Yesterday we had our 4th annual Christmas party. This tradition actually started in North Carolina. Back then the party was held at our friends, the McGee's, b/c the rest of us didn't have houses big enough to host such an event. When we moved here we knew we had to carry
on the tradition. The party is such a great opportunity to mingle w/ all our friends from the ward without the interruptions of the little ones! The gift exchange is also fun. All the dynamics of people taking gifts from another, or hoping their gift would be taken, or what surprises will come when they open a gift, is always fun. It was quite interesting the year someone brought lingerie! The husbands were fighting over that one!
This year was a little crazy getting things done. Usually we have the kids stay the night w/ Ben's parents so we have a few hours to get the house put together, etc. 
This year the kids stayed here and my Mom watched them upstairs. So it was a little hard getting things cleaned up with little tornado's running around the house. If the backyard wasn't like a pond it would have made things easier. Luckily I didn't have the stress of making the food. After two years of making all the food I finally resorted to getting Olive Garden. It's definitely worth it! All I have to do is make a few appetizers and some punch and voila, I'm done! 
This year the kids stayed here and my Mom watched them upstairs. So it was a little hard getting things cleaned up with little tornado's running around the house. If the backyard wasn't like a pond it would have made things easier. Luckily I didn't have the stress of making the food. After two years of making all the food I finally resorted to getting Olive Garden. It's definitely worth it! All I have to do is make a few appetizers and some punch and voila, I'm done! The gift exchange was fun as always. I ended up w/ a ring that was way too big for my finger, and no one wanted it. My Mom saw it today and said she liked it, so at least it will get some use. Ben ended up w/ a gift certificate to Victoria's secret! We bought two games for the exchange, Battle of the Sexes and Urban Myth. Those were a hit....actually Ben was hoping to get one of them. I told him we should have just kept it if he wanted it that bad! After the exchange a few people played Scene it while we served up dessert. My friend suggested Pizookie ( undercooked cookie dough served w/ ice cream) and offered to make it. It was Yum!!
Lucky recipients of a Cold Stone gift certificate and a casserole dish
He got the pink autographed boxers by the famous "Sheriff Joe"
A game of Sequence anyone?The last of last guests left at 11:00 and the kids were still up. So by the time we got them to bed and cleaned up it was midnight. I was still very wound up, so I didn't' get to bed until around 2:30!
Surprisingly, I wasn't tired this morning. I popped out of bed and got ready for church....not like me at all!!! I couldn't say the same for the rest of the house. They all slept in....why couldn't they do that on Saturday? To make things more crazy, Ben got an emergency work call so I had to fly solo with the kids today. Sophia actually did very well, so I was able to get all of Sunday School in and most of Young Women's. The craziest part was rounding the troops and getting them all to the car. Besides that, the rest of the day was very relaxing. We just relaxed in the backyard and enjoyed the weather. When Sophia woke up from her nap, we took the leftover Olive Garden to some friends who were unable to make it b/c their daughter was in the hospital. There was so much left over I was able to keep some for us, too. How relaxing that was to not have to worry about dinner. This evening we went out front and strolled Sophia around. What a great Sunday!
