*just a minute*

Getting together with my darling aunt and uncle and cousins and their families does not happen often enough. Every time we hang out, which is usually our annual Christmas party and the random baby blessing, we always say we need to see each other more. But we just can't get it together enough to make it happen so I cherish the time we get to spend together at Christmas.

There was discussion last year about whether or not the kids--meaning first cousins once removed--would continue to exchange gifts since because the kids were getting older, the presents were getting more expensive and pocketbooks were tight. We decided against gifts and my aunt was worried that because there weren't any gifts, no one would want to come. Unanimously, we told her that absolutely wasn't true. The party would still continue because we don't come for the presents, we gather because of the good company and the fun and love we share together. And just as if to put a great big exclamation point on that statement, the kids never even noticed there wasn't anything to open.

We ate dinner and visited for a while.








Then to the entertainment. My sister and I were in charge of coming up with Minute to Win it games for the party. I had never watched the game show but the internet is innundated with different ideas and we planned eight different ones.

We didn't really have teams or a set amount of people who could play each game. Basically, whoever wanted to play, could. There were some adults who needed to be gently coerced into participating, but had fun once they got going.

We didn't even get around to all eight games. A minute is a long time! And after playing at least two or three rounds of each game time really flew by.

We first started with who could blow the most bubble gum bubbles in a minute. I don't have any pictures of this one. It was fun but not everyone could play because not everyone knows how to blow bubbles with bubblegum.

So we moved onto a more versatile activity. Moving a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands. This was a huge hit. All the facial expressions and different techniques people used to move the cookie were hilarious.
















I love these pictures of my dad.





Then we tested how many marshmellows could be thrown into a bucket in a minute. Sarah won this game by a landslide. And then all the marshmellows were used as ammunition and thrown all over the place. We literally just found one last week in my mom's couch.


The next game was how many nuts can you stack in a tower in a minute. We had the bigger nuts and put them on the end of a candy cane so they could slide off and be stacked that way. No hands allowed.










Stacking cups also was a favorite.


Once all the games were over, people got creative and stacked the cups in different ways. This occupied the "older kids" meaning Matt, Zach, and Nick for quite a while.





Then the final game of the night. Have you ever tried to knock over water bottles with orange filled pantyhose that are attached to your head? No? It is harder than it looks. But at least we looked super fashionable while we tried.













Seriously some of the most fun I have ever had.

There was more visiting and laughing and love after the games were over and we settled in and ate dessert.

Luke sabatoged my camera and took quite a few candid pictures. Some of them were incredibly unflattering and there were about fifty of them (thank goodness for digital cameras) so I will only be posting a few just to get an idea.


At least half of the pictures were of Andrew doing crazy poses.




I love that there was a random perfect picture of the nativity.


Thank you for the fun night everyone. Let's do it again soon.