The party continues

As I said in yesterday's post, everyone has their "job" and Patty's was the stockings.    She filled them for all of us.   I had re-made them a couple of years ago because you can just imagine what they looked like after all these years.  They were pretty sad and tired.  

We usually start with the stockings, but Patty forgot about them.  I think she had too many Pomegranate margaritas, right Patty?

After all that exertion of seeing what was in our stocking, it was time for dessert.   Sorry that I didn't get a picture before it was cut into.  Cathi made a scrumptious goodie for us.   It was caramel, chocolate, whipped cream, brownies and more caramel.   I can't even begin to tell you how good it was.    By now it was probably 11pm.   The perfect time for dessert, right?   :)

Finally, it was time for our Secret Santa gifts.   In September or October, we draw names and then search for the perfect gifty for our "person".  

First up was Patty's gift to Janet.  Patty made the cross stitch framed snowman.  She also gave her the cute quilt and the snowman head on a bedspring.   There's another snowman next to the quilt.

Janet then revealed that she had MY name.    She gave me a the wonderful wooden snowman, a little needle punched snowman and the Santa pillow that she made.   Thanks, Lucy (that's what I call her).  I love it all.

My turn to give Cathi her giftys.   She loves her yard and garden so when I found these pieces of yard art, she was the first person I thought of.    Hope she liked them.  

Cathi then gave Marsha her surprises.   A wonderful wooden snowman and ceramic sheep (hard to see but it's in her right hand).  

No surprise, but Patty was left so Marsha delivered her gifts to her.  Patty was shocked at this quilt until she realized that SHE, herself, had made it when Marsha was teaching her how to quilt.   Patty was pretty hard on herself when making her first quilt and was so frustrated that she told Marsha she was going to throw it away.   Marsha grabbed it from her, and without saying anything else, sent it to the quilter and put the binding on it.   I think Patty was amazed at how fabulous it looked.  She should be very proud of herself.   We all got a good laugh out of that one.

Her other present from Marsha was this lantern and candle.   Wonder if Patty's hubby will let her burn REAL candles!

We got home at 1:15am and went right to bed.   Did you notice I didn't say we went right to sleep?  After such a fun evening, my wheels were spinning and I couldn't turn off the brain.   Needless to say, it was worth a sleepless night.   There's always tomorrow to catch up, right?  

So, another Christmas with my BFF's has come and gone and I have to say that this was one of the most fun ones we've ever had.  Having Janet back with us, after such a terrible illness last year,  has made us love and appreciate each other even more.  

Next up, some of Patty's decorating and a trip to a cute country store.  

Hugs, Anne

Christmas with the girls

Last Saturday evening was the annual get together of our group.  We have had our group for about 34 years or so.   The Christmas party is always so much fun.    Each of us takes a "job" so that the hostess doesn't have to stress out about planning the whole party.  

This year our hostess was Cathi.   She had her front porch all decked out and it looked absolutely darling.

We started the evening with some yummy drinks.  Cathi whipped up these pomegranate margaritas.   I had never had one before but loved it.   She also put out the obligatory candy!  Can't have a party without the M&M's.

The table was set so cute.   She had these cute snowmen at each place setting.  

She also made each of us the snow globe next to Mrs Santa. Yep, we each got to take ours home!

She saw this idea using canning jars on Pinterest and it looked darling next to the window.   Love the reflection.

 I didn't get a picture of dinner.  Janet and I were in charge.  Since both of us live out of town, we hit up the local Panda Express and let them do the cooking.  That orange chicken sure was good!


Marsha was in charge of games and our first one was a Christmas crossword puzzle.   Not to brag or anything, but I won!   Woo Hoo.    My prize was a darling little snowman.

Then it was on to "Flake".   Janet made these darling boards up for us quite a few years ago.   It's such a hit that we bring it back every year.   Based on Bingo, the squares all have a sticker of a snowman.  The caller has a stack of cards with the same snowman on it.   It gets really funny listening to her try to describe each snowman to us (especially after a few of those yummy margaritas).  

We also played Charades, but I didn't get any pictures because I was too competitive to pick up my camera!  Hehe  (That's actually an inside joke...right ladies?)

We always do a gift for everyone.   In years past, it was a homemade something, but as we've gotten older and wiser, some of us choose to buy rather than make. We've mellowed through the years.  

Marsha made us all these cute quilted mats.  

Janet whipped up these adorable little wool snowman pillows.

Cathi gave us all a garden flag and a calendar.  Funny part of that gift is that she ordered the calendars but never opened the box until she was ready to wrap them.   Much to her surprise, they weren't what she ordered.   We all got a good laugh out of that one.    The company is sending her what she ordered and told her to donate the wrong ones.    Murphy's Law at it's best!

I made everyone these wool Santas and framed them up.  

Patty got each of us these neat boxes and the bottle brush tree to sit on top.  She also hunted far and wide for the old fashion tinsel that we all used to "throw" on the tree.    She found something a bit more "modern" but not like the good ol stuff!  See it coming out of the bottom drawer?

That was just the start of the evening   (well we were maybe at 10pm by now).   I'll share the rest of the evening in the next post.  

Hugs, Anne