Christmas Party Hop

Another Christmas has come and gone!  I swear, it goes by faster every year!

The month of December was so busy, but so much fun!  We had a great holiday season and a wonderful Christmas. I'm looking forward to some down time so I can finally go through my 1000+ pictures, and share our memories!

On December 13th, after a Pictures with Santa event, we had our annual Christmas Party with our friends. We look forward to it every year!

My friend, Amber, started this tradition many years ago.  At that time, our group of friends only had 4 children, including Dylan.  As the years passed, we met new friends and added them to our group, and we all had more children.  Now, we have quite the crew!



(Audrey, the oldest in the group, was missing from these pictures, but joined us later for another group photo!)

We started off the party with the gift exchange between the kids.  Each child buys for one of their friends, and they take turns opening their gifts, starting with the youngest.  The baby/babies celebrating their first Christmas always get gifts from everyone.  This year, it was Amelia's first Christmas, so she kicked off the fun!










The kids loved watching each other open gifts, and they were all happy with what they received!

Amy and her family had somewhere else to go, so we attempted a few pictures of the babies in front of the tree before they left.  Attempted being the key word!  It was pretty much impossible!



I love the outtakes the most!  Liam quickly realized that he was the only one who didn't have food, and tried everything to get a bite.  The sequence of the pictures was perfect!

Step 1: Spot brownie.
Step 2: Reach for brownie.
Step 3: Try to grab brownie out of friend's hand.
Step 4: Try to grab brownie out of friend's mouth.
Step 5: Give up and laugh for a second.
Step 6: Get a bite from friend.  (Violet's expression!!!)
Step 7: SUCCESS!
Step 8: Chase friend across the room for more!




After Amy and her family left, we all sat down for a delicious dinner.  Shortly after dinner, Lily fell asleep for a much needed nap in Charlie's bed.  The rest of the kids were occupied, so we tried to fit in a quick photo session in the basement.





Everything was going great until Liam hit his head.  He was consoled, but as soon as I sat him back down, he started crying.   Photoshoot over...but the last four pictures were so funny! Liam rarely cries, but when he does, his expressions are epic!






The moment I sat Liam down upstairs, the smile returned to his face!



Lily woke up from her LONG nap and began playing with her friends, the boys played for hours, the babies played in the living room while we talked, and the older girls baked cookies.  We had such a fun night!



I love these kids SO much! This tradition started with 4 kids, and ended up like this. We are so lucky to have each other!

Once Upon a Christmas Party

Once Upon a Time, many years ago (or at least it feels like many!), my friend, Amber, invited us to a Christmas party.



That party turned into a yearly tradition.  Over the years, our kids have grown, our families have grown, and the number of families attending has grown.



We look forward to this party every December!  This past Saturday was the big day!

The party was held at Amber's house, and Tracy and I joined her as hosts.  The weather was just lovely.  We all had to strap some skis onto our car tires just to get there.  As we partied, the snow piled up!

We decided to forgo pizza this year and go with a pasta bar instead.  It was a great idea!  We had marinara, meatball sauce, cheese sauce, and chicken alfredo as the toppings. Salad and bread, followed by tons of deserts rounded out the meal!



After eating, we attempted the group picture.  It was chaotic!  Kids ran off and babies screamed, but a few of them cooperated!









Something quickly captured all their attention...or should I say someone?












After all the kids sat on Santa's lap, it was time for him to leave.  Lily was not happy about saying goodbye!



Luckily, it was time for the grab bag, so that was a good distraction!







Finally, it was time for the last planned activity...cookie decorating!  The girls took this one over!






We won't discuss how we later found my Lily and Charlie standing on the table, eating out of frosting containers, and the other Lily frosting her hand.  I wish I had my camera to document that one!

After all the activities were done, and the messes were cleaned up, we got to relax.  The kids ran off to play, the men retreated to the basement, and us women took over the living room couch!










The kids lasted a long time, but as midnight approached, they began to fall asleep.  Lily fell asleep in Steph's arms, the babies passed out, and even Lexie curled up on the couch and fell asleep!





We were supposed to spend the night, but I started to get a bad headache.  After midnight, it began to turn into a migraine, despite taking medication.  We ended up leaving around 2 AM to drive home.  We carried the sleeping kids to their beds and Dylan soon fell asleep.



I took my migraine medication and relaxed in the tub for over an hour.  The last time I looked at the clock before falling asleep, it was 6:00 AM!

This year's party was a fun one!  We were missing a few people, but we're really hoping they can join us next year!