WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

We are happy to have two new neighbors on Jessica Drive. Jason and Holly moved in the day before Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to getting to know you! Hopefully we will have an opportunity during our upcoming Theme dinner or Cocktails and Dreams Night. During the winter months there are less opportunities than during the warm weather when everyone is outside. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Christmas Cookie Exchange~

The fourth annual Christmas Cookie Exchange happened at the Pegg's house this year. What a festive time we had including dinner, gift exchange and cookies swap. We all were able to experience a Martini Potato Bar which was delicious! Creamy mashed potatos in Martini glasses with gravy and meat tips and a variety of toppings. Salad and dessert topped it off. The boxed wine was great too :-) Thanks to Brenda and Sarah for organizing this great night out for the women! We missed those of you who could not make it. Happy Holidays to all!

Christmas Cookie Party!

Wow! Look at all those great cookies!




Chatting before the cookie swap....





Swapping cookies....

Notice the fancy ribbon in Kim's hair :-) Each Martini glass had one of these making dinner extra festive.

The swapping continues....

The Melting Pot

What a fun filled evening! The Melting Pot was a unique and different experience making the evening a great night out. I heard the waiter say they have tables that can seat even larger parties. Since we have a coupon this year for two free desserts in the Entertainment book we will have to make this a repeat event :-) Those who were unable to make it this time around will have another chance. Next time we will have to call ahead and warn them about all our coupons! Thanks Kim and Derek for organizing this one!

Thanks Ron for being the picture taker!

A party of Twelve

Kickball, crafts, picture taking and Fun!

Kid Swap Pictures

Kid Swap with the Gaucks

The house is quiet at 11pm after all the kids have returned home. I just have to say that I am so happy that Sarah Huizen mentioned this idea when she first moved in. It has been a lot of fun watching the kids get older through the years and see what nice kids we all have! At one point Mr. Matthew was getting into something and Easton said "Be gentle with him he is only little and doesn't know!" This just made me realize how nice it is to see the older kids watching out for the little ones! Tonight was a full night with mac and cheese, hotdogs and lemonade for dinner along with polite manners. While the mac and cheese was boiling some of the kids whipped up a batter of boxed Chocolate Chip Cookies for the snack. Before dinner we played kickball and took video clips with my old camera of some different kid skits. They are a bit blurry but it's just neat to see them uploaded onto this blog. We then did a craft (plaster molds that were decorated with mosaic designs). I was not planning on doing a craft this time but found a kit I have had in RJ's closet for over a year. The movie Flushed Away was watched while I got Matthew to bed with the help of Avery who fed him his night time cereal. While the movie was coming to an end Jack and I were able to upload the video clips for most everyone to see themselves. While I was doing that it was very cute watching Jenna reading Polar Express to Peyton. After the movie we were able to squeeze in one of those home made cookies and a round of German Flashlight Tag. After everyone left, I realized that its not only the kids that have fun! :-) I am glad that we will continue this. We do have some kids graduating from the group who will be missed! This means we will be down to 5 families. We are going to skip November and December due to the busy holidays. Then we will do 5 months through June just having to skip one. A list will be made to hand out at next Kid Swap at the Fabers. We should all be very proud of the kids we are raising!

Alexander on the Monkey Bars

Cade and Peyton on the Tramp

Jack on the Tramp

RJ and Easton Doing Star Wars

Jenna and Hannah

Macey on the Tramp

Avery on the Tramp

Flower Mystery Solved

Dear Everybody,
I received the card that everyone signed yesterday. Now I know who sent the flowers. :-) Thank you, they are beautiful and I am glad everyone had a fun time at the Block Party! We really are a team and everyone does a great job at pitching in to help pull off all of our neighborhood functions! Thanks again!

Thank You Flowers

To Whom ever sent these.... They are beautiful! Thank you! I enjoy getting the neighborhood together because I have GREAT neighbors! :-)

Kid Swap Info.

This month September we will have kid swap at the Gauck house on September 22nd from 5:30-10pm.

October will be at the Fabers house.

As we come to the close of this rotation I know that some families may be opting out of kid swap due to the older ages of their children :-) Lucky for them! I know that most of the kids enjoy getting together so it would be great to still have everyone but that is more work for the parents.... so..... at our kid swap I will have a sign up sheet for you to choose an upcoming month for your next turn or sign under the "finished with kid swap" section. I will be taking pictures of the kids and then posting them on here so they can look it up online and see the pictures! I thought that might be fun for them.

Block Party Sign Ups

Here are the results of the block party sign up sheets:

Activity - Organizers:

Cocktail and Dreams Night- Gauck
Ice Cream Social- Francis,Cina
Bon Fire Night- Faber, Huizen, Erickson
Cooking Among Friends- Gauck, Faber
Christmas Cookie Exchange- Pegg, Huizen
Progressive Dinner Party- Elliott (party stops- Roach, Faber, Francis)
Golf Outing-
Theme Dinner Evening- Bisonet
Recipe Exchange Party- Francis


I will give each of you a copy of the sign up sheet so you know who to invite!

More pictures of the block party