Twas the Night Before Christmas

Early on Christmas Eve, I got up and prepared to make food for the family party. I asked Elli if she would like to help:

As you can see, the answer was No. She then reconsidered, and stuck with No.

I made a summer fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, green grapes, and pineapple.

Then I made a winter fruit salad with five different apples - Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Fuji, Pink Lady, and Honey Crisp.

It also had D'Anjou pears, pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries, and mandarin segments.

I made Julia Child's dressing with the salads - different fruit juices like lemon, lime, and orange, combined with the secret ingredient - maple syrup. There was also whipped cream topping.

For Kenni and Vinni, I made a big pot of pork neck bones.

So what did I wear to the gala party?

My favorite Calvin Klein sweater dress with the gold and silver embellishments down the sides. I wore my new black suede Style and Co sandals.

Three necklaces - all were my mom's. The top one is a Journey Through Life pendant, the midlle one is a gold herringbone, and the bottom one is a diamond heart.

On my left arm, my yellow gold wedding set, a gold bracelet, and a diamond tennis bracelet.

On my right arm, my Hermes CDC, and a ruby/diamond ring.

We all met at the LDS Ward building. There were a lot of us- roughly 27 people were there. The table was decorated for Christmas, and there were also blue and white balloons for Hanukah, since Win is Jewish.

We set up the book exchange in the corner - the kids loved it.

There was quite a haul in the present corner.

Everyone had fun - we had the salads and tamales, since Mimi is Mexican.

Mimi sang a song - "The Best Things in Life Are Free". The boys and I played dodge ball with the balloons. Tawn brought a nativity set that her mother in law Pat made, and her son Collin read the script.

The characters were made into puppets.

At the end, it was picture time. Here are all the kids, with one unhappy little Kate in the upper left.

 But she perked up quickly when she got to crawl around on the floor.

Here's Emma making a snowman out of home made Play Dough that Kim made.

Here are Benjy, Lily, and Preston:

Here are Win, Doc, Nathan, Joseph and Benjamin - 4 generations.

This time, Luke and Preston joined the 4 generations pictures.

And that's about it, except for some links:
www.notdressedaslamb.com, www.stylelixir.com, www.colorandgrace.com, www.stylediarybyosy.com and www.jolynneshane.com

Stay tuned for the Great Train ride of Christmas Day !!