bullough family party

the bullough family party is always a PARTY. every year, my uncle b has all the family over to the school he teaches at where we stick to the traditions that have come to be over the years.

first: we eat and chat. this year cade and i were an hour late to the party. that's right- an hour. the weird thing is we didn't really have much of a reason. we were just late. thus, we skipped over #1 and headed straight into tradition #2...

next, the kids will act out the nativity story. (you will noticed how shocked one of the shepherds is at the appearance of angels... this ain't no amateur production.)

i have always loved to watch this (and participate in it when i was young) but having kids in it lately has really made it great. this year, violet played an angel and ivy played baby jesus #2. there were 2 babies because mary wanted to hold a doll...plus ivy is a little too heavy and floppy for a 5 year old to manage. thus: 2 baby jesuses. ivy didn't mind the straw at all! she didn't make a peep in her manger the whole time!

mary and all the angels couldn't get enough of her.

our little angel was quite content to bring good tidings of great joy to the masses while seated on the other side of the stage with a roll in her mouth.

if that isn't the cutest angel you have ever seen....

next comes the kids' present exchange. all the kiddos under 18 exchange gifts. ivy scored lots of new teething toys and baby toys. she loves them, in case you were wondering.

violet got a cute apron (which is perfect for her kitchen set she has been playing with lately) along with a dress-up bear game.

which she insisted she play with right away.

she also couldn't wait to get her apron on... nor could she wait to get on her new boots and hat from her aunt julie. she is LOVING presents these days and they don't go unappreciated. she puts them right to use. this left violet looking like this for the rest of the night:

she looks a little bit like a bag lady. ok... she looks A LOT like a bag lady- but we couldn't get enough of it.

at one point in the evening, she tripped on a stair and before she had even hit the ground, she was yelling out to nobody around, "i'm ok! i'm ok!" that crazy bag lady had us rolling.

next: santa comes.

vi wasn't too sure about this. she kept looking at santa like he wasn't human. we all know she is used to beards so it was strange to see her put up a fight. ivy, on the other hand, loves santa. have i mentioned that she is the best baby ever? it is worth saying again and again.

tradition #5 white elephant exchange

cade ended up with a lion portrait that looked something like this. he hauled it off to work to hang in his cubicle. win.

cade is such a hunk these days.

finally, we end the night with a pinata. the kids break it open, we gather our spoils and head home.

needless to say, violet was asleep in the car before we got out of the parking lot. and so was i.