Our Christmas party this year was at Cheryl's house. For dinner we started with a delicious appetizer that Marci made of a tomato-based shrimp cocktail. The main course was chicken crepes (cooked by Cheryl and Sheri). Side dishes were funeral potatoes (Barbara), corn (Teresa), vegetable tray with dip(Emma Lou), jello salad (Laura), and pineapple slush (Marci).

Desserts were a Baskin-Robbin ice cream cake (Carlyn), brownies with ice cream and fudge topping(Pat), and Sharon's homemade dipped chocolates. The annual silver ball ornament was won this year by Laura- - she received a bracelet inside from Sheri. We had a great time laughing and talking - we really need a video camera to record all the antics for posterity because as we each get older and more forgetful we seem to get funnier all the time- but maybe it's really only in our own minds. Every year we try to plan a new idea for gift exchanges so this year we decided to shop at the dollar store and find a gift suitable for the person below us on the official quilt group list. The gifts were extremely creative and luckily cheap -that's the great thing about the dollar stores. The most important thing is the thought and caring we put into the gifts we choose because after all the whole purpose is to nourish our friendships. The most magical gift was the mysterious gifts all wrapped up and left on Sheri's porch the week before the party. She called everyone in the group before the party to find out who dropped them off and everyone denied any knowledge of the gifts. The night of the party as we speculated who they could be from ( because there were 12 of them)- Laura jokingly said maybe they were from Bev. All of a sudden we all got quiet and realized that they were from Bev and she had found a way to share some of her Cherished Teddy collection with us by having her daughters wrap and deliver them to Sheri's door. We have fond memories of Bev and the special place she will always hold in our hearts - this Christmas gift will surely help sustain and strenthen those memories. As we ended our party we made tentative plans for 2009 as we passed around the list of dates to choose. The plan is to meet on the evening of the 4th Tuesday of each month and everyone will take a turn at planning the activities. Betty was elected the new president and will try to keep this group in line- certainly not an easy task. Anyway Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!!!!!!