Our first Christmas in Albuquerque was awesome. We are in the habit of celebrating Christmas Eve with friends, so we decided to carry on the tradition here. However, this was our first time hosting the party (oh, yes, we do miss going to the Bahe's house...) We decided to keep things small and simple and chose 2 of our many favorite families to invite. The Merrills have become tight friends since they are our fellow Utah fans and have a big old black dog just like we do. We've shared dog sitting the geriatric retrievers all year. Max, Shadow, and Velvet are best buds now. Max even got to come to the party! The Merediths have provided David with some good cycling this year; Muffin and I have hit it off pretty well too and their son, Dallin, has become one of Grace's favorites. They are two peas in a pod.
In a nutshell, we:
*ate lots of incredible food (everyone brought yummy soups, appetizers, and desserts to share)
Did I NOT get a picture of my table? sheesh! well, here's one of Muffin and Dave being super happy about appetizers in the kitchen.
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| I made my favorite Buche de Noel - always a hit. |
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| someone might have had a little too much sparkling cider |
*shared musical talents with each other:
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| Maddison played the piano |
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| Dallin played the piano |
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| Brayden played piano... |
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| Grace played Silent Night on the guitar |
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| the rest of us watched |
read sweet stories together
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| Maddison read "The Night Before Christmas" |
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| Jamie read another version of "The Night Before Christmas" reminding us all to remember Jesus. |
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| Hattie read her Jingle Bells pop-up book |
*had the kids do the Nativity pageant - complete with narrator (David), Angel (Maddison), Mary (Hattie), Joseph (Brayden), baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling Utah blanket, sheep dog (Shadow), shepherdess (Grace) and shepherd (Dallin), and a reluctant wiseman (Sam) and wisewoman (Madeline).
We had the Santa tracker going on the NORAD site, so we called it an early evening around 8pm when we saw he was getting near. Grace and Harriet left thank you notes and a small present (Japanese eraser) for Santa along with his candy cane Jo Jo cookies, chocolate chip cookies, m&m's, apple juice, and carrots for his reindeer!
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....
1 comment:
Love the carrots for the reindeer. I'm stealing that idea next year.
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