Brine Tournament and Neighborhood Christmas Party

I don't feel very clever lately with posting.  I'm okay with it, my main goal is just to get it down right now.

Today we accidentally slept in.  When we woke up we realized that Christine had 5 minutes to get up, eat, dressed, load up her gear and be at the field for the Brine Tournament.  3 lacrosse games today and 3 tomorrow (which she will not be playing in because they are on Sunday.)

Duff loaded the equipment, I put cereal in a large glass with milk and a spoon and off she went!

 Fortunately the tournament location was close this year, right at RSM middle school which is ten minutes from us.  I missed the first game and they lost by only one.  But look at how pretty the mountains are!  I wish the picture truly reflected what a beautiful scene it was.

 Next two games they won well, and Christine played as the Varsity goalie for the first time both games.  She will probably be the JV goalie again this year during league play and move back and forth to get some varsity playing time to prepare her for next year.

An action shot against Mater Dei, who they beat!  Yes. (a private catholic school)

Inbetween games we ran and did the weekly grocery shopping, and then got home in time to shower and get ready for our annual neighborhood Christmas Party.  We take turns hosting and this year it was at the Cooper's.  We potlucked Cafe Rio chicken and barbacoa salad.  It was really good.  The gift exchange was mild this year in comparison to some others (!), but everyone seemed very happy with what we all ended up with.  This year we got a collector's series of 4 pint glasses of The Beatles albums with a gift card to get their songs that are now on itunes!!!  Pretty dang nice, since we are avid Beatles fans.

Lots of catching up and good holiday visiting with all our neighbors. 

Bell Canyon Christmas Party 2007

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light.

From now on our troubles will be out of sight.

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore--

Faithful friends that are dear to us

Gather near to us once more....."

Tonight we had our 13th annual Bell Canyon Drive Christmas Party. This year the Steele's and us were the hosts. We had appetizers and dinner at the Steele's and then came to our house for dessert and the gift exchange. This is always a fun party. We have good neighbors. 36 attended this year.

For dinner, we decided to give the food court at the mall a try. It turned out great! We ordered this delicious teriyaki chicken with rice. We had green salad, fruit salad, rolls and butter. Then we came to our house and I had made a yummy cake with a warm raspberry sauce over it. I will post the recipe. Had lots of compliments on it. Festive and colorful and tasty.

Okay--dinner and dessert are done and now we ladies are ready for the 'real' fun of the evening: The Gift Exchange. We all draw a number and go in order to pick a gift. We can either open a new gift or steal from someone else. Once a gift is stolen 3 times, it is frozen. Over the years we have LOTS of stories to tell about the gift exchange! We oooh and aahhh and laugh and scream! (l-r: front: Devon, Sharon, Susan, Kim. back: Diana, Alice, Sharon K., Mary, Christy, Teri, and Charlene.)


Marilyn L. opening her 2nd or 3rd gift. She kept picking ones that everybody stole from her. She and her husband are hearing impaired, but they don't let that slow them down! Hubby Pat, is our community landscape chairman. Sitting next to her is Kathy A.

Even Darla was not to be left out! She had to cuddle right up with Susan and Kim. She's no dummy--she knows they love her!

Kathy A., Cindy S. and Lori C.

Well, we are finally done, and here we all are with our gifts from each other for 2007! The hubbies visit while we play the present game. We sometimes wonder if we should let them buy the gifts and play the game??? Just how many sleeves of golf balls would be exchanged??? Naw---we think we'll keep the tradition just how it is!

(Journal: Had a lot of fun tonight. Busy day getting ready. My house is clean and I'm all decorated finally! A party will do that to you! I love this picture. We are such a diverse group of women and what brings us together is that we are neighbors. We come from different backgrounds, faiths, careers, homemakers, etc. Some have had their 'neighborly differences' from time to time--but can clear the air and put it behind them. These are good women. I'm now going to bed as it is midnight and I am TIRED.)