Bunco Christmas Party

Bunco Bash 2006!!!! ;-)

Some of the Husbands

Patrick K., Tommy, John, Shannon, Patrick G., and Jimmy

Some of the Wives

Allison, Shannon K., Me, Jen, Darby, Marie, and Mason (not pictured: Ansley, Ashley, Ellen, Shannon H. and Leigh)

We celebrated our Bunco Christmas Dinner/Party this past weekend. I hosted it and prepared dinner for the group. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is the big Italian feast my mom prepares on Christmas Eve. I decided to share that tradition with my Ultra Fabulous Bunco group. Since our husbands don't believe that there is really a game called Bunco, we decided to include them and make it a date night for all! We were very sad to be missing two of the Bunco greats, Ashley (and her husband, Rick) and Ansley (although she did send her husband Patrick so he would be representin' the family).

We seated 21 people to an Italian dinner of homemade spaghetti and meatballs with salad and lots of Italian bread. The ladies pitched in and brought appetizers, bread, desserts, and snacks for the bunco tables. I thought everything turned out delicious and there weren't any complaints that I know of! (However, I can't take full credit for the meatballs...my mom came over for a crash training course in the ancient recipe.)

It was a festive atmosphere. The conversation and stories were great. The kitchen was a bit stained and sticky later, but nothing a good sponge couldn't clean up. Some of the attendees had to be hog-tied a dragged to their cars because they were having such a good time, but the baby sitter's pocketbook was quickly getting heavier. And grandmas were passing out on sofas as the midnight hour passed. We truly had a ball and have even more stories to tell, now. My precious babies some how slept through it all!

Meet (most of) The Bunco Group:

Marie & Steven (Marie and I are Speech buddies and have stayed in touch since we graduated from Columbia College. )

Darby and Patrick (Darby is my LIFE-LONG friend and oddly, our moms are in a bridge club together. Were tryin' out the 2nd generation...only we're playing Bunco.)

Jen and John (I've known John for years and Jen and I became friends shortly after they were married. Jen and (my) Shannon also worked together for a few years.)

Mason and Jimmy (Oh my! Where do I start with Mason and Jimmy??? That's a whole separate post!)

Ellen and Tommy (Ellen and I have known each other since high school and recently re-connected through Junior League and Bunco.)

Leigh and Malcolm (Leigh and I grew up together at St. Joseph's and have a LONG, FUN history.)

Brian and Shannon (Shannon and I are Junior League buddies and they also bought our first house from us.)

Shannon and Chad (Shannon and I have been friends for many years and her mom and my mom also belong to the same bridge club.)

Allison and Lindsay (Allison and I have become friends through the preschool. We have discovered many people we have in common and established an INSTANT connection.)

Ashley and Ansley couldn't make it!

(I have known Ansley for many years and we were in a supper club together prior to having children. I was introduced to Ashley through Ansley. The strange thing is, I was good friends with Ashley's brother in high school but never had the opportunity to meet her...weird!)

I love this group of ladies so much!!! It's a great mix of old and new friends. In fact, it's such a good mix that I feel like we've all know each other for a thousand years.

I also took from this a very valuable lesson... my next house will have a 2000 sq. ft. kitchen because that is where we stayed THE ENTIRE NIGHT!!!!!

I can't wait to do it again!!!!