The Ritchey's 3rd Annual Holiday Party!!

Well, 6 cups of sugar, 4 cups of peanut butter, 8 sticks of butter, 14 cups of flour, 4 large bags Hershey Kisses and a few other minor ingredients yielded 363 cookies... not counting the ones that slid off the tray when I was removing them from the oven and landed Hershey-Kiss-side-down... or the ones that Jen and I ate... and not counting the 10 or so cookies that my Mom and Sarah consumed in raw dough.  Aside from the few cookie casualties, I think I've pretty much perfected the art of baking "Peanut Butter Blossoms".  This year I prepared 8 batches of cookie dough and unwrapped 4 bags of kisses (John and Adrey helped do that) on THURSDAY NIGHT so that I could start baking first thing Friday morning.  I was 4 batches in by 10:30 a.m. on Friday!

I packaged the cookies (with the help of Jen and Mom) in cute little Christmas pales to give out as party favors to all the guests.  They were totally cute.

I stress out about this party for the three weeks leading up to the event every year.... but I think that's partially why I love it so much!!  As crazy as that sounds.  I love having all the people I love pouring into my home.  I love that it's so loud you can't hear the music.  I love that EVERYONE surrounding me are people that I have a certain story to tell about our friendship... each one of them has positively affected my life in one way or another... and I love that.

TOTALLY lovin' the whole disco ball ornaments.  I may just leave them there until Valentine's Day.  And sorta wishin' they were green so they could be there until St. Paddy's Day.

I had a collection jar at the front door and collected donations for the American Cancer Society... a charity near and dear to John and my hearts.  We raised $144.  Thanks guys for your genourosity.  Every penny counts.

Every candle in the house was lit... and by the end of the party, so were all the guests!

I'm a little obsessed with my Christmas socks.  I heart them as much as you can heart socks.  I may sport these until Valentine's Day too.  Seriously.

Me and my handsome honey!  I love you babe.

We decided against doing the scavenger hunt this year.  We wanted to try something new.  Sooooo, what's more fun than a little gambling?!?!  We hired a casino company and had a blackjack and CRAPS table and dealers for both.  I wasn't sure if people would get into it or not... they TOTALLY did!  It was a riot!  Everyone was given $25,000 of fun money when they arrived.  

I felt the need to be sure my socks made it in every picture... what is wrong with me?...

Stephanie bartended, once again, and did a fabulous job!!

We took a 10 minute break from the gambling and I asked for volunteers.  I had about 6 people raise their hands.  They came to the front of the room and were all handed OREO cookies.  We had a cookie race!  They had to put the cookie on their forehead and slide it down their face and catch it in their mouth!  Anthony was the winner!  ABSOLUTELY HYSTERICAL!!!  Seriously... put a group of adults in a room and give them a bag of OREOS and you have hours of fun in store!

See what I mean when I say everyone really "got into it"?!!?  Kelly... I can't stop laughing at this picture!  So funny!  I had to post a "normal" picture of the two of you too!

This next picture is too cute... not sure why all of our mouths are open and what we're looking at!  I love you girls!!

Can anyone find Jen in this next picture? LOL!  All I can see are her ballerina feet!

OK, so this next picture is THE FUNNIEST PICTURE!  These little wine glass ornaments were stuck to everything in the house by the end of the evening.  And I had to get a picture of them... LOVIN' John-John in the background!

Unfortunately this picture was taken after several people had already left because I forgot to do it sooner!  

Our annual group shot in all its glory....

Holy shmoly what a fun night!  We are blessed beyond words to have the family and friends we have...  I know I've said it a million times, and I'll say it a million times again.   Thank you ALL for loving us.  We love each and every one of you!!