It's a Marshmallow World...

Our Christmas party was last night. For the first time, our kids were at one of our parties and as we were preparing the house and the food I started thinking about the parties my grandparents threw every Christmas Eve when I was growing up and how those are such great memories for me. I remember my Grandpa Bud drank "Mac and Coke" and would send my cousin Kammy and me to the bar to get him one. We thought we were so sneaky and grown up when we took a sip of it before taking it to him. To this day, I like the taste of whiskey and Coke because it makes me think of him. During the day Kammy and I would cut celery and carrots and crack walnuts, those were the only things we were trusted with, but I treasured being included in the preparations. After everything was in place, we would get dressed up, all my aunts would crowd around the only bathroom mirror to put their makeup on and do their hair and they would humor me and curl mine too. At the end of the night, as things would die down, I loved listening to Christmas music while sitting in front of the fireplace and watching the snow fall outside the sliding glass door. Or sitting on the furnace register to get warm while listening to grown-ups' conversations and not understanding half of what they were talking about but pretending that I did anyway. I'm so glad that my kids got to experience a little of that last night. I hope they made some memories. I had a great time. Our friends and family continue to make us feel grateful and blessed. They are so much fun and such a wonderful source of support. Kase enjoyed his Crown Royal a little too much but fortunately for us, he's a funny drunk and not a mean one. Koll was charming and Oksana a huge help - constantly refilling the food and taking people's plates. Nathan and Phil paid her $20 to tell Kasey in front of everyone, "Dad you promised you wouldn't get drunk again!" This made it to YouTube where, Nathan explained, everyone in the world can see it. She has been checking religiously to see how many hits she's gotten so far. Sash cashed in early and went to bed until the party was almost over, then he came back out in his pjs to watch television just as Kasey was going to bed (instead of crashing out on the back porch in front of the chimenia like he wanted to and would have had his kids not been there). Several bottles of wine and many glasses of booze were drank, lots and lots of food was ate, and there was plenty of laughter and conversation. All in all, it was a great night.