Christmas Party with Friends

Christmas is only nine days away. It is time to party! We kicked off the party season with friends. We got together at Jen's house for an excellent turkey dinner and gift exchange.

Each person that came contributed something to the dinner. I made the turkey all by myself and it was delicious! Once dinner was cleaned up, we handed out the gifts. Just before Thanksgiving we picked names out of a bowl for our Secret Santa. We tried to keep things as much of a secret as possible and I think it was a huge success.

Charles bought Craig a bowling ball bag and he is getting a green sinister bunny (from the game Killer Bunnies) embroidered on the side. Craig has been joking about wanting to get that bunny tattooed on him somewhere and I think this is a great alternative.

Brayden couldn't let Deana open her gift on her own.

Deana bought me this gorgeous picture frame and to top it off, she had already filled it with pictures. I absolutely love it. All of my favorite memories with friends is represented in this frame (Vegas, camping, etc.). I can't wait to hang it up.

Jen was sweet enough to buy a gift for Brayden. It's a puzzle of one of his favorite cartoons.

I really love our friends. They keep us smiling, even when life gets hard. I'm so glad that we got to celebrate Christmas with them. Merry Christmas, everyone!



Craig's Campfire

Everyone loves a campfire! We had plans to go up one of the nearby canyons tonight to cook hot dogs and s'mores around a campfire, but things fell through. That didn't stop Craig though. He was absolutely determined to build a fire tonight. Jen was gracious enough to let us use her back porch. Craig brought our dutch oven and firewood and got to work.

It wasn't long before Craig and a pretty good little fire going. I admit that I was quite sceptical at first, but I was impressed at how well everything turned out. When Craig puts his mind to something, it generally isn't long before he gets his way.

Someone had the bright idea of using ginormous marshmallows for their s'mores. Charles tried it and made a horrible mess. It was great to watch. I stuck with my boring, yet delicious, regular marshmallows.

All in all, it was really a wonderful evening. Craig was so pleased with himself for pulling it off. I'm not sure what the extent of the damage is on our dutch oven yet, but I don't care. It was totally worth it.