by the well: Christmas 2012 Recap

I had SUCH a good Christmas season, y'all. Season, not just day (though Christmas day was absolutely wonderful), because I had a week and a half of Christmas events. When I was looking over my calendar to see what all had transpired I was blown away by the goodness and kindness of the Lord. My heart was/is so so full. Now, as my Scottish friends say, getting on with it...

Celebrating with Brookie!

We had Thai food! And went to Aromas! And had quality time! Yay!
*The package decorating is part of the Black Friday wrapping party efforts--brown paper, stamps & yarn. Wee!

Staff Christmas Party (Tuesday afternoon)
Catered by Momma's Boy, with a hilarious gift exchange. Done and done.

School Christmas Party (Tuesday evening)
We had a pot-luck dinner party, and white elephant gift exchange. I made my first caramel cake for this party. I didn't know caramel was what it was to make, but I was way satisfied with the results. The white elephant gift exchange was hilarious. Best gift ever--a lightbulb, that at the end was paired with a bottle of wine. Haha!

Moore's Christmas time (Wednesday evening)
I just love being with them. That's all there is to say about that.

House Christmas (Thursday evening)
Tiff, Z & I had a fun Christmas celebration. We picked up salads and exchanged presents. We were going to be watching Home Alone, but present opening got in the way. Here we are with some of our gifts...

As Brookie said, hot pants (for Tiff), hot strings (for Z), and hot home decor (for me). Let's talk about this guitar for a second.

Z came home from Mozambique saying how much she wanted a guitar. That's all she talked about wanting, etc. I found one for super-cheap (AKA free), and went and bought all new accessories for it, a case, asked Kel to re-string it, etc. And that all happened the first week of December. We all didn't celebrate Christmas until almost Christmas. That was a LOT of time keeping my mouth SHUT. I almost caved numerous a few times, but I kept it in. The night of present exchanging, Z and Tiff went to get the salads while I hid the guitar and put out a note leading her to the hiding place. We ate, and then Z started with her presents. She sees the note, goes running, and Tiff & I are so excited. Then Z comes back downstairs, no guitar in hand. I'm incredulous, and say, "did you look upstairs?!?!" Z goes running back upstairs and we hear her squeal and we think "Finally!" She comes back downstairs holding the guitar in its case and says, "you believe in me! Wow, this is heavy for a case." She. still. didn't. know. I sarcastically retort, "you know, it's not full of bricks." She then realizes what's going on, there are a couple tears, and much squealing.

Admin Girls Christmas Party (Friday afternoon)
On Friday we had a Christmas party which also turned into a going away party for Emily at work. It was the healthiest party ever! We all brought a different item (I brought vegetable soup), and I organized a cookie exchange. And there were presents. Fun times!

Girls Group Christmas Party (Friday evening)
This group of us gathers on most Friday nights to hang out and pray, and this Friday we had a Christmas party! Everyone brought 2 appetizers to share, I provided drinks, and we all brought a pair of earrings to play a gift exchange with.