The Christmas Season Kicked Off Right!

We had a busy and fabulously fun weekend! Friday night was spent hustling and bustling to get those last minute party preparations squared away. All day Saturday we busied ourselves with cooking and baking and, of course, table decorations. Everything was perfect!

Unfortunately, you probably will only catch glimpses of the various table decorations (and the festivities) because we were more focused on having a great time than we were with taking photos. If you're really curious about decor, we can probably give a pretty detailed description...all you have to do is ask!

MeLissa took a quick break to pick up Chris (her brother who's time with the USS Ronald Reagan is now officially over!) from the airport. Then it was back to the house to do a few more little things before the guests started arriving!

By the way - as a short aside - if you look in the background of this shot you can get a nice little peak at one of the "Snoopy Spots" in our house! :)

First to arrive was our friend Diane who is a chiropractic student with Mark at Life West. For being prompt, Diane won a lovely Christmas tree light necklace! Andrew, a friend and former coworker of MeLissa's was our first male attendee and, as such, was awarded with a giant candy cane (or rock as we learned they are referred to in England!) that should keep him on a sugar high for at least a month - a fitting reward for the man who kindly acted as MeLissa's surrogate stomach at PG&E by eating all the yummy things she knew she shouldn't! All our other guests, arrived shortly there after and began to partake of lemon drops, peppermintinis, apple cider, mexican crab dip, crudites and other yummy nibblers.

Once most of the guests were on hand, MeLissa let them know that Santa's reindeer (and a few friends) had been hidden throughout the house and that three of them (which were hid in very hard to find places) had special black dots that were worth a prize for those who found them! Lance & Cassie, Josephine & Kevin and Diane were the big winners in this game which lasted most of the evening caused a bit of frustration for our guests (and even MeLissa at one point who couldn't remember where she had hidden some of the reindeer the week before - good thing she made a list of their hiding spots)!

We took a break for dinner and enjoyed such things as Chili & Rice (a favorite of Mark's which he rarely has anymore due to MeLissa's allergies) and Nachos Navidad with all the trimmings. Once everyone had their fill of that and delectable desserts such as Butter-Rum Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Brownies, Peppermint Ice Cream and even a decorated gingerbread house (MeLissa's major Friday night project we might add!), it was time for more conversation and games.

MeLissa gave the guests the choice of which game they'd like to play first - the Greeting Card Toss or Pin the Nose on Rudolphina. The Greeting Card Toss won and everyone took their turn seeing how many cards they could toss into a laundry basket. Sounds easy, huh? Well, out of a possible 20 (2 rounds of 10 cards), our high score was 7 - a good showing by Kevin! Christopher, Lance and Cassandra all made excellent showings as well. It was also pretty amusing, to see just how uncooperative those Christmas cards could be!! But, probably the most amusing thing about this game was Pixie the Cat's reaction. She couldn't tell whether people were trying to throw the cards so she could pounce on them or to hit her. It was pretty amusing watching her antics as she jumped back and forth between the cards and tried to dodge those that were incoming. She's pretty agile so it was no problem!

We didn't want Rudolphina to feel unloved so we made attempts to pin her nose on after that. It was pretty funny to watch how "off" some people could be with their noses, but nothing quite compared to MeLissa's turn. Due to her balance issues as a result of her medical problems in September, MeLissa was a little "tipsy" after they turned her around (and, no, it wasn't because of the lemon drops and peppermintinis - really!). Thankfully, she had adequate supervision and made it over to Rudolphina and actually hit her nose with her red sticky! Winners in this game were Diane and Kevin for being the farthest away from Rudolphina's nose and to Cassie and Chris (we think!) for being the closest.

Once the fun and games were over, we all sat and chatted for a while until most of the guests were ready to go home and dream of sugar plums dancing in their heads. We sent them on their way with Candy Cane Bath Salts for the girls and Liqueur Coffees for the guys (we had Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Irish Creme, and Frangellico flavors with a few Ghiradelli chocolates ones thrown in for good measure!). Everyone was pretty happy with their treats.

The next morning, Chris, Mark and MeLissa piled into the car and set off for a whirlwind tour of San Francisco...one of the few places, it seems, that Chris hasn't visited! We drove him across the San Mateo Bridge, by what will always be Candlestick (rather than Monster) Park, through downtown San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, by San Quentin prison, and then back to Oakland Airport where he hopped out and hopped his flight back to San Diego for his final hours in that town while Mark and MeLissa took the steps necessary to return their home to it's "normal" state.

Chris is now on his way back to Colorado where he'll be recruiting for the Navy in Canon City. He's really looking forward to spending more time with his little boy Tyler since he'll be close by! We're looking forward to seeing them both in a little while when we go home for Christmas!

And, of course, plans for our next Christmas party are already being formulated in MeLissa's head, but she may be hosting a Spa products party first - stay tuned! Oh, and if any of our friends are hungry, please drop by - we have tons of yummy leftovers which we would love to share with you!