It seems to me that I never really wrote about the Christmas party we hosted a few weeks ago. Since it was a highlight of this Christmas season for me, I keep thinking back to it and feeling grateful for that afternoon.
The weather didn’t seem like appropriate weather for a Christmas party in my mind, but it was a beautiful day. As our friends arrived (1:00 pm), we were wondering if we would have to move inside. I was hoping we could stay outside as long as possible because there were 26 of us, and our house would feel a bit full with that many people.
We spread out on the lawn, sitting on blankets and lawn chairs. M welcomed everyone, and asked if anyone wanted to be first to share their ‘talent.’ No one volunteered, but B (age 4) started singing Jingle Bells and we all joined in. It was a good ice-breaker! From there we had quite a few songs, a poem, a dramatic reading (complete with really great masks), and a story. It was fun to see what each family or group had prepared and I was so glad that we had such good participation.
After the “formal” part was finished we moved into the house to the food! We had hot artichoke dip with baguette, shrimp spread with crackers, nacho cheese sauce with chips, cheese cubes, carrots and cucumbers, 2 big platters of cookies and chocolates, and drinks. I did almost all of it myself, and it didn’t even stress me out! That’s huge for me!
The rain was falling by the time everyone had their food and so we all crammed into our dining room and living room. The windows and doors were open to let some cool air in – is this really Christmas weather? Great amounts of talking and laughing followed. Four of the men broke out the Sorry game and the kids stood around watching them play. There were 3 pregnant ladies there, so you can guess what one of the main topics of discussion was for the women!
The last guests left a little before 5:00, and I felt so content and thankful. We had such a great response to that party (which C really deserves the credit for, since she thought up the plan) that I think I’d like to see it become a tradition for our family to host a party like that each year. It was fun to celebrate Christmas while celebrating our unique backgrounds as well.
(Sorry that the pictures don't really have a particular order.)
4 comments:
I'm glad you had such a good time! It really does sound like a great idea!!
sounds like fun! i miss you guys tons right now! maybe we can set up a skype while we're in RL?
Thanks for the post and the great pictures. The ones of Matthew and the girls are really cute. Like em a lot.
It was neat to hear a few more details about your party, esp. since it was so special to you. Wish we sould have been there too.
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