A Christmas Day Party

 It is very special to be at our home on Christmas day but it also can be a sad to be without our extended family.   So, when I received my Christmas china from Brad, I immediately started dreaming up having a Christmas party!  We invited some of our friends from church who we also knew would be without family for Christmas.  It was a really special Christmas afternoon.

A crooked picture of our entry-way.  The basket to the left is filled with our Christmas card from friends and family.  THANK YOU!!!  I love looking at them and even keep them in my Christmas box year to year. We also have a tradition of praying for one family a night (who sent us a Christmas card at dinner-time)! So be excited about that. Also pictured is my goodie bag filled with candy for our friends who joined us on Christmas day. It was filled with Ghiradelli chocolate and other goodies.

A table of GOODIES for our guests! 

Crackers, Cheese, and Cajun Crab Dip (for the state of Maryland)

Caramel Popcorn drizzled with dark chocolate, Apple Crumb Pie, Fudge, Cheesecake, and Sugar Cookies

Maureen playing with her two little boys Carter and Cooper, and Anna
Maureen's husband is serving in the US Army and is deployed in Afghanistan. I have the utmost respect for Maureen. She is such a kind and patient mama and is truly a trooper to go a full year without having her hubby at home. 

Faith saw me touch Mrs. Sadie's tummy and she asked, "Mommy, what's in there?"  I told her baby boy Bennett.  :-) She replied, "Oh!!" She was so excited to be able to touch the baby.  It was a very special Christmas memory.  

Little Bennett's due date was the 29th of December (the following Wednesday) but he made his debut on New Year's Eve, just in time for Brad and Sadie to claim their baby boy for tax purposes in 2010!! ;-)  Sadie and I were in the same Bible study at DBC when we first moved back to Maryland and now both Sadie and Brad are teachers in AWANA's Cubbies with Jillian. 

Next, David and Kristin Cooper came over with their two boys.   Brad and Dave had a lot in common as they both have served in our US Navy.  David is a former submariner for the US Navy but now has his PhD and works for the FDA.  They were in our parenting class we took at church and are a bunch of fun!!

We initially thought we would play the game in the living room but then all the kids decided to congregate in the room with us. So we decided to change locations and let the kids have the room instead. :-)  

We played several games with our friends. The first one was Wits and Wagers, then a Christmas trivia game (that we created with a book on our own), and finally Balderdash. I wrapped presents for the winner to choose from for each game. In the end, every family went home with at least one little gift, as well as their Santa goodie bag.

"My Brad" actually won this game and I came in second place, but neither one of us could win the prize. So we had a "tie-breaker" with one last question and our friend Brad won.  This is a funny picture because Sadie and Anna are making the clicking noise at one another! 

Little Cooper coloring in the living room, while the other kids went downstairs to watch a Christmas Veggie Tales movie.

All the adults with Kristin holding their 'baby' boy Levi (with the exception of Brad who took the photo).  

I felt really blessed that our friends were with us to celebrate Christmas day.