THE Christmas Party

My parents had 8 kids and I’m number 4. Six of us live here in Utah, within about ½ an hour of each other. So every Christmas we get together at my house for revelry and celebration. The party started at 6:00 and Grandpa showed up about half an hour early with some of the other grandkids.

My sweetie slaved over 2 huge pots of chili and everyone brought potluck salads to share. After dinner we moved all the food back to the kitchen and set up the tables for cookie decorating. I told you already that Princess baked 10 batches of sugar cookies on Saturday and I ended up making 8 batches of frosting instead of six.

Some people were more creative than others...

Everyone participated in this sticky sweet activity and they made some pretty awesome designs! Unfortunately, most of them were eaten before Teach managed to grab her camera. (She was too busy frosting cookies of her own…)

Nice cookie, Gym Rat!

After cookies, we headed for the basement so Princess and Prima Donna could serenade us with their amazing clarinet skills. About halfway through Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the jolly old elf (aka my sweetie) showed up in all his Christmas finery. The kids sat on his lap and everyone got a bag of candy and had their pictures taken by Teach.

Then Grandpa led the somewhat irreverent sing-along of Christmas songs. He seemed a bit offended when my little brother couldn’t remember the words to “We Three Kings.” Tomorrow I’ll explain that whole story to you…

Then it was time for gifts. My siblings all still exchange gifts although most of them have gone to family gifts. We love choosing gifts for the nieces and nephews since most of them are very grateful and excited to receive them. The little Christmas trains were a huge hit with the little ones and the girls loved the Webkinz, but the biggest deal was the Nerf pistols.

As the guys started opening them up, my sweetie came charging down the stairs with two huge repeater guns and opened fire! That started a huge Nerf war that lasted for nearly half an hour. The kids had so much fun! But I think the ones that enjoyed it the most were my little brother and my sisters’ husbands. They were at it long after the kids had given up and moved on. (There are no pics of the battle...Teach wasn't taking any chances on her camera being a casualty of war.)

Then my sweetie and I raced back upstairs to make eggnog shakes, a tradition for all Christmas parties. As people were heading out the door, they each chose a candy cane from the garland that encircles our kitchen. Despite the fact that a few family members were missing (and this was the first one without Grandma), I think it was the best Christmas party we have had in the last decade. Three hours just flew by…and so did dozens of Nerf bullets.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!