The Couples' Party

Last night was the annual Couples Christmas Party. I had been looking forward to this party all fall, as sort of a carrot I was holding out, urging myself to get better in time to attend. We all had a wonderful time and it was just as fun as I had been hoping it would be.

We started with a gingerbread house-making contest with each couple paired together. The creations were adorable and unique. We were given 30 minutes to see what we could do.

Tom and Rebecca made a cabin, complete with a porch overhang and a great big chimney. The blue candy canes almost look like Christmas lights.

Luke and Liz created this amazing modern house. This picture does not really do justice to the house. You could definately tell the house was created by an artist. It almost looked as if I'd actually seen this house somewhere.......

Josh and Catherine created the incredible Gingerbread Cathedral. I was very impressed with the heights they achieved and the architectural design.

Kevin and Amy made this sweetheart ranch-style house. I could totally see this house in California (except for the lovely snow covering the yard).

Alaina and Rachelle teamed together while Alaina's husband took pictures. They were the first to come up with the brilliant idea of using the round candies for roof tiles.

And here is the little chalet that Michael and I created. It was so much fun doing it together (thanks Michael!). If you blow up the picture you will see two little people sitting on the bench with a little heart in the middle that says "you and me". I think this will be our retirement home. We actually ended up winning the contest, which was very surprising!

I have to include a picture of these beautiful treats. Alaina dips cherries in chocolate and they are one of the prettiest goodies I've seen.

The evening ended with plenty of good food and a gift exchange. This is conducted in a very amusing fashion. Each person is given a word from the "Night Before Christmas" poem. As the poem is read, and your word is spoken, you get to choose a gift from the pile. If your word comes up again you can decide to switch with someone or keep your own gift. It's really fun, and can get quite heated if there is a gift that is particularly popular.

Many thanks to Andrew and Alaina for hosting us!!!