Hunter 8th Ward Christmas Dinner

Last night was our ward Christmas party. I'm not sure how it happened (though I have a good idea), but Jer was asked to be in charge of it this year. I was his wing man. We asked a few people in the ward to be on a committee and it actually turned out great. I was told by more than one person to expect 20% of the members to not love how we did things. Hopefully there weren't that many that walked away disappointed. 

Jer is an expert at feeding lots of people. And, he feeds them well. We had roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls, green salad and cake. We planned for 250 people and when the night was over, we figure we fed 258. We served 100 lbs. of potatoes, 65 lbs. of beef, 22 dozen rolls, 3 sheets of cake and lots of corn and salad. Have you ever made gravy for 250+ people? Jer pulled it off and it was amazing.

We asked Ashley Tucker to be in charge of decorations and as you can probably see from the pics, she also outdid herself. We had a lot of awesome people in the ward that helped and by the time they were done, the gym looked like we were having a wedding. I had the radio on the whole day so that I could pretend like I was decorating for the Prom I never got asked to.

Our program was Power Academy Dance Company from Payson, Utah. They were great and it seemed like the ward members enjoyed it. It was fun to see all the kids actually paying attention. They were either sitting on laps watching or dancing to the Irish music. We also had the Ivie's set up the live Nativity outside with their animals before dinner. The Primary kids rotated through since it was so cold outside. It was nice that they only had to sit outside for a 15 minute shift rather than the full hour. I didn't get any pictures of the Nativity because I was too busy in the kitchen, but the kids all said it was great and I was grateful I didn't have to worry about anything because our Primary President took care of everything outside.

Overall it seemed to be a success. Jer and I (and the kids) were exhausted by the end of the day and none of us moved much today. It kicked our butts to be on our feet from noon until 9:30p.m. Thanks again to everyone that helped. There were several sisters in the ward that helped and did it without being seen or recognized. We had a great time and were excited to have such a great turnout. Just don't ask us to do it again. Ha ha. We probably wouldn't say no, but we might serve Ramen Noodles next time.