Success

Today was our ward Christmas party. I'm the activities chair and this was my first real activity (I was gone for Halloween so someone else did the party for me). I have to say- it was a big success. I'm really proud that I was able to pull it off- with the help of LOTS of people. My only regret- I forgot my camera and was unable to capture all of the perfect pictures. So- here are the ones I took a mental note of and y'all can let your minds do the work.

1. 25 graham cracker houses sitting side by side on a long table. Some are a little crooked, others- fairly perfect. Each perched on an upside down white plate.

2. 3 long tables with white tablecloths and a piece of red tinsel running lengthwise. A silver bowl with cranberries sits in the middle. 200 crepes, a bowl of strawberries, a bowl of blackberries, and a bowl of raspberries. A giant bowl of fresh whipped cream. An array of homemade muffins- delicious raspberry/lemon, chocolate, bran, pumpkin and cinnamon. Silverware and napkins in baskets. Crock pots of scrambled eggs. 5 beautiful quiches waiting to be eaten.

3. Christmas music playing in the background.

4. Marilyn arriving a little early and decorating the Christmas tree with my sweet Lulu. Carefully instructing Lulu where to put the tinsel and ornaments.

5. Kids anxiously looking at the houses- asking when they get to beginning.

6. A rolling cart with bowls of M&Ms, candy canes, tootsie rolls, gum drops, pretzels, Neccos, lifesavers, vanilla wafers, sugar wafers, Big Red gum, licorice, marshmellows, green sprinkles, ice cream cones, and Dum-Dum suckers.

7. 20 plastic "squirt" containers filled with Royal Icing- sealed with little red caps.

8. Parents helping their kids decorate their houses and trying to recreate the AMAZING houses from Martha.

9. The beautifully decorated houses- each unique.

10. EVERYONE staying to help clean up

but my favorite... me, Carrie, and Kaycee sitting around Carrie's dining room table last night- putting each one of those 25 house together (seriously not as easy as you would think)-- making batch after batch of Royal icing, mocking each other's attempts, cutting more graham crackers, going back to the grocery for more graham crackers, carrying them to the car and driving them to the church at 11pm last night-- Laughing. The party was great and I'm so pleased, but this is what I'll remember.

So- it was great and I loved it. I'm glad it went well. I have a total issue with delegating, so I'm sure I could have made it a little easier on myself, but I'm glad we pulled it off.