Ugly Christmas Sweater Party 2014!

 This was our second annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!  I think it turned out even better than the first!  A lot of that had to do with all my little helpers I had this year.  It was a lot easier than trying to do everything on my own!  Thank you to all my little elves!

Last year we had the party two weeks before Christmas, and a lot of people weren't able to come because it was too close to Christmas.  So, this year we decided to do it the first weekend of December.  It would have been perfect, but of course that's the weekend we had an ice storm.  In Texas it is warm 95% of the time.  I realize I am completely biased in dealing with this "cold weather", because I grew up in Chicago and I am used to snow and ice 8 months out of the year (aka it's miserable 8 months out of the year).  But here, they shut down schools, businesses, and basically life comes to a screeching halt if any amount of frozen precipitation is in the forecast (sometimes it doesn't even actually snow or ice, just the thought of it sends people here into a panicked frenzy).  To me, it's down right comical.  If that happened in Chicago, life would cease to exist.  It's basically a frozen tundra.  So unfortunately we had about 5 couples that were supposed to party it up with us, but couldn't come because of the weather. Sad times.What are the chances of that happening the one weekend in the winter we have a party planned?!  Even though we really missed our friends who couldn't come, we still had a pretty good turnout and were able to get our ugly sweater on!

I kept some of the favorite foods from last year, and added some more delicious treats to the mix.

Some of the desserts!

My friend Heather suggested we do fondue this year, and it was a hit! She had a great cheese and chocolate recipe, and everyone loved it.  Thank you Heather!

Our piggies-in-a-blanket wreath.  We did this one last year, and it was everyone's favorite then, so we decided to bring it back!  It was a hit again. :)

This was a new spinach croissant wreath that we tried.
It wasn't my favorite, but I think it looks pretty dang festive!

The snowman cheeseball!  We did this last year too, and it was my favorite.  I think last year his "eyes" and "smile" looked a little better, but what can you do?  It was still delicious, despite his asymmetrical eyes and mouth.

 We tried Christmas tree spinach wraps this year.  Last year all the "real food" was eaten more than the sweets, so we tried to make a few more things with some substance to them.  They were pretty good if I do say so myself.

A few of all the "real" food

We had quite the spread!

So yummy!

We made a really good cranberry drink this year.  It seemed like it was a perfect festive drink, until all the cranberries clogged up the spout and no one could get any of the liquid out.  Note to self--no small berries in the drink container!

Chocolate fondue

Cheese fondue

 Don't forget your goodie bags!

 This year, I got a little smarter and saved on postage.  Since a lot of our good friends were coming to our Sweater Party, I decided to give them all their Christmas cards then.  

Every year...I get a little smarter. 

 Some of our Christmas decor

 Holly-lolly, she just had a baby about a week before the party.  She's basically super-mom and of course looks amazing.  I was glad she and Scot were able to come!

 Oh, Evan.... :)

 Kurt came solo because April stayed home with their sick kiddos, we missed you April!

 Cori, Mark, and Gerret.  

 Friends fraternizing...

 Janene and Aaron were our champion guests.  They live almost an hour away (the furthest of any of our friends), and still braved the weather to come to our party!  I was so happy they made the trek out and were able to party it up with us.  I'm also really glad they didn't die driving out to our house!  Oh, and Janene is pregnant with twins, seriously...she's a champion.

 Ricky and Dave were riding solo at the party too. Both of them couldn't find babysitters because of the weather, so they came as a man threesome!

 Our favorite neighbors down the street came too! Luckily, they had the shortest commute. :)

KC and Sterling graced us with their cute pregnant selves!

GAME TIME!  We had a lot better games planned this year.  The first one we played was the wreath/marshmallow toss, my favorite.  It's a partner game, where one person throws the marshmallow through the wreath, and the other partner is on the opposite side of the wreath trying to catch the marshmallow in the bowl.  It was a lot of fun, and made for some good pictures!

 The first couples up were Evan & Lindsay and KC & Sterling. 

 I can't even remember who won, but it was hilarious to watch.

 Wreath view

 Look at that form!

