6th Annual Accounting Friends Christmas Party and Other Christmastime Adventures

It has been a different type of holiday season, despite those differences it has been surprisingly busy. One of our favorite things this time of year is to spend time with the people we love. It is harder this year to spend time with our family and friends, but we still found a way to connect. 

Over the weekend Kristin and Dan had to run an errand and asked if we could watch their girls. We were thrilled to spend some time with our nieces. It snowed a little overnight so we asked them to pack snow gear. While there wasn't a lot of snow, it was enough for Skylee and Holly to have fun. Holly looked particularly adorable all bundled up in her snow gear. 

Once we were all bundled up I took the girls outside to play. Holly just stood there at first, so I picked up some snow to show her and threw it up in the air. Some of the snow fell on her face and she was not happy about it. I quickly brushed the snow off her face, but when I was done one lone tear rolled down her chin. She looked so sad! Moments later she was laughing in delight when she realized she could eat the snow. Skylee had a blast making snow angels and throwing snowballs at me. There wasn't enough snow to build a snowman so instead Sklyee built a little snow mountain. Tex also loves the snow and enjoyed running around chasing his frisbee. We came inside after Holly decided her gloves were inhibiting her ability to play in the snow. She took them off and loved grabbing the snow with her fingers, but her hands became very cold. I took Holly in to warm up her hands while Skylee gathered some fresh snow so she could make snow cones. 

While we warmed up inside Alison began making some bread. Skylee wasn't in a baking mood, instead I took the girls downstairs to watch a movie. We watched Wolf Walkers. It is a new animated film on Apple TV+. It takes place in Ireland and tells the story of a young girl who lives in a village that is fighting against a pack of wolves in the nearby forest. The girl soon discovers there is more to the wolves than meets the eyes. Skylee and I very much enjoyed this movie. The animation is beautiful and the story is well done. Holly fell asleep on me while we were watching the movie. She slept for nearly an hour. It seemed really cute, but little did I realize that while she slept she she was filling up her diaper. After the movie I went to pick her up and found she and I were both wet. Alison took care of Holly while I changed my clothes. I guess this is just one of the joys of being an uncle.  

After the Kristin and Dan picked up their girls, Alison and I got to work on preparing for our party. We put together gift baskets so that our friends could enjoy a charcuterie from the comfort of their own home. We included cheeses, crackers, and chocolate purchased from Caputo's along with a fresh loaf of challah bread. We drove and dropped off the gift baskets in the afternoon prior to the party. When we got home Alison put together another charcuterie for us to enjoy. 

Our party was at 8:30pm. We figured this way our friends could put their kids to bed before joining the party. We held the party over Zoom. At 8:30pm everyone joined the meeting and the party began. I wasn't sure how well a virtual party would work, but it exceeded my expectations. We spent a lot of time catching up. In a normal year this group of friends would get together 2-3 times, but because of Covid we hadn't seen each other at all in 2020. There was plenty to discuss. We also played a couple of virtual games - Fibbage and Drawful. Both games were big hits. After the games we continued talking until around 11:30pm. I consider our virtual party a smashing success.

While we would have loved to see our friends in person, it did not make sense this year. Instead we did what we could to keep this tradition alive. We are so glad we did. While it may look different this year we have still found ways to stay connected.