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Girlfriend Christmas Party

When I was in high school I had a really great group of girl friends. We cheered together all through middle and high school and we spent countless hours getting ready for games together and too many weekends were spent just being goofy. Though there are so many memories that stick out in my mind, one of my favorite traditions that we started back then was an annual Christmas party. Before Joey and I built our house, we had the party at my mom's house but now we always do it at my house and I love it.

We start planning a month or two in advance to try as best as possible to accommodate everyone's busy schedules this time of year. This year we decided back in October that December 12th was our date so when Saturday rolled around and I knew my girls were going to be coming over for dinner I was so excited. We always do some sort of gift exchange and have lots of yummy food. One year our theme was favorite memories, a couple of years we've done ornament exchanges, and this year we did a Christmas sock exchange. We've also had themes for our food such as desserts and dips (usually I provide the main dish and everyone else brings sides and desserts). No matter our theme, it's always a great time and I'm always left looking forward to the next year.

I wanted to share a few pictures of my prep for the party and the sweet friends I got to share my home with on Saturday.

[caption id="attachment_433" align="aligncenter" width="3024"]IMG_0009 Our place settings[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_426" align="aligncenter" width="3024"]IMG_0013 A hot chocolate bar (which was forgotten about in all the madness)[/caption]

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[caption id="attachment_422" align="alignnone" width="3851"]Group Annual group shot in front of my fireplace (Fun fact: For the last 3 years now at least 1 person has been pregnant at our party. Next year we will have 7 kids between us unless someone surprises us by then and we have more (3 of us will have 2 kids each and 1 will have her first).[/caption]

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[caption id="attachment_420" align="alignnone" width="1242"]IMG_0024 Beckett was watching videos of his friend Reagan on her mommy's phone[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_421" align="alignnone" width="2113"]IMG_0036 Love my sweet bestie[/caption]

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And for fun, here are some flashbacks to past parties.

2007: Our senior year of high school and first party

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2008: Our first year of college and the last party until we finished college. This year we also decided to go ice skating that evening.

[gallery ids="452,455" type="rectangular"]

2013: The first year after college at my house. We did desserts this year and had some good stuff!

[gallery ids="457,451" type="rectangular"]

2014: We did dips this year (no pictures, they were gobbled up in a hurry) and it was a hit!

2014

I'm so thankful that these girls are able to make time to visit around Christmas each year because we don't get together enough.

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Sunday was spent playing outside, napping, watching football and baking cookies with my little man. He had so much fun helping me stir the batter and use the cookie cutters. Love these sweet memories!


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I hope everyone had a great weekend! This is my last work week of the year and I'm excited to officially turn off my alarm on Friday and not have to hear it again until January 4th!
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