Aaron looks serious!

 Full room view of the fun!

 We had to get a prego-friend picture.  Lindsay and Holly both just had their babies, and they were saying how happy they were to not be on that couch! Haha!

 Next up were Gerret & Sarah and Lori and Ryan!

 I love the full room views!

 Levi & Heather and Holly & Scot were quite the competitors!

Holly plays dirty.  She "accidentally" knocked Levi's bowl over when they had the lead, making Holly and Scot the grand champions of the marshmallow toss.  Watch out for that one!

 Game #2, kiss the ornament!  Sean and I demonstrated first.  The object of the game was to take the ornament between your lips, and without using either of your hands, hang the ornament on the string without dropping it.  If the ornament was dropped, both participants had to start over from the beginning.  Whoever hung the most ornaments within 1 minute won!

 It's harder than it looks people!

 Cori & Mark and Holly & Scot went first.  I feel like Cori and Mark had a strategy planned out, because as soon as I said go, they busted down the room in unison!  They don't mess around!

 Look at them go!

 Holly and Scot definitely gave them a run for their money, the won the first game, and were in it to win it on the second!

 Haha, I LOVE Scot's face in this picture.  That is the face of pure determination.  And it worked, because they made it into the finals!

 Our lovely models/string holders!

 Janene & Aaron and Levi & Heather were next.  Levi's outfit cracks me up.  He and Sean didn't even plan it, but they were both wearing similar shorts.  Wal-mart is apparently the place to go for all your ugly sweater apparel.

KC, Sterling, Lori, and Ryan were so fun to watch.  They are hard core!

 I love this picture of Lori and Ryan, they're so cute!

 Gerret and Sarah were playing for keeps, they made it into the finals with Holly and Scot!

 Look at those onesie buddies, so funny!

 So freaking funny.

I wish we saw Cori and Mark more, life is so busy and we never seem them as much as we would like.  But when we do, it's always a blast!

:Last prego picture with this cute Mama!

 Back-to-back Ugliest Sweater Award goes to....Scot Thomas!  He and Holly really cleaned up in the award department that night!

 I don't know if you can tell, but Scot's "fire" on his sweater is actually his iPad.  Of course, he made it!  Those two, so freaking awesome!

Sean loves working with Scot, and we just love their little family.  Thanks for coming guys!

Friends who happened to be related, of course the funny one is my favorite!

 Our man threesome!  We missed their better halves, but they we were still glad a part of them got to join in on the fun.  Thanks for coming guys!

 Oh Kirk, you're always a riot!

 Lori and Ryan, our favorite neighbors!

 Oh Cori and Mark...we love you. 

 The funniest picture of the night!

 ....and the creepiest.  It was at this point I realized Scot's sweater had an iPad in it, and yes...that is my husband face timing him.  Yes, he's all mine...try and contain yourselves ladies.  

I'm married to a man child.  :)

 So freaking weird...

 I don't know if you can see Cori's sweater, but it's freaking hilarious...and mildy inappropriate, which makes it even funnier.  We love you Cori and Mark!

Our littlest guests, the newborn stars!  This is Holly and Scot's baby, Luke.  Adorable!

Here is baby Carter, Lindsay and Evan's cute boy.  They were both little newborn champs, they both slept the entire party.  We didn't hear a peep out of them!

 Our onesie friends, Lindsay and Evan.  Baby Carter even went with the holiday onesie theme!

KC and Sterling came too!  Sean and I look a little ridiculous next to them.  KC, stop looking cute and trying to make the rest of us look bad!  :)

 This is one of my favorite pictures of the night, where you can see Sean and Levi's full outfits.  Yes, they are both wearing Heather's tights...and yes, they're both skinny enough to fit into them.  These boys!  They look awesome.  

I forced Gerret and Sarah to take a funny picture, and they obliged. I just love them.

Ugly Sweater Party 2013 was a huge success!  I can't wait to see what we'll have in store for 2014's party!  I seriously had SO much help, and couldn't have done it without all of our amazing friends.  Thanks for partying it up with us! We love you all!