Parties Galore

Tis the season for Christmas Parties and parties in general really! There always seems to be a party going on!

On Friday, December 3rd, I went to Buckley AFB’s Christmas party.  It was great fun to visit with friends whom I have not seen for a long while.  There were a lot of new faces, but the handful of people I still know made me realize why I enjoyed working there so much.  So many fun times and great memories working at Buckley!

Saturday, December 4th, I attended my current work (IBA) Christmas Party.  I dusted off the curling iron, found my jewelry, and got all dressed up for the occasion.  We had a nice meal, danced, and had fun socializing outside of work.  We all did the chicken dance and the hokey pokey.  Oh yea! All dressed up and making fools of ourselves.  I’m sure most people didn’t care since they were all liquored up, but I felt rather foolish! I’m sad to say I didn’t win any prize from the drawings they held throughout the evening.  Sigh... but it was still a fun night. 

Last Saturday (Dec 11th) I attended Megan Jones Anderson’s 5th annual White Elephant Gift Exchange Christmas Party.  You can always count on that party to be a good time… treats are fabulous, company is great, and the gifts are quite entertaining! It is a nice reason to get together with friends who are now married or are out of Maplewood Ward, so a lot of people I don’t very often see. 

Last Sunday (Dec 12th) I could have attended the annual cookie decorating party, but since I was not feeling too hot I opted not to go.  Kinda sad about that actually, it would have been nice to see other friends who I rarely have the opportunity to visit with.  Oh well, there is always next year, right?

Wednesday, December 15 we held our Christmas pot luck party at work (NPS).  At the gift exchange I ended up with hot chocolate mugs… I think that is what I always end up with.  I guess there are worse things, but I am accumulating quite the Christmas mug collection.

Last night I hosted a going away shindig for a friend of mine who will be moving to Las Vegas soon.  She got accepted into the nursing program, so I am excited for her,  but sad I will be losing a great Visiting Teacher! We busted out the Sparkling Red Grape Juice and had a toast! Got to love the non-alcoholic beverages!



I do enjoy a good party.  Really, it is just an excuse to get together and visit with friends.  I know a lot of people and enjoy the fun times we share.  Thanks to all my friends who make life enjoyable! I’ll toast to that!

I have one more party to blog about... Jacob's birthday Party.  We celeberated his first birthday at the Crabb's house on Sunday, 19th.  Jacob is so cute and it is fun to watch him take a few steps here and there.  They grow up so fast! Happy Birthday Little Guy!

Cayden was helping Beth put lights on the tree

Too Cute

Last Friday I got to tend Jake and Cayden while Jared and Katie attended a work Christmas party.  We had a good time playing tennis, playing golf, and baking banana bread.  Towards the end of the evening Cayden asked to play the "Jumping Movie".  It is a good thing I knew what he was talking about since I was over there a previous time and saw the game that he enjoys playing with his dad.  Well, if you are familiar with Jared's set up you know that it is not the easiest thing to figure out.  So, 40 minutes later (not exagerating) I finally got the game up and right then Jared and Katie walked in the door- Good Timing! Being a good Dad Jared sat and played with Cayden for a few minutes... I thought it was pretty cute so I took a picture!

Just want to give a Happy Birthday Shout-Out to Ashley! I am so proud of myself for even having the right day this year! Hope you had a great birthday!

Thanksgiving Weekend In Denver

I stayed in Denver this year for Thanksgiving.  Even though I do enjoy traveling it was rather nice not to go anywhere and instead have people come here.  So, thanks Jess, Sean, and kids for making that long drive! Mom had it a little bit easier since she flew in Thanksgiving Day.  Then, of course, Jared, Katie and their kids are already here in Denver so we had a pretty decent representation of the Linton clan.  

It was great fun to have Jess, Sean, the kiddos and Momisita stay with me.  It was quite the full house, but we managed! I loved every second of the time we were able to share together.  Aside from eating a delicious meal (thanks Katie for hosting!) we went to Monkey Business, saw the movie, "Tangled", went Black Friday shopping, and hung with Annie and Steve.  We baked pies, cheesecakes and rolls- yummy! We also played the Nintendo Wii a lot.  It was just fun to be together. 

Sean flew back on Friday so he could go to the BYU game the next day.  So, Mom rode back with Jess and the kids on Saturday.  A huge storm was expected on Sunday, so they left early in order to beat the weather.  It was so quiet and lonely at my apartment after they left.  So sad! We sure did have a great weekend.  I enjoy Thanksgiving and the nice reminder it is to me to recognize the many blessings I have been given.  Among the top is definitely my family.  I wish all of us could have been together, but it was nice that half of us were together! I love you all! Thanks for coming to my world as Sean so nicely put it. 

Here are some pictures from the weekend in no particular order.  Fun! Fun!

Jackson decided he just wanted to chill with his Aunt! 

Jess and Sean racing through the obstacle course at Monkey Business

I made a Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake- delicious!

Monkey Business is a child's playground dream come true

My cherry and Apple Pie



Cayden and Rylee were performing for us!

Tayler and Rylee Racing



Thanks for making it such a great Thanksgiving everyone!