Christmas Parties

Usually we try to only schedule one or two parties around the holidays to keep from getting stressed during a season that's supposed to be full of peace and joy. This year I counted 4 parties that I've been to (or am going to!). I'm not sure if that's being over-booked or not, especially considering two of the events were ladies only!

December 7--Preschool Leaders' Bunco Party--We all went to church for this, as child care was provided on campus. Ted and I joined other couples for a yummy evening of appetizers, desserts, door prizes, and of course bunco! (Am I spelling that right?!) I won a prize for being the biggest loser, ha! I lost 10 rounds out of 12!

December 13--Ladies' Handmade Holiday Christmas Tea--My friend Debi and I planned another ladies' Christmas party. She had hosted one last year and it was so much fun I asked if we could do it again, but at her house, since it's much less child-proof and therefore more beautifully decorated than mine. :-) My idea, though, was to do a handmade gift exchange instead of the usual "buy a gift and bring it" exchange. With the economy in shambles, we figured it would be a good way to emphasize the spirit of giving and creativity. Let me tell you, that Saturday morning was the BEST!! I had a total blast! There were 9 of us altogether, and we laughed so hard and just had a ball fellowshiping together. We did a potluck brunch and ended up with lots of yummy food. We played a few games and then did the gift exchange, and we did it via the "stealing" method, i.e. everyone gets a number and then chooses either to open a gift or steal one that has already been opened. We put a limit of two times per gift for stealing. Several gifts made the rounds, and it was so much fun to see what people came up with for their gifts! There was a gorgeous scarf, two pieces of framed artwork (I got the one Debi made--it's a Christmas one that I love), a jar of homemade pickles, homemade bread, homemade divinity, a pretty Christmas decoration, cookies...and apparently I'm forgetting one. But I think we were all pretty happy with what we got, and more importantly, we made some great memories.

December 16--Bible study Christmas party--This was our last session for our current study of Beloved Disciple (about the Apostle John). We enjoyed a yummy potluck dinner at Janet's house plus an ornament exchange that I completely forgot about. Thankfully Janet had provided an extra ornament for the pregnant lady with no brain cells, so I was able to participate, too! We exchanged little gifts, too, an unplanned kind of thing, but I came home with some homemade candy apple jelly, a couple of ornaments, and more treats to eat.

Tonight--Nick Saint Cast & Crew party--We are currently waiting for the babysitter to come stay with Kenna and the boys while Ted, Charis and I attend this party. I'm so glad we were able to line up a sitter on short notice (the party date wasn't decided upon until Monday or Tuesday!!). I spent most of yesterday working on a scrapbook album to present to Rory, the writer/director of the play. I must say, I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and I plan to take pictures of each spread so I can order the same prints and reproduce the album for Charis some day!! I wish I could have just done both at once, but I didn't have enough card stock and paper. Ah, well. I hope Rory enjoys having the album as much as I enjoyed making it!!

That's it for our holiday outings, other than going to church, of course. It's kind of funny that the year we were the busiest (with Charis and Ted going to rehearsals and performances the first half of December), we ended up attending the most events. But each one has been very fun and memorable...and ironically will help our travels seem like a true vacation!