Christmas in September Party!

If there was one reason why Newtok happened to be the village Joshua and I decided to move to, it was because of this - the Christmas in September Party!

The Hall's LOVE Christmas. 

 I mean, have you even heard Joshua imitate the Grinch?! He sounds just like him! 

So, when we got the invite to this holiday themed shenanigan, there was no way we would miss it. 

But then again.. what else would we have planned in Newtok on a Saturday night??

And it did not disappoint.

Kim and Betsy really made their house really feel like it was the holidays! 

 Christmas Tree - must have!

 Christmas Lights - Check!

Stockings - duh!

Even a crackling fire - with sound and all! 

These ladies thought of everything!

There was a gingerbread house making contest:

Which my partner and I won, by the way!

 All the supplies

                                      

 Everyone in deep concentration. Let me tell you.. teachers are competitive!

The finished products: 

 Paula and Brandi's

 Eunice and Matthew's

Now, I do have to say - Joshua and Kevin did make theirs Newtok appropriate:

They made theirs an outhouse - honeybucket and all!

But Ding, Ding, Ding - The Winner is:

Naomi and Emily! It helps when you have the art teacher on your team...

There was Christmas charades:

Three categories: Music, Movies, and Characters

Everyone gave it their best shot!

Joshua trying to act out the song Silent Night.

But the funniest thing happened. Matt, high school teacher, chose the movie Fred Claus. 

Well, there was a question about the reading of this movie title.  Matt thought it said Fred Clams. So the entire time, he is gesturing clams with his hands and we are all blankly staring at him about whether this has to do with Christmas or not. It was pretty hilarious.

And there was so much food - oh it was the best party! Makes me excited for the holiday season!

Since not a lot goes on in Newtok, AK, it helps to have a fun staff that enjoys these kinds of things. Who knows - Joshua and I might have to throw one in our place soon!

Goodness! We also got the best care packages in the mail.  One from Karen, Dave, and Katie Dunkel - the other from Mrs. Pat Moore and my Aunt Rosalind.  They were exactly what we needed, at just the right time! 

Everything the Dunkel's sent us was awesome! and OH.MY! Those Honeycrisp apples were to die for! Loved the Halloween candy too! We had two holidays in one weekend!

 Sweet letter from Aunt Ros!

Of course you had to send a picture of me as the Big, Bad Wolf in 1st grade, Mrs. Moore.  Joshua absolutely died when he saw it. 

So then of course I had to break into my character and sing part of the song!

 This pretzel kit was a great surprise! Cannot wait for the Cinnamon Sugar!

 It amazes us how much someone can fit into one of those boxes.

I know I've said this over and over, but we so appreciate people thinking of us.  We love reading the letters you send with the packages more than anything.  Thank you!

And the best part, both packages came with nuts! Looks like we will be $30 richer!