year, seal them up, then read them the next year, that is always fun! Some years we clear away the plates and pull out the board games. No matter what we do, we're happy to be surrounded by, and start the new year off with our dearest friends!