Happy 12/11/10

Nothing really happened on Friday, and I didn’t take any pictures (shocking, I know).  I just worked all day and then got Autumn from daycare and we went over to Mom & Dad’s.  Around 3:00 am, Autumn threw up but didn’t have a fever, so I think she just had an upset tummy.  So, I wasn’t surprised when daycare said she was acting kind of blah today.  We just hung out and watched movies and relaxed and took it easy.  Nick & I watched What Not To Wear and before I knew it, it was already 10:00, so I took Autumn home and we went to bed (luckily she didn’t throw up again).

Today I woke up and got right to work.  I vacuumed, did the dishes, cleaned the bathrooms and helped Autumn clean her room.  I also made some rice crispy treats for the party tonight.  Then Liz & Liberty came over at 11:00 so I could take some pictures for their Christmas cards.  Liz wanted some pictures outside, and this was one of the best we got.  But, it was too bright out (even though it was cloudy) and they were squinting too much.

We went back to the house and I took some pictures inside by the Christmas tree, but my tree is so puny.  So, they took the dogs over to Liberty’s parent’s house and then we went to Mom & Dad’s.

Autumn found some sunglasses that I got forever ago when I went to Cali w/ Monique & Alyn.  I had her stand in front of the tree so I could take some test pictures to see if the lighting would work.

Here’s a picture in natural light.

And one with the flash.  I definitely prefer the natural lighting.

I feel so honored that Liz & Lib would ask me to take their Christmas pictures.  I am SO FAR from being a good photographer and hope they were able to find a couple of pictures out of the bunch we took that will work for them.  This helped me realize that I’m never going to be a professional photographer.  I don’t have the talent to do it and there’s a lot of pressure.  Photography will definitely just be a fun hobby for me.  But, I still want to learn more and get better and better at it.

After we looked through the pictures and tweaked the few that they liked, Autumn wanted to watch TV so L&L sat down on the couch w/ her while I emailed them the pictures they picked.  They are SUCH GOOD friends!  I just love them to pieces.

After they left, Autumn & I sat and watched TV for a while and then had to leave to go pick up our 6 Little Ceasar’s pizzas for the party.  5:00 came and went and no one had showed up yet and I was starting to get worried that no one was coming.  But, by 5:20 I had 8 10-year olds sitting around the dining room table eating pizza and drinking soda and talking and laughing.

After eating our pizza, we played a game where I read “T’was The Night Before Chriastmas” poem and every time I said the word “the” they had to pass their gift clockwise.  Every time I said the word “and” they had to pass their gift counter clockwise.  Once I was done reading the poem, they went around and opened their gifts one by one and they could either steal a gift from someone else or open their gift.  It was all just stuff I got from the $1 store, but they had fun with it.

By this time, it was only 6:00 and I had told the parents in the invitation that we would be done at 6:30.  So, I improvised and we had our rice crispies for dessert and then played a game called Freeze Dance.  I played music and when I turned the music off they had to freeze and if they were moving, they were out.  I didn’t think they would want to play and would be self conscious around each other, but they weren’t at all.  They LOVED it and a few of the kids had some sweet dance moves.

After about 15 minutes of that, they wanted to do something else so I read the poem again but only passed around one gift so only one person got a gift that time.  By now it was 6:20 and I wasn’t sure what else to do so I busted out the karaoke machine.  While I was trying to set it up, the kids were running around like crazy and a few parents showed up right then and I hope they didn’t think it was that loud and out of control the whole time.  By 6:40, everyone was gone and it was quiet and I had paper plates and paper cups all over.  It was the fastest and easiest clean up and still had 2 pizzas left (lunch & dinner tomorrow).  It was so fun having then over and is definitely something I will do with my class next year.  It was such a great way to get them to bring their scriptures every Sunday & participate.

Autumn was surprisingly shy during most of the party and didn’t want to be around the big kids.  She stayed glued to my side the whole time and just watched and observed.  Finally when there were just a few kids left she went over by them during karaoke.  I thought it was so cute that she was singing to the Christmas tree as I cleaned up the dining room.  I just noticed that her doll is in a chair by her as well.

