Work Christmas Party

Tonight I went to the Paris restaurant in SLC for my company party. This place was fabulous! My favorite part was their dessert they called "Drunken Strawberries". It was strawberry shortcake on steroids! So yum.

I got to sit at a table with Blake, MaryAnn, Dot, and their guests, and we had a blast yukking it up. MaryAnn and I commented that we felt a little out of place in such a fancy restaurant, and said we would meet up at McDonalds on the way home in order to keep ourselves grounded. I really love her, she is such a riot!

Greg and Time, two of the company owners from Seattle, got up to say a few words. It's always interesting to watch people who have a little alcohol in them. Greg and Tim kept cracking jokes and forgetting punch lines! I also knew that Greg had a little alcohol in him when he kissed me goodbye, 3 times! What a goof.

A lot of the people went to a piano bar afterwards, but I decided to go home. I'm a little sorry that I missed Greg and Tim, dancing on the pianos with pink boas around them, singing "I'm Too Sexy", but I was pretty tired. I was sent a pretty fabulous picture, though!


The only down side to the evening was the fact that my employees found out what their gifts were! I spent over two hours the night before, wrapping and boxing up robes for the employees' Christmas gifts, only to find out that they knew what they were! Gah! I was a little frustrated, but I just had to remember that the packages looked good. I actually did a good enough job wrapping them. It's a first, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, another year with HRA over. That makes 5, people! I'm beginning to become a staple in the company, I think.

SYTYCD is pretty much the BOMB!

This dance pretty much rocked my world! It was one of a TON of great dances during the night, but Russell and Ellenore are my two fave dancers this season. oh gosh, what a GREAT dance!

Rockin' Rudolph FHE!

Tonight Jess and I hosted FHE, and Jessie put most of it together. She planned a great activity- watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer while making scenes from the movie using sugar cookies. Mom gave us sets of cookie cutters from the movie last year, so Jess put them to good use! We weren't able to do the bottom parts so the cookies could stand up, but they still turned out great!

I have to admit, though, I was sincerely SHOCKED by how many people had not seen Rudolph! A lot of people had heard the story, but more than half had not seen the movie, and Jess and I could not believe it! We grew up with the claymation movie being a tradition in our household. Mom and Dad, thank you for educating us on the wonderful world of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

I was busy making frosting and cleaning up, so I didn't get to decorate cookies until almost the very end. I tried to do Yukon Cornelius, but this is how it turned out:
Yeah, not so much. But I tried. We had an Abominable Snowmonster, several Rudolph's, and Herbie the Elf. Jess even attempted a Clarice. Overall, it was just a fun night, and the cookies turned out great!

Church Christmas Program

Today was the Christmas program during Sacrament meeting. I'm not a part of the choir, but I was really impressed with some of the arrangements they used. Jessica participated in a rendition of "Silent Night" that included a harmony that was gorgeous, the choir sang an arrangement of "The First Noel" that had me getting chills (especially the tenor line!), and a guy in our ward sang one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Gesu Bambino". It's a difficult song, and singing in front of 300+ people in the ward is no easy task. But Benton did a great job, and it reminded me of how much I love Luiciano Pavarotti's version. I found the video on YouTube, and it's pretty cheesy, but listen to the actual song. SO GORGEOUS!

Merry Christmas, and enjoy!

Shout out to the Amys . . .

The Christmas dinner party was AMAZING!

Jess and I got invited to attend a formal dinner party on Saturday night, with some people in our ward. We got all snazzed up, and headed over to their place. I'm not kidding you, this was one fancy ordeal with such cute little details! Some examples:

- tags on our wineglasses with our initials all done in cute lettering
- pomegranate seeds in our drinks
- candles and a gorgeous tablecloth runner
- place settings with name cards, two cute little green flowers, a red napkin, and a black bow to tie it all together
- four course meal with peach sorbet to cleanse our palettes. No, really. A soup, an INCREDIBLE salad, main course, and dessert! Everything looked so pretty, too!
- Harry Connick Jr. music in the background
- formal dress
- they even sent us off with a little box of chocolates

We topped the evening off with a game of blind karaeoke. We were given an iPod with the volume turned way up so we couldn't hear ourselves singing (or people laughing), and had a blindfold placed over our eyes so we couldn't see. I performed "Baby, It's Cold Outside" BY MYSELF! I did both parts, and never realized how much I didn't know the lyrics. Kinda embarrassing, but it's all in the name of the game.

