December 22

Yes yes,  November will be rehashed but first… lets share some Christmas 2015 cheer! Our parties with friends and family have always meant the world to us and with the bulk of our friends (who are family) up north we were ALL excited about the opportunity to have a Christmas celebration with friends closer to home.

This was our first celebration of the year and our first PRESENTS of the year! But first, the making of the gingerbread houses. We went with a process Renee learned about through Nathan’s kindergarten class where you use a school milk carton (thank you Mrs. Speltz for saving those for us!) and graham crackers instead of the basic gingerbread pieces. Much better structure! Each of the kids had their own to decorate with a combination of bought sweets and Halloween candy. Talk about creativity!

And then, once the kids declared themselves done the adults took over and made one a piece.

Supper was delicious pulled pork and assorted nibbles. I think we ALL ate more than our fill.

Look at that masterful pour by Chris

And then… presents! I got to give out the first of my handcrafted pieces personally. All were well received. I am especially pleased with how the Pikachu turned out for Renee… Ken tried a new process to us called Felting. Lots of jabbing and loose wool and the possibilities… well things are going to be even more interesting craft wise around here! You can find the Pikachu pattern I used HERE. This deviantArt artist is AMAZING! 

NOMS

Pikachu!

All of the kids were really happy with their presents, although I think Trinity with her toy bow and arrows was the most pumped.

Of course we had to take a group picture! What a crowd!

I do have to show off my special gift. Renee knows me so well! LABELS for my crochet projects! I am dying to make an afghan or blanket and sew one on! Sadly I ran out of found yarn on a blanket I was making so have to remake it before I will have one done but they are so cute! And my favourite colour – BLUE!

There is something spectacular about a friends who are family Christmas isn’t there!

Of course Mystro pictures as well!

So I did cover what the girls and I did on Independence Day BUT Karen and Cory had their camera too so I figured why not add a recap with some more amazing pictures of new friends and their family! You can see my original HERE.

The girls loved that this pool was just like the one we had last year! (you can ALMOST see my American tank top)

The girls loved that this pool was just like the one we had last year! (you can ALMOST see my American tank top)

Mrs. Speltz (red) the hostess

AMAZING BBQ chicken legs and hot dogs!

Trinity and Anna

All the girls… Anna, Trinity, Echo, Tabitha and Julia

I love little Julia in this one

There were cows to visit that no one photographed and Karen certainly won over Trinity with the kitty visit!! What an amazing day to look back at. Thank you Karen for sharing your pictures!!