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Every year, right before midnight, there's this moment where I
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stop and look around the room. Someone's laughing too loud,
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someone's sneaking one last snack, thinking I don't notice. There's
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a board game half finished on the table with pieces
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scattered everywhere, and at least one kid who should have
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been asleep two hours ago, curled up on the couch
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fighting to keep their eyes open. And I think to myself,
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this this is the moment, not the countdown, not the fireworks,
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or the resolutions or the champagne toast, just family together
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welcoming a brand new year in the only way we
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know how, loud, messy and full of love. Because years
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from now they won't remember what we ate, they won't
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remember who won the game, but they'll remember this feeling,
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the warmth, the laughter, the safety of being exactly where
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they belong. This is We are the Hansens. Welcome back
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to We Are the Hansens. I'm Maya Hanson. In today's episode,
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this one's special. We're talking about something that means everything
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to us. New Year's Eve, family gatherings, the traditions we've built,
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the meals that simmer all afternoon, the snacks that disappear
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faster than you can refill them. The game aims the noise,
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the quiet moments tucked between all the chaos, and the people,
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the people who choose to spend that night with us.
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Because in our house, New Year's isn't about perfection. It's
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about presence. It's about looking back at the year we
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survived and looking forward to the one word walking into together.
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So grab a cup of coffee or maybe something warmer,
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settle in, and come spend New Year's Eve with our family.
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New Year's Eve has always felt different to me than
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any other holiday. There's no pressure to make it magical
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because the magic is already there. It's not about gifts
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or decorations or elaborate plans. It's quieter than that, deeper.
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It's about closing one chapter and opening another together. It's
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about saying, this year wasn't easy, but look we're still standing.
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And when your family is big, loud, blended and beautifully
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imperfect like ours, that togetherness matters more than anything. Because
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time moves fast, faster than you ever think it will.
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Kids grow, They change their voices, deepen or soften, their
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interest shifts. One day, they're asking you to tie their shoes,
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and the next they're making plans you're not invited to.
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Life changes too, jobs come and go, season shift struggles
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surface and hopefully fade. But this night, this one stays
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the same every year, no matter what's happened, no matter
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how hard they have been. We gather, we cook, we eat,
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we laugh, we play games that get way too competitive,
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and at midnight, when the year officially turns over, we hug,
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we cheer, we hold each other a little tighter because
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in that moment we're reminded of something we sometimes forget
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in the chaos of everyday life. We have each other,
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and that's enough, more than enough. The day of New
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Year's Eve always starts slow in our house. There's no rush,
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no frantic energy, just this quiet hum of anticipation. By
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late morning, I'm in the kitchen, coffee in hand, still
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in my comfortable clothes, making a mental checklist of everything
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that needs to happen before people arrive. And let me
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be honest, I'm not one of those people who has
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it all perfectly planned out weeks in advance. I know
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what we're doing, I know the vibe I want to create,
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but the details those happen in real time. By early afternoon,
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the house starts to shift. The kids sense something's coming.
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They wander into the kitchen, asking what we're making, when
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people are arriving, whether they can set up the game
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table early. And I love that energy because it's not
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just me preparing for the night, it's all of us.
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Someone's setting out bowls and plates, someone else is rearranging
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furniture to make more space. Someone's inevitably taste testing things
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they shouldn't be touching yet in the kitchen, the kitchen
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come command central. There's always something simmering, something roasting, something
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that smells so good you can't help but drift back
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towards the snow of every few minutes. And people do
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they drift in, They ask when things will be ready.
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They linger at the counter, talking while I chop, stir
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or season. Because that's the thing about cooking in our house.
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It's never solitary. The kitchen is where stories get told,
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where updates get shared, where someone inevitably starts laughing so
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hard they can barely finish their sentence. And by the
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time the sun starts to set, by the time the
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first car pulls up outside, the house already feels full,
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not just with food, but with life, with warmth, with anticipation,
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with the promise of what the night will bring. There's
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this moment right when people start arriving, where the energy
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completely shifts. Doors open, coats pile up on the bed
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in the guest room, Voices overlap, footsteps echo from every direction.