Jess, I'm thinking we may have to put something like this together. Too much fun!

Yay for family!

Tonight I got to babysit Braden and Addie with Jessica. Kyle & Ash haven't been on an all-night date for a loooooonnnnngggggg time, so when they asked Jess and I to babysit, we jumped on it! I headed over after work, and got to spend some real quality time with the kids. Braden watched "The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree" for the first time all the way through with us! That is a family tradition, so it was a lot of fun to pass it down to yet another generation. He was enthralled, and Jess and I even sang some of the songs for him.

Bedtime was surprisingly great! Both kids went down without too much of a fight, even though Jessie went up an hour later and Braden was just laying on his bed, and started talking to her. He's cute. Anyway, I read Caps For Sale to Braden, and he insisted that I lay down next to him as I read. It was a great feeling to have him snuggled up next to me and reading along with me. I sure do love that little guy.

Addie had had a nap a little earlier, so I didn't think we would be able to get her to bed so early, but all it took was some walking and bouncing as I paced the dark hallway upstairs. It was cool to see her start to calm down, then hear her breathing slow, and her start to make those little sleep noises she makes. I wanted to make sure she was really out, so I paced another five or so minutes, and she went down without a fuss.

Now, I KNOW that it isn't always that easy to get kids to bed, but I sure think that Addie and Braden are two of the easiest kids to work with. Oh, they are angels! Thanks for letting us babysit, Kyle & Ash!

Remember the Titans

I have had two 12-hour days in a row, and it gets pretty quiet after 5 in the office. This allows for me to try and catch up on things around there, and I like to have a movie going in the background. Tonight I popped in Remember the Titans. I had forgotten how much I LOVE this movie! I got chills no less than 5 times.

Favorite part: training camp when Bertier finally calls Ray out and makes him block for Rev. Then Gerry and Julius have their "left side, strong side" moment. Oh man, that is such a great part!
I remember when I first saw this movie: Jessie suggested that for a FHE we watch it for an activity. We all got together, had a fire going, and popped some popcorn. I can remember looking around the room, and we all had smiles on our faces. It was such a great recommendation, Jess!

Me gusta mucho.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

Cameron had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party tonight, and I am so glad I went! He made up a ham, a turkey, and some salad, the rest of us brought side dishes and desserts. We ended up with so much food that 12 people couldn't finish it! Cameron requested that I bring spinach and artichoke dip, and I happily obliged.

We watched Elf, and talked a ton. I had forgotten how much I love that movie. It has so many great scenes and quotes from it. "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" Crack me up!

I almost didn't have a sweater for the party, but my roomie Patrice pulled out one that she had gotten in Peru. It was orange with gray shoulders, and block people in a line across the front. It was made of Alpaca wool, though, so it itched like crazy!!! I think I might have had the ugliest sweater there. I have another party next Thursday, so hopefully I will remember to get a picture of the ugliness of the sweater! 'Tis the season!

Karaleigh's Birthday!

Tonight we celebrated Karaleigh's birthday, and what a blast! Jessie and I headed over to meet up with people in our ward. We played a few games of Scum (I was president for 3 of 4 rounds!), talked, laughed, and I spilled water on Rob. Oh, dear. That wasn't my finest moment.

I got to try a few new things: marshmallow popcorn, Lucky Clover sour cream & onion chips,
Scum with 12 people, and chatting with Anna. Anna truly kept us laughing with her one liners and jokes. I haven't laughed so hard in a loooong time!

Favorite quote from the evening? "Is it because on TV it's this big?!"

We also witnessed the birth of the "Ladies Neighborhood Literary Society"! We had been discussing the books we are reading right now, and Jessie suggested that we form a Facebook group to share opinions and thoughts on good books to share. We'll see if there is anything that I end up reading!

Dat Dragon is back in 3 weeks!

Today is the 3-week mark until Elder Isenbarger returns from the wastelands of Russia! He will be home a few days before Christmas, and I am SO EXCITED!