royal bliss

royal bliss is a band that i have been following for years. why? because it is my brothers band.

they are pretty hardcore rock, so it's kind of awesome to go to their concert and get our rock on!

the other night they released their newest CD, waiting out the storm 

and so we went to the concert downtown following.

it was also great because next door was a MAJOR techno thing going on 

and boy was that crowd entertaining!

and major congratulations to them for making top 10 rock albums on iTunes! woot woot!

my rockstar brother 

royal bliss and the fans

friendly get together.. get it?

get it?

cause they're our friends...? so it's a friendly get-together.

i have been quite the party panner this christmas season.

we hosted jeff's friend party.

we {i} planned jeff's family christmas party, which was a success, of course.

and then the next day i had my friend christmas party, which was also a success. of course.

do you expect anything less of me? 

no, you don't. cause i kick a..

we have loved this holiday season because of all the fun things we get to do and all the visits we get to make! we feel so lucky to live so close to our family and friends that not only do we get to see them at christmas but throughout the year.

many thanks to all of you for making our spirits bright!

some of the nights highlights were

the guesstures game that kept getting passed around

skate or die sweatshirt

the unwanted cake bites

the eternal marriage talks on tape.

ali and jeff vs. lauren and tony... and their idea of a wrapped present

annie almost snipping raymo's fingers off. ouch.

and the wrap-off. emmy and josh vs. brooke and jake.

the singing reindeer that brooke and jake won for their sweet wrapping skills.

thanks to everyone for your delicious eats and your good company!

fun friend dinner parties

every year jeff's friends have a christmas party up in midway. it has become a christmas staple.

the gifts are kind of the best part.

jeff and i got uber lucky and walked away with $10 to the dodo and $10 to jamba juice.

it's all about strategy.

yes i stole the same thing the same person 3 times... i'm gonna be ruthless.

make sure to take a close look at my pasta i had for a little bit...

happy christmas party going!

monson family christmas party

this year jeff and i were in charge of planning the monson family christmas party.

it was a difficult task, since years previous have been such great parties. 

but i think we pulled off a pretty sweet party!

we decided to go traditional and make gingerbread houses, wear ugly sweaters

and play a christmas game.

jeff's brother michael and his family live in american somoa. we were sad that they were unable to make it, but wanted them to be apart of our night in some way. if there was no prize for making the best gingerbread house then no one would care to make theirs at all. thanks to the handy internet, we were able to make our gingers and send them off to be judged. 

1. jeff and eliza 2. gerry and vera 3. erik and sara 4. ryan and emily

and surprisingly we didn't win either contest, ugly sweater or ginger

gingerbread house making

 the other night we had our annual birthday party and gingerbread contest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE!

the theme of the night was 12 days of christmas.

we chose five golden rings.

this was not our house...

but this was.

and this is our "creative team"

i was working with the little, winston and blake. who were ever so helpful, and kept saying "uh-oh" holding up their hand with frosting on it. and i just kept telling them to eat it, it tastes super good. 

{sorry parents for the sugar high}

and this was the result.

and we did not win. shocker..... but the birthday girl did! the schneider house won.

their theme was also five golden rings, and they did the olympics!

 and then there's the song competition. which was so funny, as always.

schneiders "happy birthday to allie"

mulcocks/barkers "on the first day of christmas my true love gave to me, a house in sun valley"

leichman's "mama papa, i love you" jing-a-ling-a-ling-a-jing-a-ling"

and then will thought he was skinnier than he really is and tried to fit between two columns.

i look forward to this party all year long! it has been a part of my christmas for as long as i can remember. 

it is so fun to catch up with friends and make new memories.

christmas is the best time of the year and i think its because we get to visit with so many wonderful people

halloween party

 yes, yes, we know. our costume kinda of rules.

if you are an idiot, we are a french artist and i am his canvas, brown leggings are the easel. 

costume winners were mail and mitch in their fabulous tourist gear and sun burned faces!

we were a close second... falling somewhere around 3/4th