Annual Christmas Party

Every year at my parents house the Christmas decorations come out the day after Thanksgiving.

This process in itself takes several hours. There are so many boxes and bags.



You can see by the Pier 1 bags that we hit up the after Christmas sales last year. It's best to buy these things when they are 75-90% off.

My dad spends a few days stringing lights and moving things around and my mom takes the better part of a week focused on decorating.

The annual Christmas party is a big deal and we look forward to it every year.


B and the Peanut enjoying a little downtime before everyone gets here.

Here is just a tiny peak into the amazingness that is my parent's house during the holidays.



This past summer they gutted and renovated their backyard. It's amazing how it turned out.



In the corner you see a bar that seats 8 on one side and on the other you have an awesome BBQ, fridge, sink, etc.



This house is built to entertain, from the kitchen and living room to the back yard.



Cheese and appetizers, anyone?

We weren't able to do the cheese display until the last minute because it was 84 degrees here in Huntington Beach. On December 12th. How crazy is that?



I love that it feels like an outdoor living space. It's perfect because here in So Cal we can pretty much use it year round.



I think the fireplace is my favorite.



These bookshelves are a good indication of the Christmas decorations in the house. Not a single shelf without some holiday flair. It is everywhere!

I grew up thinking this was normal. Heh.



More serving space for food. It's all about the food around here.



There were times growing up when the tree would be so big that my dad would have to trim down the top to fit it in the house.

Sometimes it would look like the top must be gowing thru the roof and sticking out the other side.

The angel is always sitting in the tree instead of on top.



My mom collects nativities and they are everywhere around the house. This is the biggest one and is always displayed here. Usually she takes out the baby Jesus until Christmas morning but things have been a bit hectic and he is still out.

We have a little joke we play regarding the baby Jesus. I'll share it with you later.



This is the view from the living room into the kitchen. In the middle is what I look forward to every year.

It's my mom's eggnog. She starts it 2 weeks before the party. I tastes nothing like what you get at the store. It has alcohol and lots of cream and it's so delicious that my mouth is watering just thinking about it.



That was just the tiniest glimpse of the festivities around here!

As you can see, the Peanut was hittin' the eggnog pretty hard.