Mega Update

Yowsa. So much has happened in the last week and I have yet to write about any of it so I've got some catching up to do. Where to start? MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, I certainly did. I think I'll make this a photo diary post with the hope of not boring you to death with all the details of every event. Pictures tend to speak for themselves...

Here goes nothin...

The 2nd Annual Friends Christmas Dinner Pah-tay which I have renamed "Christmas with the Crazies" was hosted by Miguel and myself last Saturday.

The hostess & host

It was a super fantabulously fun evening. The girls dove face first into the gin bottle and it turned out to be an interesting evening. Hilariously interesting. There were a few different points throughout the evening where I caught the men standing back watching us girls with fear in their eyes. Good times.

A taste of the sillies

There are sooooo many pictures I would love to share but my friends would hunt me down and hurt me if I did so I'll refrain and just show you a few of the less ridiculous shots.

My best girl Rebecca arrived from Vancouver just in time for dinner! This is the only shot of us from the evening where one of us isn't doing something ridiculous.
It was a good visit Reebs, I miss you already and you've only been gone for a few hours. I wish Vancouver was a drive away rather than a flight... oh the joys of growing up. We'll see you out west in the new year!!

I forgot to snap a picture of our bird this round; his name was Randy... Randy Travis actually. I liked Travis, Miguel wanted Randy so we compromised. Randy was a lovely bird with a dark complexion. I definitely prefer the organic fed fresh turkey (Trevor was organic and was more moist than Randy Travis was). Everyone gobbled up the eats - the meal was a success. Later I'll post a few of the recipes that were favorites, including the no fail turkey guide, the best mashed potatoes on earth & cheesy cauliflower that's to die for post.

Here's a shot of the ladies loving the smashed potatoes - this is before gin fever broke out by the way. Thanks Colin for this fabulous shot.

Looking forward to next years festivities but let's get through new years eve first. Speaking of which I'll end talk off Christmas with the Crazies talk with a shot of the fake New Years Eve countdown.

That light in the kitchen has to go. It's one of my new years resolutions: ditch ugly light fixtures.

The day following Christmas with the Crazies was our Big Ass Family Christmas Party.
My moms side of our family is huge... she has six brothers and one sister. Each of them married and had children. There were 16 grandkids, including me, in total. Of this brood 7 of us are married and a few others have serious significant others. Now there are 8 additional tiny people (great-grandchildren for my Grandma) to add to the mix. Point being there are a helluva lot of us. To add to the fun/insanity three of my moms brothers married three sisters. NO not like that, not three of their own sisters - ew. Three of my mom's brothers married three girls from a DIFFERENT family who were sisters. Needless to say we have had many occasions over the years where the two families have gathered together. There are a zillion of them just as there are a zillion of us so this year we combined the two ginormous families and had a Big Ass Christmas Party. It was FUN.

I was too busy playing with the kids to remember to snap pictures at the big event but here are a couple shots.

Here the littlest nuts are waiting for Santa to arrive
No that's not Santa, it's Grandma! Try posing 7 kids and a Grandma, I doubt there was one shot where all the kids were looking up, let alone at the same camera.


And finally, Grandma sitting on Santa's knee.

Looking forward to next years shin dig! I wonder how many new little peeps will be there... one for sure! My cousin Beth gave birth to her little man Jordan James on December 24th (the day after our Big Ass Family Christmas Party). I'll be meeting the little guy next week so pics will be coming soon! Congratulations Beth!!

I'll be back with more! Christmas Eve & Christmas Day & Girls Night still need to be covered! Aie yai yai!