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Kids run in, greet each other like they haven't seen
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their cousins in years, even though it's been like two weeks.
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Adults hug someone's carrying a dish they made. Someone else
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is holding a bag of snacks or a bottle of
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something bubbly, And suddenly the house isn't just ours anymore.
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It belongs to everyone. There's this beautiful chaos that settles
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in conversations happening in three different rooms, laughter spilling out
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from the living room, someone asking where to plug something in,
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someone else already rating the snack table before dinner's even ready.
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And I stand there for just a second in the
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middle of it all, and I breathe it in, because
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this this is what I wait for all year, not
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the perfection. The noise, the beautiful, messy, wonderful noise of
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people we love, filling every corner of our home. By
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the time everyone's settled in the house feels alive. There's
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a hum, a rhythm. People drift from room to room,
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Kids disappear into the bedroom to play, Adults gather in
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the kitchen or living room catching up on life, and
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there's this unspoken understanding that tonight we don't have to
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be anywhere else, we don't have to rush. We're exactly
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where we're supposed to be. Someone's asking when we're eating,
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someone else starts setting up a game table. There's always
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someone starts telling a story that makes everyone stop and listen,
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because that's what family does. We share the big moments
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and the small ones, the funny stories and the meaningful ones,
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the updates on life, and the random thoughts that pop
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into our heads. And it all matters, every single bit
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of it. Let's talk about the food, because if you
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know anything about our family, you know food is serious business,
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not in a fancy, over the top way, but in
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a meaningful way. Food is how we show love, how
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we gather, how we create space for people to relax
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and just be. Our New Year's meal is never fancy,
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no five course spreads, no complicated recipes that require three
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days of prep. It's comforting. Filling, made to be eaten
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in conversation, not in silence. We usually have a main dish,
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something warm and hearty that can sit on the stove
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and stay ready, while people grace sides that feel like home,
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bread that's still warm, maybe a salad if we're feeling ambitious.
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But honestly, people don't comfort or mat cuisines. They come
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for the feeling, the feeling of gathering around food that
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was made with them in mind, food that says I'm
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glad you're here. And the way we eat on New
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Year's it's relaxed, no assigned in seats, no formal dinner time.
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People drift in and out of the kitchen. Plates are filled,
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set down, picked back up. Conversations overlap. Someone's always going
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back for seconds, someone's always sneaking bites off someone else's plate,
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And there's something so beautiful about that, because it's not
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about the meal being perfect. It's about the meal being shared.
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It's about sitting down or standing up next to people
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you love and talking about everything and nothing while you eat.
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It's about the kid who finally tries something new and
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actually likes it. The uncle who tells the same story
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every year, and everyone still laughs, the quiet moment where
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you catch someone's eyes crossing the table and just smile
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because you both know this is it, This is what matters.
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Once everyone's eaten, once plates are cleared and the kitchen's
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a little quieter, the games come out. And let me
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tell you, this is where things get real. Because my family,
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we're competitive, not in a mean way, but in a
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I'm absolutely going to win this and you can't stop
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me kind of way. Card games, board games, charades that
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get way too dramatic. Someone always takes it too seriously,
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someone else pretends not to care but absolutely does, and
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someone usually one of the kids, finds a loophole in
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the rules that technically isn't cheating but kind of is,
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and we let it slide because games aren't really about winning.
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They're about connection. They're about the laughter that erupts when
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someone makes a ridiculous move, the trash talk that gets
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slung across the table, the moments where everyone's so focused
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on the game that nothing else exists, no phones, no distractions,
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just us, fully present, fully engaged. And that's rare in
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everyday life. It's hard to get everyone in the same
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room at the same time, all paying attention to the
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same thing. But on New Year's Eve, it happens naturally
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because the games create space for it. They give us
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permission to be silly, to be loud, to be competitive
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in ways that don't matter, but somehow still feel important.
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And in between rounds, in the quiet moments where someone's
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shuffling cards or setting up the next game, that's when
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the real conversations happen. Someone shares something they've been thinking about.
