Christmas 2012

It seems that Christmas just sneaks up on me and before I know it, it's over!  I worked hard to shop early and get stuff done but something always comes up.

We had our family Christmas Eve dinner with Todd's family and since other family members had plans for the 24th, we moved it to the 23rd and it worked out great.  We had the party at the Dorian's house and it was super fun.  Good food, family, tacky White Elephant gifts & cousins to play with.  I really enjoyed having the party on the 23rd which gave us the opportunity to have a quiet Christmas Eve together and finish up any last minute shopping.

Christmas morning came too early for me!  I did get up a bit early so I could get a shower in then got ready for the grand entrance.  The kids seemed to have a nice Christmas, got some fun gifts from us and Santa.  We then headed up to the condo to enjoy the festivities there.

Present chaos ensued!!  We got some nice stuff from Judy & David and it was so fun to have the entire family together.

We enjoyed some great food: bagels, lox (none for me, thank you), cream cheese, breakfast casseroles, fruit, blintz casserole.  A typical Jewish breakfast!

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, chatting and having fun.

Christmas Eve Eve dinner...

Abby's awesome White Elephant gift was an Eloise doll...she caused some problems...

Just what every housewife wants, a waffle maker & a handgun.  Thanks Santa!

Merry Christmas to all!

Holiday recital

Abby had her holiday piano recital and she did an amazing job.  This is her 5th year in piano and she is really a natural talent.  I'm so proud of her hard work and dedication to practicing and playing.  I'm so grateful that she really does enjoy playing.

 

 

 

Ward Christmas Party-2 in a row

For some reason, the Primary presidency was asked (others would call it volunteered) to be in charge of the ward party, for the second year in a row.  This secretary was not pleased.

We went ahead and started the planning process.  We decided to do a "Christmas Around the World" brunch.  It seems each year it's always a dinner so we decided to change it up at bit.

We assigned members of the ward to be in charge of a country that they had served a mission or had visited.  We had about 14 countries assigned but had about 12 there.  They were each asked to provide a centerpiece/decor for the table they represented.  We had Chile, England, Brasil, Australia, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Italy, Scotland, Germany, Uruguay, etc.

We also had RS sisters bring 2 different types of breakfast casseroles.  On each table we had mini muffins, clemetines, and water.  We also had a cereal bar, fruit and a hot chocolate bar.  It was actually quite easy to put together and it turned out well.

After we ate, we had each country volunteer give a 2 minute presentation on how Christmas is celebrated in that country.  It was fun to learn about different traditions.  We closed by singing "Silent Night" in any language.

I am glad it all went well but I am mostly glad that we are NOT in charge of the party next year! 

Now that I'm ten...

....I can shoot big guns at the shooting range.