Every year our daughter Alison "Kate" has a BIG Christmas party in her LITTLE house.  We drive to KC for a busy day of cooking, cleaning, exterior lighting (Alan's favorite job!), etc.  Then we stay for the party and become the servers and kitchen help so Alison can greet her friends. What a joy it is to spend an evening with Alison, her awesome friends and family (a few cousins live in KC, too!). Alison is a food blogger (www.gimmesomeoven.com), so the party keeps getting larger every year, as more friends want to come and enjoy some yummy apps and desserts. Ali is blessed with a fabulous friends!

I was excited to wear my unexpected (but extremely appreciated) holiday gift - a gorgeous paper corsage creation from www.2martinsinanest.com. This lovely handmade flower creation arrived a couple weeks ago in a classic plastic corsage box - what fun! The creative geniuses at 2martins can whip up any flowers you want - weddings, special occasions, whatever - and they don't need water!  Visit her Etsy site, too!