…and across the line, to a Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas party we go!
We crossed the U.S./Canadian border at Sumas and the border agents didn’t confiscate my Smirntopf or my Antispasto platter so all was good. We arrived to Judy and Elmer’s home all decked out beautifully for Christmas.
Not all the girls could be there that night. Our eastern Canadian girls, Betty and Charlotte, got together in Manitoba for their own party this night.
We took care of some serious business first before we set out all the dishes of food. Judy put together a fun getting to know you game where we had to connect each of the guests to an obscure fact or experience that guest had in their life. It was not easy but before too very long Kathy was the first to figure it all out. Having a sea lion visit visit him in his backyard, falling into a manure pit, kayaking the Cayes and jungles of Belize, assisting drunken hitchhikers, were just a few of the interesting experiences. We were sworn to secrecy for one of the experiences we heard about! Next was the White Elephant exchange where we behaved quite civilly except when it came to the basket of fresh eggs!
The guys headed upstairs to play the popular Canadian game called Crokinole while we girls warmed up and set out the dishes we brought to share.
Oh My!…
I wonder if there will be enough food!? We were chuckling about the fact that food abundance is never an issue when you invite the girls to bring a dish!
Judy created that cute Christmas tree cheese platter. I’m sure a duplicate will appear somewhere at another blogdom Christmas party!
So…do you think we’ll have enough? Don’t forget we still haven’t put out the desserts!!
We let our husbands go first and they enjoyed what they saw and dug in heartily.
The “Girls” got to sit around the table set perfectly for the 8 of us.
After our fill of the savories it was on to dessert, oh my!
Judy made this beautiful punch for us to enjoy and Lovella made some homemade Egg Nog.
Her recipe was on the MGCC blog yesterday if you’d like to try making your own nog!
We ended our time around the table exchanging gifts to one another. Such generous and sweet reminders of our love and friendship.
Another wonderful Celebration to tuck away in our hearts. Thank you Judy and Elmer for a beautiful evening and thank you girls for all your love and prayers and friendship and celebrations!!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Sounds like a fun gathering you all had. Judy’s home looks beautifully warm and welcoming.
You gals (your husbands, too) always know how to have a good time. I’ve enjoyed all the photos of the yummy looking food. Yes, I think we’ll have a bit of copy-catting out here in Blogdom starting at my house very soon. Always fun to get a three-way account of an event. It’s almost like the gospels. Ha!
It means a lot to all of us that you would take the time to come out for one evening. Always good to see you!
There is no doubt…NO doubt…that when all of you guys get together there is going to be enough great food to feed a small army. My goodness! I continue to enjoy learning about new things. This time it’s the game Crokinole that I never heard of until now. I’m so glad you all had a fun, safe, and tummy-satisfying get-together!
Oh my is right, Ellen! All that delicious-ness! I love that table-runner, might have to borrow that ruffled edge in the future.
Oh Ellen – I’ve just read all the accounts and what fun you folks had!!! May you always enjoy each other in this way and be so blessed with deep friendships and wonderful food! You gals rock!
Ah Ellen…your collages and story of our time together is just beautiful. I love the shot you got of our guys loading their plates.
It was a good evening! I’m so glad you drove all the way out here to join us. Thank-you!
There’s a few guys upstairs playing crokinole as we speak…and I just told them it is a foreign game to my American friends. They have a hard time imagining one can go through the Christmas season without a crokinole game or two! Good to hear you will have a board all your own…soon.
This looks like such fun. All of that food looks absolutely delicious, and it looks you were feeding a lot of people! Ellen, Thank you so much for your prayers for our little Cooper. He is having surgery to repair his heart valve this morning. laurie
I too loved the picture of the guys loading their plates – it was a serious business! Thanks for recapping our evening Ellen – We had an excellent host and hostess, excellent company and games and fabulous food. What more could one ask for?
I’ve enjoyed all the posts about the wonderful evening. Lots of food, fun and friendship – the best!
What a lovely evening. It’s great that the husbands were able to join you.
It looks like you all had such a good time at Judy and Elmer’s lovely home! The company, the food, the sweet gifts all made for a very special day,
Truly a fun time for all of us. The hosts, the company, the food and the celebrations of friendships are timeless. Do you think we had enough food?
Ellen, that antipasto platter looked good enough to eat. Thanks for sharing the evening with us.
What a wonderful celebration you had! The food looks amazing, what a treat!
DH always makes an antipasto platter for Cmas, I think he and my son are the only ones who dig in, the others are afraid of the hot stuff!
Ellen, many blessings to you this Christmas! May the peace of Christ be with you throughout the new year, and always!