Christmas Parties

Last year I hosted a Christmas party for my department. Well, I invited the department of 50 people, but not everyone showed up (luckily). Just the cool people. It was a lot of fun, and I had multiple co-workers ask me if I would be hosting again.

This year, I forgot to start taking photos until the end, so I didn't get everybody.

Karen has HP's baby and Nicki has Johnson's baby. That was one difference this year; there were babies. And Karen's husband fell when attempting to ride my unicycle. And of course, since we are all underwriters, there was the discussion about my homeowner policy liability limit and the risk associated with my fire and trampoline.

Deni and HP, two of my besties. I really love these girls.

HP with hubby Justin. I didn't get one of them with their boy because he was too busy being stolen and loved on by other people.

I held Johnson's baby Kherington for awhile, but she preferred daddy.

The party was winding down.

Nicki and her hubby Drew, holding HP's baby Daelen. Nicki is expecting a little girl. Her hubby seems like a nice guy. He was cracking Deni and me up when we were roasting marshmallows outside. He seems a little accident prone. Nicki has told us a few stories of him ending up in the hospital. When Deni and I were asking him if he should be allowed near the fire, he singed his shirt.

Deni is crazy about babies, but doesn't have one of her own yet. I need her to hold out with me.

The department party was Friday night, and I invited my family over for a get-together on Saturday.

Not everybody made it, but we still had fun.

There were a number of times when I had to say, "Can you make a normal face please?"

It was too rainy to build another fire, so Mike roasted his own marshmallow.

We played some CatchPhrase, always a favorite.

And I found a surprise under my tree.

It's wet because the tree is Lilly's favorite place to play, and she gets into the tree water.

I'm pretty sure it was my sister Kristi. She's had magical elves visit her house and leave presents before, so she must have been paying it forward. It was a wonderful surprise. I love the beach, and this seahorse, beachy tree skirt is just beautiful.

And to top of my good weekend, I took some photos of my sister Shanna and her family. She just had a baby and he's a few months old now. We've been trying to schedule pictures for awhile and we were finally able to meet.

I haven't had a chance to edit these at all, but I couldn't resist. She has such a beautiful family.