THE PREPARATION
Late in September, Dana, Nate, and I made our usual visit to The Celtic to make the Christmas Party arrangements. We pulled up and realized that The Celtic had closed. The Celtic served as a great Christmas party venue for the past two years but we were forced to find another location. We searched around for a place that would be low-cost and convenient and struck out. So, we decided that we would bring the party back home. For years, Dana, Nate, and I would host the party at our tiny, yet humble adobe on Logan Street. Since we are now in a larger home, we decided that we could accommodate the guest list.
So, we went to the drawing board, aka Pinterest! We sent out the Save the Date, created invitations, planned for the food spread and decorated the house.
Christmas in Your Mouth station!
Party favors and guest book.
Dana and I decided that we would cater the party on our own. We made an assortment of finger foods.
Dana and I found these brilliant party favors on Pinterest. We watched Christmas Vacation while we assembled!
Shooters were attached to the final product!
GOOD FRIENDS AND GOOD CHEER
It's an honor to co-host with this lovely lady every year!
The Amanns sporting their new "utility" belt.
Wes, Ana, and Ernie
Lindsay, Wes, Ernie, Kim, and Ana
Chris and Jeremy
Good food and drinks brings friends together!
Dana and Cara
THE PHOTO BOOTH
More credit is due to Pinterest! Dana and I found the idea of a photo booth and set it up in the garage. We made props and put Christmas wrapping paper on the wall.
Wes was our photo booth star!
Lindsay, Dana and myself
Poor Nate was sick all night long and had to miss out on a lot of the fun. He made appearances here and there.
All the ladies. I won't attempt to put names to this chaos!
All the boys. Clearly we will need a larger photo booth next year!
Sisters in-law. Julie, myself and Lindsay.
The VanDusseldorp Family.
Your hostesses.
The photo booth was so much fun. Should it make another appearance next year?
THE WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE
The gift exchange is a hit every year! People put a lot of thought into fun gifts and we have a handful of repeat gifts that make special appearances every year.
Shawn Brown pulled #1 this year and selected the first gift...
...this lovely sushi kit. Needless to say, he spent the entire evening trying to trade.
This remote control monster truck was a big hit. Nancy and Justin took it home and reported later that it terrified their daughter!
Mark Amann's new found Judaism encouraged the box of Hebrew beers and Jewish paraphernalia.
This memory foam pillow changed Lindsay's life!
Roozing lost his battle and ended up with the gift he brought, the Zombie Apocalypse pellet guns.
The Dean Electric crew.
Julie's box of wine!
Dana took home this Broncos goblet. I hope to see it at our next FFB draft!
Mark ended up with Cheap Trick. This will be a helpful reminder since we can never remember who received it the previous year!
Chad had his daughter on his mind and brought this gumball machine home to her!
The Guinness light...who officially ended up with it?
Cara had a special twist that we added on to the end of the exchange. Very simple, if you roll doubles, you get to trade your gift with anybody in the room. This proved beneficial for Shawn Brown who was able to get rid of his Sushi Kit at the very end of the exchange!
AN ENDING NOTE
The Christmas party is such a special party for all of us. We all treasure the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with our closest friends. I appreciate all of those who took the time to be here with us. Thank you for making Christmas special in more ways than one!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Such a fun night! We have a wonderful group of friends! We are all very blessed!
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