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Someone asks a question that leads to a story. Someone
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makes a joke that becomes an inside reference for years
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to come, and before you know it, hours have passed.
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The room's a mess, game pieces everywhere, snack wrappers scattered
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across the table, but nobody cares because we're together, and
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that's the whole point. As midnight gets closer, the energy
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in this house shifts again. Things slow down, the laughter softens,
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the room feels heavier, not in a bad way, in
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a meaningful way. People start reflect talking about the year
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that's ending, what it brought, what it took, what they learned.
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And there's something sacred about those conversations because we're not
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talking about resolutions or goals. We're talking about life, the
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hard parts the beautiful parts and the parts we don't
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see coming, and everyone listens, really listens, because that's what
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this night is for. It's for acknowledging where we've been
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and where we're going. But even if the year ahead
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feels uncertain, even if the year ahead feels uncertain, even
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if we don't know what's coming, there's comfort in knowing
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we're not walking into it alone. By the time the
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clock hits eleven fifty, the kids are getting restless, someone's
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setting up their phone to watch the ball drop. Someone
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else is pouring sparkling cider into mismatched cups, and there's
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this quiet buzz of anticipation because even though we've done
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this a hundred times, even though we know exactly what's
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going to happen, it still feels special, it still feels new.
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As the final minutes tick down, we all gather in
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the living room, in the kitchen, wherever we are, we
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come together, and when the countdown starts, when the voices
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start shouting numbers in unison, there's this electricity in the air.
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Kids bouncing, adults smiling, everyone holding their breath just a little,
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and suddenly they're cheering hugs that last to beat longer
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than than usual, smiles that light up the room, phones
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come out, texts gets sent. Someone misses the countdown because
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they were in the bathroom, but celebrates anyway, And for
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just one moment, everything feels right, not perfect, but right,
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because we're here together, starting a brand new year the
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only way we know how, surrounded by the people who
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matter most. Now, there's one tradition that makes New Year's
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feel complete in our home, oyster stew. I know, I
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know it's not for everyone, but for us, it's everything warm, simple,
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comforting in a way that's hard to explain. It's the
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kind of dish that's been passed down through generations, not
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because it's fancy, but because it's familiar, because it tastes
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like home, like history, like every New Year that came
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before this one, and every year, without fail, we make it.
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Here's how we do it, hands and family, oyster stew.
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You'll need two pints of fresh oysters with their liquid.
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Don't throw that out, you need it. Four tablespoons of butter,
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four cups of whole milk, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper.
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A pinch of cayenne pepper optional, but it adds a
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subtle warmth, and oyster crackers or crusty bread for serving. First,
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melt the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat.
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Let it get warm and fragrant. You're building that rich,
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golden foundation. Add your oysters along with that beautiful liquid
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from the jar. Stir them gently and watch. You'll know
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they're done when the edges start to curl. That's your cue.
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Lower the heat, this is important, and slowly stir in
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your milk, season with salt and pepper and a pinch
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of cayenne if you're feeling bold, and here's the key,
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never let it boil. If it boils, the milk can
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separate and the oysters get tough. You want it hot, steaming,
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but not bubbling. Once everything's combined and heated, you're done.
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Ladle it into bowls, serve it with oyster crackers or
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warm crusty bread, and enjoy it slowly. Because this isn't
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just stew. It's tradition. It's memory. It's every New year
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before this one and every new years still to come,
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served one warm, comforting bowl at a time. As the
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night winds down, as kids start falling asleep on couches
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and adults linger over the last of the coffee. I
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always find myself thinking the same thing. This is what
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life's about. Not the big, flashy moments, not the highlight reel,
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but this the quiet chaos, the messy kitchen, the laughter
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that still echoes even after everyone's gone home, The feeling
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of being surrounded by people who know you, really know you,
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and choose to show up anyway because that's what family.
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It's showing up year after year, no matter what, and
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building traditions, simple, meaningful traditions that remind us who we
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are and what we value for us. New Year's isn't
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about resolutions or fresh starts. It's about saying, we made
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it through another year and we're still here, and that's