Best Ward Christmas Party Ever

So by disbanding the ward activities committee, our ward was left at having the Elder's Quorum in charge. Of course they are great guys, but they are men. When our bishop's wife heard that they were going to be putting on the ward Christmas breakfast, she volunteered herself and all of our young single adults to throw the party. They involved so many of us in any way that they could, and the result was amazing. I am not taking any credit for any of the amazing things they did, just thought you might like to see what a fun party they threw. They had a Polar Express theme and we all got to go in our PJs.

A week or so before the breakfast they delivered golden tickets to each household.

We had to turn in our tickets at this darling ticket booth. If for some reason we forgot to bring our ticket, we could do a song or a dance to get in.

 One of the hallways was transformed to be the inside of a train.

 Our kids LOVED riding on the train.

One of our ward members made a fabulous conductor and acted the part during the whole party. He punched tickets and spoke with a voice that sounded just like the conductor from the movie.

 Doesn't he look great?

A couple of my friends crafted this beautiful train out of cardboard that was just inside the gym after we got off the train. It had a functioning headlamp and even emitted "smoke" out of the chimney.

 The tables were covered with white butcher paper and then strips of black paper glued on to make them look like train tracks. Genius. I also love these boxes of crayons (wrapped to look like gifts) that were on each table so the children (and adults!) could color on the tables.

 While we were eating breakfast the young men and college boys passed out hot chocolate while they played the song from the movie.

 The conductor got into it and sang along! He was so much fun.

Breakfast was delicious! Many of us helped by signing up to bring a breakfast casserole or fruit. The ward provided pancakes, yummy buttermilk syrup, drinks, and hash browns.

Santa's appearance was brief... there wasn't time for all the kids to sit on his lap (which was okay with me...) but he invited all of us to the back of the gym where there was a "Mrs. Santa's Bake Shop" and we could frost a cookie. Dessert for breakfast? I think so!

My favorite part about our ward Christmas parties is the annual ward talent show. We have a talented ward! So many signed up to play the piano that they had to tell them all no (and have decided to hold a separate piano festival later this year). Our ward has put together a jazz band for the last several years. This year Ryan was invited to pull out his trumpet and join. He figures it had been at least 15 years since he had really played. After a fancy (and pricey) tune-up at the music store, his trumpet was ready to go. He did such a great job! He is standing in the back right corner if you decide to watch the video.





He also got to play in a brass quintet:


Olivia's clogging group performed their number too:


It was such a fun event. It is really neat to see all of the hard work of so many people pay off. I was so glad I wasn't in charge :).