I called Mom & Dad to see if they were going to the annual White Elephant party at Berrett’s at 7:00 and they said yes and to hurry over so I could go with them.  Nick said he would watch Autumn for me, so I hurried and put on a movie for her (she picked Thumbelina) and headed over to Mom & Dad’s.  We went to Berrett’s and everyone said how cute we looked in our matching scrub tops.

Mom was thrilled to see Craig Decker had a full beard.  When they used to be in Mom & Dad’s ward she would always go up to him on Sundays and rub his beard b/c she likes beards.

I know they look a little blown out in this picture, but I just love these 3 women so much.  They are all so wonderful.  Christine had the CUTEST ring on!  She said it was a bunch of pieces of a snowman and I am for sure going to have to go get one on Monday.

Here are the host & hostess with the mostest.  The house was decorated so beautifully and they had super yummy raspberry ice cream punch w/ tons of food that people brought.  They are so much fun!

Mom & Dad

It was so crowded inside, that some of the guys went outside to sit around the fire pit.  It was actually really cold outside so it was nice to sit by the fire.  Britt kept bringing out plates of cookies and treats to the guys to try before everyone else did.  Like I said…the host w/ the most.

After everyone’s tummies were full, it was time for the infamous white elephant gifts.  There were 65-70 people there so it took a while to go around and get a present.  They pass out numbers to everyone so it’s all random and Britt makes up the rules as he goes.  He can freeze a gift from being stolen or unfreeze a gift and there’s not limit to how many times a present is stolen (unless it’s frozen by Britt).  Mom got the WORST gift of the night, which was a framed note from Matt DuBois that said, “You are so special to me that I wanted to give you my kidney stone.”  It had a picture of him and his actual kidney stone!  GROSS!

This was a really popular gift that got stolen a lot…an actual white elephant for the white elephant party!  It was a cute idea and was super soft and cuddly.

Dad brought this tie as his gift, and those are not ghosts on the tie…they’re condoms.  A few years ago, Dad brought a prescription for Viagra!  So, it’s kind of expected now that Dad will bring some type of funny and inappropriate gift.  The guy who originally opened the gift wasn’t very happy and threw it in the trash, but John Mannewitz dug it out and wore it w/ this silly hat he got w/ a top that wags back and forth.  Dad was laughing so hard he was crying!  I thought it was hilarious!

This was another funny gift…a toilet seat that is painted gold and has a crown on it that says, “The Royal Throne.”  The guy right behind Britt got a package of adult diapers and kept trying to get someone to “steal” them from him so he could get another gift.

Dad got this wig that’s supposed to look like Edward from Twilight.  What do you think?  Makes him look like a spitting image of Edward, right?  NOT!!!  It’s funny that at the bottom it says, “love at first bite.”  Karri Decker got a bag that had 2 rolls of toilet paper w/ a candle and these books.  One is called, “What’s your poo telling you” and the other is a “Poo Log” where you keep track of bowel movements.  We were all laughing so hard!

There was a book written & signed by George Bush that was going around and Britt froze it after it got stolen for the 6th time and Sis. Mannewitz stood up and protested, b/c she wanted to steal it when it was her turn.  Britt said, “Be careful not to piss of Virginia.”  She got mad at him and said, “You can’t say the “p” word, mister!”  She came over towards him and as you can see, he was laughing hysterically.

She made him turn around so she could swat him on the butt and tell him not to use naughty language!  My stomach hurt so bad b/c I was laughing so hard.

We always sit over in this corner of the room every year.  I love our little group b/c we are always the ones laughing the loudest and having the most fun.  The party went until 10:15 at night!  I didn’t realize it was so late, b/c we were having such a good time.  I got home and Nick had put Autumn to bed around 8:30.  He’s a good kid.  Today was chocked full of so many good memories.  What a great way to fill my 24 hours of 12/11/10!