The First of the Ugly Christmas Sweater Celebrations...

    

     It's always fun getting together with friends to celebrate any occasion, but it seems even a bit more fun when it involves a theme or dressing up.  Those of us who get together on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette finale night decided to get together for a Christmas celebration.  The afternoon began with yummy appetizers, sweets, etc...

Then we started comparing ugly sweaters...

Nikki's is actually her grandmother's partridge in a pear tree sweater!!

 Jill, Nikki, Heather, and Me (front row)
Alison, Sara, and Simona (back row)

      Here I am with Alison.  My Christmas light button covers are vintage!!!  A friend of mine that I taught with in Billings made them for me in 1991.  Alison's daughter, Brandy, surprised her mom when she stuck a big sign on the back of her ugly vest with masking tape.

     Here we are gathered around one of the Christmas trees and the gifts we brought to exchange.

     Once everyone settled in, we headed out to the lake. Wow, was that kind of a freaky experience!! It sure didn't seem safe to a few of us, but Simona insisted none of us would fall through.  We could see right through the ice (evidence shown below)!!

     The breeze was a bit chilly, so once we had our fun on the lake, we headed back inside for some hot chocolate.  Even Wilma joined us on the lake.

 But once she was back inside, she played a game of peek-a-boo with us.  She was a stitch!!

 Holly "forgot" to wear her sweater, but we still let her be in the picture with us!! :)

 Holly and Alison

 Time for the gift exchange/stealing to begin...

     Alison won third place in our ugly sweater contest, so here she is enjoying her prize.  I think I convinced her to wear the "tree headband" to school next week for our annual ugly Christmas sweater day. :0)

I guess this is Wilma's way of saying that the party is over, and it is time for everyone to go home!!