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Showing posts with label Christmas Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Party. Show all posts

The Party

Saturday, December 11, 2010
Our party was really good.  There were a few snafus though...For example, I accidentally sent an invitation to one of my good friend's former address.  So, she and her husband missed the party and I felt just awful about that. We did have a good laugh about it this morning though.

Also our friends were very remiss in their RSVP-ing so we were expecting a lot more people than actually came.  In one way it was nice to have a much smaller crowd because we really got to chat with our guests.  However, we bought (and I made) WAY, WAY too much food, wine, alcohol etc.  Usually about 120 people attend and this year we had about 60 people so there was a lot of waste and that bothers me.

I did learn a lesson though and I will be much better about RSVP-ing when we are invited places so that  the hosts can plan accordingly.

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Please note my high heels.  This is the first pair I have EVER owned or worn in my entire life!
Can you believe that?

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Will and Harry were coat check men extraordinaire again.  They also watched Kate for me.

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We hired a bartender and kitchen helper again this year from our local university hotel and restaurant management program.  The bartender, Praise was excellent and she was the same one from last year!

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We did not have all the food out yet:)

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Kate eyeing up the petit fours.

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I got very few photos.  I am always so busy trying to get everything out and then greeting people and talking.  But luckily, some friends snapped some photos (and I am in almost all of them:(.

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Kate had the cutest little conversation with her "future father in law."  Kate and one of the little boys in her class say they are in love and are getting married.  These last few shots are of Kate and the boy's dad...so cute!

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Kate is quite the conversationalist!

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All in all it was a great party.  I do think we might take next year off though.  While we love entertaining, this party is a ton of work (and stress!) and it takes some joy out of this week in December  (for me) which happens to be our anniversary and Harry's birthday.  Next year, I am thinking that I want to relax and celebrate those occasions more and cook and clean less.  I guess I have 11 months to decide:)

Annual visit to Santa

Friday, December 10, 2010
I LOVE taking the kids to see Santa.  For me, it is one of the best days of the year.  So, this post is overflowing with photos to preserve our family memories. We usually try to visit Santa the day before Thanksgiving.  And this year we did.  I am just so behind in posting. Santa was scheduled to arrive at 11:00 and we arrived at 10:50 and were lucky enough to be first in line....

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Just before we left (this is overexposed but I still love its light and airy look).

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I am usually a big fan of the "waiting in line" photos but we did not wait long...

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Will flipping his "Bieber-ish" do.

Walking up to greet the Big man...

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Kate put her hand in Santa's hand.

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Santa took turns talking directly to each one of our peanuts.

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Santa apparently is bothered by flash so they asked me not to use it. Therefore, I had to lighten these and lost some quality.

Here are the poorly scanned mall photos...

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After seeing Santa we head over to Dylan's Candy Bar.  We only go once a year and I let each peanut choose one thing.  

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Harry is literally like a kid in a candy store.  He has a MAJOR sweet tooth and he loves this place.

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Katie Ru's sweet tooth is not far behind Harry's.

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Will is not a huge candy fan.  He likes novelty candy.  This is a Mario bros mushroom.

After the candy store we always get a few shots on the 3rd floor in front of the skating rink tree (we have such silly traditions)...

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Last weekend, while we were out of town our friends took Harry and Kate to breakfast with Santa at our church.  Kate told them that she did not need a photo since she had already seen Santa but she did go up and speak to Santa and the photographer snapped this.  Isn't is darling?  I adore it.  My scanner is old and dirty so the quality is horrible here.

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Okay, our party is in just 5 hours.  I am ready. I have just a few finishing touches to complete.  Lots of people could not make it this year so it should be smaller than we expected.  Here is a sneak peek...

My creation

My creation

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After the party tonight, I have the Teddy Bear tea tomorrow with Kate and Harry's small birthday party/sleep over.  Pray for me:)

The Christmas Party

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sorry I have not posted these earlier. CLOSE your EYES for this next part Honey --that's you Dave---

but I have been spending all my free time shopping for Christmas presents on-line and spending exorbitant shipping fees to get them here on time. I have also been frantically trying to wrap gifts and get the Christmas cards out. I ordered more of those too and had to have them rush shipped. Where the heck did December go? I am going to be so much more organized next year. Hey, stop laughing. Seriously, I am.

Okay, now onto the parties. Let me set the scene for you....


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This was what it looked like right outside our front door on Friday morning.
I stayed calm. But then, I looked out the window at about 3:00 in the afternoon and this is what the sidewalk in front of our house looked like....


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I am totally serious. AND they did not fill it in before they quit for the night. Nor did they cover it. The workers just put some orange netting around it. Still, I kept my composure. Dave and I figured that our friends who really liked us would somehow get here.

Dave mowed a path through some neighbors yards and lit it with lantern candles (that did not stay lit). At party time, Will was outside with flashlights guiding our friends from adjacent roads to our house.


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I put this sign outside our front door hoping people might leave their muddy, gravelly shoes outside...but no one did.

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Dave and I before our guests arrived.


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With the kids just before the partygoers arrived. Will was outside guiding people to our house.

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Harry greeted guests and was our coat check man. He took coats and purses and wrote last names on a post-it. Then, he put them all over our bedroom with the post its. I went upstairs at one point to find a mink or two on my bedroom floor (which had just been cleaned;)

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I did not get that many photos of the party. These are from just as the party was beginning. Once people started arriving I did not have a second. And the ones I got are not very good quality (low lighting). There were A LOT of people. There were some people there that my husband never even saw.

It looked and sounded as though people had a great time. There was a lot of laughter and people complimented us repeatedly on the food, company and our home. My favorite parts were looking around and seeing all of our friends enjoying themselves and hearing so many kind things being said about Will and Harry. They really were super helpful and polite. This is the first party of ours where we have let them be involved. Our guests commented over and over again how respectful, cute and polite they were. Kate had a little cold and was upstairs asleep for most of the party:)

The next day was Harry's birthday party. More on that tomorrow.