On Sunday, December 19, we went to church as a family. After the kids napped, we were back on the road, this time to our friends' house for an "Ugly Festive Sweater" Christmas party. I forget how the conversation started (awhile ago) about how some folks get ugly holiday clothes from distant relatives, and they decided to make it the theme for our party. Unfortunately, while the sweater I wore is not my favorite and was probably a maternity sweater made in the late 80s, it wasn't horribly ugly like some folks' sweaters. I was actually disappointed I didn't have anything hideous to wear! Here were the winners, Brian & Jill Martin (he plays the keys and she sings on our church's worship team on second Sundays). We all voted, and they won by a landslide. They're showing off their sweaters and their prizes.
The party was at the home of the Buckwalter's, our life group leaders and good friends. I could tell how much work they put into the planning! They had coordinated a scavenger hunt, and warned us to have our cars full of gas when we arrived. Then they volunteered to watch all our children while we went looking for the various items (and there were nine kids there altogether!).
Then we were paired into teams to race looking for items, including the Season's Greetings sign at Rockvale Square, the Christmas tree in Downtown Lancaster, the Christmas lights at the Village Greens in Strasburg, the Nativity at the Lititz Square, a real live Santa Clause (with bonus points for you actually sitting on his lap), a store line with more than ten people in it, a house with at least 10 decorations (Christmas lights not included), and I think there was more but I can't recall now. We had exactly one hour to be back with as many pictures on our digital camera as we could take. If we were even a minute late, we were disqualified. We were paired with the Lehman's, pictured below. Jerry drove and Andrea helped to navigate. We made it to all the places except for the nativity scene in Lititz.
We were trying to think of the best route and we couldn't think of where to get a photo with Santa. Eventually, I think Andrea asked if Dutch Wonderland had one, and we said YES! We had bought a picture of Joshua with him last year. We also were fully aware that they did NOT allow personal cameras and you were to buy the pictures of your kids with this nice gentleman (to the tune of $16 a picture this year!). Shawn ran in, held up his camera, took the shot and bolted out of there. Santa waved at him, but Shawn wasn't stopped by security. The other team had the same idea, only they paid to get their picture taken with Old St. Nick. Jill & Vanessa sat on his lap and told him about our scavenger hunt. Since they were there first, I'm wondering if that's why he waved at Shawn. Either way, the bonus point for the paid-for picture earned them the win. We had both gotten to the same amount of places. And while it's a great memory for them, I'm glad we didn't pay the money for the picture. ;-)
Two of the couples couldn't make it, so that made only two teams: our team and then the Martin's (pictured above in their ugly sweaters) and the Tate's, pictured below. I actually thought Vanessa's sweater was somewhat cute for being so tacky - it was the 12 days of Christmas with the 12th day pictured on the back.
When we got back from the hunt with our pictures, the kids were all in one piece, as were the brave Seth & Karisten. Joshua & their son Kyler are buddies, and here they are playing together.
Kyler is three, and Joshua is four. Veda is also four, but will turn five a few months before the Bean. They are all in the same class at church. Veda is pictured below in the purple dress-up outfit, hugging little Sophi (Kyler's younger sister), who just turned one. Caleb is two, and the other kids who were there were 6, 7, 9 and 10, I believe, three boys and one girl.
After the scavenger hunt, we continued to munch on the food we had brought and the Buckwalters had provided. We started playing games. The first thing we did was the gift exchange - each person was to take something they homemade. Two couples brought pickles, one brought a pie, and one had a CD of musich he had written, which I thought was cool. Shawn ended up with the sought-after shoo-fly pie, his favorite.
There were also two relays they had planned. The idea of the first game was to stuff 12 balloons - that the teams had to blow up - into a pair of panty hose (six in each leg) and then one member had to wear the panty hose while the whole team sang Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Instead of doing it at the same time, we opted to watch each other and just time it. The guys went first, and we laughed and laughed at the scene. Seth stuffed the balloons in the legs as the guys blew them up and then he stuck the "antlers" on Shawn, who was a good sport. I thought he looked so cute!
Then the girls took their turn. We won by a landslide, but we also made our balloons smaller and are more used to wrestling with pantyhose. All but one of us blew up the balloons but then we added another person stuffing the balloons into the legs and worked as a team. Vanessa was kind enough to don the antlers while we sang.
After we were done with the game, Veda wanted to wear the antlers, too, so we got a picture of her and her mommy with them on. The kids also enjoyed playing with the balloons once we were finished with them. For the most part, the kids played in the basement but would come up on occasion to sit or talk with us, etc.
The next game Veda asked us to play. Each team (and again we played guys against gals) had to take turns putting on oven mitts, unwrapping a Hershey kiss, eating it and getting back in line. When all team members had gone, that team one. Poor Shawn opened his kiss right away, but it fell on the floor and he couldn't find it. So, the girls won again. ;-)
We also played a round of "Never Have I Ever" which the older kids had started and then we played as a group. You hold up your hand and say something you've never done, and if someone else in the group has done it, they put down a finger. When all five fingers are down, the hand comes down and you're out of the game. The idea is to keep your hand up throughout the game. Shawn said "Never Have I Ever had a daughter," and several fingers went down around the room; I said "Never Have I Ever used my passport"; one of the guys said "Never Have I Ever sang a solo" and so on. It came down to Shawn & Seth, but since we hang out on occasion, they know too much about each other. So, Seth won. :) It was a fun game, though. We continued to hang out until 8ish, and then I helped clean up the toys and we all headed for home. Once again, we had all had a fun time. The kids enjoyed playing with the other kids, and we enjoyed hanging out with the adults.
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