Family Christmas Party

We had our family Christmas party at the LDS church near my grandparents' house. Usually, Russell and I miss it because we fly to New York. This year, Grandpa decided to hold it earlier, possibly so we could attend.

Russell and I arrived early because everyone was supposed to be there at 12:30pm to be ready to eat lunch at 1pm. When no one showed up, the people who were already there started to complain. It's a potluck lunch--if people aren't there, the food isn't ready. Sure, I think it's rude that our family members don't show up on time, but it always happens. I decided to keep a smile on my face. I also decided that next year, I want to be in charge of all the food so the start time is actually a start time.

Eventually, the people with food showed up and we started eating at 2pm. I was in charge of games, so I started to set up in the cultural hall/gym. I tried gathering some adults and kids to play games, but everyone was doing their own thing. Frustrated, I decided that I would start playing games with the people who where already there and people could join in later.

We played the following games:

• Everyone has a balloon is tied to their ankle. The object of the game is to step on and pop other player's balloons and be the last one to survive.
• Players are put into groups and each group gets one quarter. Each person puts the quarter in between their knees and tries to walk a certain distance and drop the quarter. The person picks the quarter back up and brings it to the next person. The first team that has all the players successfully move the quarter wins!
• Players split into two teams and make a line. With their left hand, each player grabs the right wrist of the person to their right. On the mark, teams pass all the bows down and back again. If a bow falls, players must retrieve while still holding on. The chain must not be broken!
• Each team picks one person to be blindfolded. Objects are placed in the room and the team members must guide the blindfolded person to the objects. The team that gets their object and returns to the group wins!

The only problem I ran into was that nobody wanted to play! My games were definitely not boring, but most of the older kids and adults just sat around. While it was fun for the little kids, I wanted the adults to join in the fun. What is a Christmas party when no one participates?

Santa came later and I took this cute picture of Carly with him.