Party Hardy

The Buffalo ward does an annual Christmas ornament exchange that has quickly become one of my favorite traditions. Before this came along, our squat 4 foot {spruce} was quite bare. I think the coordinated, matching trees are beautiful and fancy, but not my style. I much prefer the coziness of a "pieced together" tree, full of odds and ends ornaments that remind me of the person or place they came from. The ornament that I made this year ended up looking nothing like the picture on the blog from which I shamelessly stole my idea. I wasn't pleased. But since $$ and hours had been spent, I stuck with it and it has since grown on me.(Like a fungus) (A.D.D. moment- Whenever someone says something has "grown on them" I always add "like a fungus" on the end in my mind. Kind of like you add "in bed" to whatever you pull out of a fortune cookie. Aaaaanyway.)

This year, 23 participated, thus... 23 ornaments.

The exchange party was Friday night and it was a blast. Fun people. Yummy treats. Good conversation. Scratch that, loud/hilarious conversation. I brought sugar cookies and I have to share the recipe because I've finally found the perfect sugar cookie recipe from which I will never depart. Until this day, I had yet to make a good sugar cookie.

2 Cups sugar
1 Cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup sour cream
6 Cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In an electric or stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream until well combined. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.2. In 2 batches, place in plastic wrap in a disc shape and chill for at least 2 hours for best results.3. Once chilled, roll and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes depending on how thick you cut your cookies. Remove and let cool. Frost and decorate as desired.
Trust me- they are delish!

Then tonight we went to our ward's Christmas party. Here are some of the rockin' guests.

And here is the scary man that Collin is now petrified of. Haha. Just the past couple of times that Ryan has been around, Collin will spot him, then burst into tears. We think it's pretty hilarious. No idea what sparked the tantrums. I think he must have inherited it from me. I have memories as a child of being terrified of my cousin, Tyler. No idea why, except he was big, male, and a teenager. We would go to their house, and if Tyler was around, I'd either hide behind my mom (which was no good, because she'd just push us toward him) or take cover in the suburban. He milked it too, because I even remember him chasing us out to the car, then circling it while sporatically shaking the whole thing and roaring at us. Ah, childhood memories. Now I get to torture my own spawn.

Better keep an eye on that guy. He's trouble! :)

Needless to say, he didn't last long, so off to home we went to continue watching another movie in our list of Christmas favorites. Tonight was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I love this one. Silly, slap stick comedy. Very quotable. "I pledge allegiance, to the flag...." "Clark! I don't want to spend the holidays DEAD." hehe. We watched Home Alone last weekend. Just got to fit in Elf, A Christmas Story, Serendipity, and While You Were Sleeping. I know the last two are chick flicks, but they're set at Christmas time, right? :)