

I had such a great time preparing and hosting my annual Girl's Lunch & Ornament Party. This is my favorite thing at Christmas!!! I had so much fun planning the food, the table and the gift I gave each of them. I just wanted them to know how much I love them and how much they each mean to me.
I loved using my big jars filled with marshmellows and peppermint candies in the middle of the table with lots of green & red decorations.
This year I made each of the girls a beaded crystal to hang in a sunny window. I love crystals and I love the colors that come from the crystal when the sun shines on them. April helped me get the crystals beaded (we put crystals and beads on the string the crystal hangs from). Hopefully the girls were able to feel my love for them as I explained the reason I chose crystals to give them. I told them that when they saw the different colors coming from the crystal, I hoped it would remind them of how much I love them.



For lunch I had "make your own taco salad" with all the trimmings and sour cream chicken enchiladas. As ususal I had more food than we could eat - so the men of the family pitched in and helped us eat it. Dessert was brownies with peppermint ice cream and fudge sauce. YUM!

This sweetie (Shannon) drove several hours to come and attend the party. Bless her heart. I was so happy she came. It would not have been the same. She and her husband came on Friday night and had to leave Sat. night. I couldn't believe that they would travel so just for my annual party - but I was so happy they did. LOVE THOSE KIDS!

This is Lani & I and her little one. She picked an ornament that was a Santa manger scene. I bought one to match hers to hang on my tree.

April picked an old fashioned metal ornament that had a bird on it. She loves those kinds of ornaments and so do I. In fact, I bought a couple of extra's.

Shannon picked out a cute glass ornament that had a great shade of green on it. It is modern and I loved her choice. In fact, each of the girls picked out 2 different ornaments. Hobby Lobby was one of our stops and they had their ornaments on sale - so with their $10 limit, they each picked out 2 ornaments.

Fran picked out 2 pretty ornaments - pink of course which is great since I love pink myself.

Laura picked out 2 she loved. I love the bell grouping. She had a hard time deciding which I totally understand. There were so many choices! I love her choices.
I also found some ornaments that I fell in love with and had to pick up. But the challenge came when I had to find room on the tree for all the ornaments. I labeled each one with their name and date on it. At the rate I am going I will have to get another tree to hold them all!
The following Saturday I hosted the "Little Girls Lunch & Ornament Party"


I did a snowman theme for the little girls party. My sweet neighbor loaned me her Santa Claus placemats. They are so cute. The napkin is folded and tucked into the top of Santa's head to form the hat. So fun!

For lunch we had pizza and salad with all the trimmings with brownies and peppermint ice cream with fudge sauce.

Me & sweet Kaka! Love this girl.

Me & Monk! This girl is darling!!


These girls had a good time shopping for their 2 ornaments. Hard to choose. But they each picked out cute ornaments and we had a great time!!!
I love this time of the year. And I love my annual Christmas party! It makes my Christmas! And I love these girls in my life! They are my best friends and they probably don't know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. I'm grateful they put up with me! THANKS GIRLS!!!!