{ORIGINAL POST CREATED IN 2012, and as I edit this over the years, you’ll see edit dates inserted throughout the post.}

We are always excited for the first Saturday of December. Since 2000, we have hosted a Christmas Cookie Party each year.

**Since 2020 marks our 20th year, I figured I’d refresh this post a bit with some pictures from the last couple years. Lord willing, I’ll be better at remembering to do that now after every party.**

It started as a fun and easy way to get a nice variety of cookies for gift giving (and consumption, lol)… Each family brings 8 dozen of the same cookie and leaves with 8 dozen assorted cookies. Mike chooses a few judges & prizes are awarded for best tasting and best display. Each family brings copies of their recipe to share, too. (We stopped bringing paper copies of recipes years ago – just seems easier to txt or email those as requested.)

We even have some who like to come for the fellowship and don’t want to bake cookies. They usually bring an appetizer to share which goes well with our homemade egg nog or Christmas coffee…

For the first ten years we “adopted” children through a local organization and furnished gifts for many children.🎁

And over these past 10 years we have collected donations of school supplies for children both abroad and local.✏️📚🖍✂️📓

We’ve had anywhere from 6 to 18 families participate each year. Large crowds are fun because there’s so much energy packed in our home – but small crowds are nice, too – time to really talk & visit with dear friends and family.❤️

This has been a WONDERFUL time of preparation for us to kick off the Christmas season. Definitely a routine we all look forward to. Our tree & decorations go up during Thanksgiving week. Then we all work together to tidy things up around here. Cookies are baked and freezers get full of beautiful (and yummy) cookies to share with others…which leaves the rest of the month for my favorite part: to work on homemade gifts and other fun projects in a clean and Christmassy home! A perfect time to s-l-o-w down and meditate on the REAL reason for this season…our Savior, Jesus Christ.✝️

Funny – what started as an excuse for a party to get cookies, has blossomed into a wonderful tradition for our family!

So if you are reading this post, CONSIDER YOURSELF INVITED (OR REMINDED) to join us the first Saturday of December at 7pm – every year. Whether you want to participate in the exchange or just come for fellowship, we’d love to have you! This tiny house is the happiest when it’s bursting at the seams…🙏🏼

Thought I’d share some pics we’ve collected over the years:

2021 PICS🎉