family parties are my no.1

This year for Christmas we decided to have a grown-up dinner party and gift exchange. Brian and I grilled steaks and lobster and the other couples all brought side dishes. Everything was delicious. My son Peter who is a bit of a game enthusiast (to say the least - check out this party we had last year...) was put in charge of coming up with some games for the night. So, we ate, drank, exchanged gifts, played games and had plenty of laughs. I am thinking this is a good tradition to start for years to come. Now, if only we could figure out that private jet to get our Chicago Burches here for the night...

The party favors I made for each of the girls to take home...

We were put into teams of two for the night and played various games and holiday trivia. One of the games Peter came up with was "sleigh pull" (really just a truck, but we were trying to stay with the festive theme). The guy of the team had to pull the truck while in neutral into the driveway, then back it up and pull it into the side carport (basically a three-point turn), while the girl had to steer and break. I think we were on the floor laughing through this entire thing. I mean, who comes up with a game like this, especially for a nice holiday evening? And I may or may not have crashed the car into my own house... breaks and clutches can be very confusing. I admit nothing...

Then it was back inside for dessert, coffee, cocktails and presents...

The next set of games for the evening were a series of holiday related ones that my son Peter more or less made up. Sitting on the table were five holiday items - an ornament, a hershey kiss, a marshmallow, a candy cane and a string of lights. Each team got to choose one of these items without knowing what the game would be. My team was first up and we picked the marshmallow. Any guesses? Yup, how many could you fit in your mouth...

There was also how many hershey kisses could you unwrap in a minute, how many ornaments could you hold in your hands, how many bulbs could you screw into a strand (duds not counting) in a minute, and how many candy canes could you and your partner hang from one another's heads in under a minute...

Can I even tell you how hard we were laughing all night? It was an excellent evening and wonderful to all be together.

And the winner walked away with this fantastic vintage play fridge. Fully stocked.

Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families over the holidays and made lots of memories!