Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.

That's right. It's been a busy, but very enjoyable week before Christmas. I did a lot of babysitting, shopping, and preparing for the big Christmas shebang we invited quite a few of our ward friends to. I was a little hesitant inviting over 30 people (and that's including children) to our home, but it's Christmas so I thought, the more the merrier. We did a little furniture rearranging, toy borrowing (thanks Cami, they worked like a charm) and very little, easy food prep, and we were party ready. It's amazing how opened up our living room feels when you move the couch a little. I was worried about the kids being bored, so I set up our guest room with movies, coloring, and toys galore. I almost wanted to stay in there with them, it looked so fun. They looked like they were having a grand old time. I also set up a pack 'n' play in the office for any little ones who got tired. We were set.

The guests started to show up and the party was hoppin'. We all ate ourselves silly with the plethora of delicious party food, and enjoyed a white elephant Yankee swap. There were some really popular items out there, including a Mitt Romney talking bobble head, a Puma jacket, and although the coconut bras didn't get stolen from anyone, they still got a good laugh. My bishop, I repeat, my bishop and his wife added those into the mix. Nice. I ended up with some cologne, and KC got a little box complete with Softlips chap stick, bath fizzies, and candles. White elephants are awesome.

We then moved to Christmas Karaoke. Seriously, it was great. I chose Merry Christmas Darling, and there were many more songs that we were serenaded with, namely, All I want for Christmas is you, Merry Christmas to You, Last Christmas, White Christmas (KC's pick), Jingle Bell Rock, etc. It was was riot. Some were shy, which is fine, but we could see why there are so many karaoke bars. Alcohol would definitely add a whole new level of spontaneity to this activity.

We also had a Christmas word search, and crossword puzzle to do throughout the night. (Thanks Dad for emailing those to me.) I remember when my dad started handing those out last year, I loved it. Maybe we'll keep those on file for more Christmases to come.

After the party started to wind down and the first groups headed out, a small group of us played a few rounds of Wakee Six, and had some nice quiet conversation. We started the party at 5 pm, so our last guests left at about 10:45. How about that? A crazy fun night, that ends fairly early. Sounds like my kind of fun. As we were doing a little cleaning, we were so happy with how everything turned out. Seriously, not one complaint. Usually after a gathering like this, I always have a lot of those "next time I'll make sure to do/not do this/that" kinds of thoughts. But this time we just felt so great about so many of our friends coming over to enjoy themselves, without a hitch. A successful evening, especially with the number of kiddies and adults we had in our little home. I just loved seeing everyone have a good time.

And it now really feel like Christmas. Not that it hadn't already, I just needed that little boost to get me into that really Christmasy place. Whoa, only a few more days. That's just weird.