A Tale of Two Parties

I LOVE throwing parties. It might be more fun than eating chocolate and watching chick flicks.

MIGHT.

I think I inherited my love for party throwing from my two grandmothers. I grew up loving to attend parties in both of their homes. Their styles are very different, but equally enjoyable. Grannie Gates still throws large scale classy, multi-course dinner parties for 20+ people at the age of 80. Pretty impressive! Grandma Celesta (Dailey) throws anything from bonfire/wiener roast parties in the back yard, to tail-gait parties on the mountain, to huge breakfast parties that would not be complete without homemade biscuits and gravy and eggs cooked in bacon grease. YUMMMM. They BOTH throw amazing parties, and they are both known far and wide for their hostessing skills.

Following on in a great tradition, I have gathered lots of ideas over the years, and have enjoyed throwing all kinds of parties from barn dances and pool parties in the summer, (complete with jaws projected on the big screen), to creatively themed birthday or holiday parties in the winter and everything in between. It is something I just love to do! Here are two of the most recent:

Party #1-
As mentioned in a previous post, Otto, Elijah and I drove home to Colfax the middle of October, and spent the weekend with my family. Because it was my parents' 30th wedding anniversary, Laura, Grandma Celesta and I put on a production that did our best to mimic the original event from 30 years before. Here's how it turned out:

 Their wedding colors were red white and blue, since those are the french colors. Their wedding dinner was based around a french theme, since they both served missions in France, both speak french, and went on their honeymoon to France. So, Grandma bought a large bouquet of red roses for the table, with blue ribbon draped around the base.

Red Tablecloths, white plates, blue ribbon, red menus written in French and English.

Baskets with apples and cheese (copied from pictures of the original dinner) 

Notice the french flags my sister made. Those were our addition, not from the original dinner.

Blue Ribbon with pictures from the original wedding and dinner hung up. Specifically as many pictures as we could find of the food and decorations from the wedding dinner. 

French bread (with the flag again) which was the item of food responsible for me nearly chopping my finger off.

Photo album from the wedding displayed (courtesy of Grandma Celesta)

Grandma's "Cremebouche", a fancy french desert that they served at their wedding dinner. Doesn't it look delicious? It was.

The moment of arrival... first with mom, then dad following. I love this picture of my dad... rarely do you catch him in such a candid moment. He looks thoroughly surprised in this picture! (Note: do you love how I am holding pressure to my bandaged finger that I had just sliced to pieces? Otto tried to convince me to go to the ER, which I later did, but don't EVER ask me to miss out on a good party, especially when it's one I've planned.) 

 

 After a dinner of apples and cheese, french bread, three variations of quiche, and cremebouche for desert, we went to the ER. After THAT... we gathered in the living room, sang a song that was sung at their wedding dinner, had a short discussion where each child and in-law shared thoughts on how mom and dad's marriage has affected our marriages, or our desires for future marriages, and what fond memories we have of mom and dad's marriage/relationship over the years. Ben, Shayla and Robin had all written down their thoughts and sent them, so they could also be a part of the evening. We closed with a slide show that I had made for their 25th anniversary five years ago, that I had added onto for this occasion. It was a wonderful evening, and I think Mom and Dad were genuinely pleased, touched, and surprised.

Happy 30th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Here's to another great 30 years to come! 

Party #2:

The 3rd Annual Shill Family Halloween Party!!!

Decorations:

Halloween lights on the mantle...

Orange balloons with black ribbon, tied down to half pint jars full of candy corn.

 

Witch hat cookies

Lime Sherbet/7up punch garnished with oranges, limes, raspberries, and dry ice of course...

Cute little napkins for only one dollar!

Pumpkin bread bowls to serve the soup in!
Dinner consisted of: Corn/Potato/Veggie Chowder and/or Potato Soup in bread bowls. Green Salad, and Punch. 

Otto hard at work helping me get ready (while I took pictures of course)

The guests:

Dave and Melissa... possibly one of my favorite costumes of the night!

Greg and Lisa- Can you tell Greg is an Aggies fan?

Nate and Windolyn, and their little cowgirl and cow! So cute!

Jon and Kristin- GREAT costumes!

Not pictured are James and Ashley, and Bret and Laura who came later.

The Games:

Bobbing for apples (in our kitchen sink) was Otto's idea. (Of course). Poor Dave... he just looks defeated in this picture. In fact, I'm not sure he even had a chance to get his head wet. Ha! Go Melissa!!!!

Poor Otto... losing to an eight year old....

...and to Greg......

Third time's the charm! GO OTTO!

Did I bob for apples? Of course not.

Once everyone's heads were soaked, we moved on to a more civil game that entailed a combination of charades, and taboo. Much fun and many laughs:

We wrapped up the evening with a dessert of spice pumpkin cake and hot apple cider. The perfect dessert for a fall holiday.

But of course the highlight of the night was my little Eli:

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!