Friendsmas 2025...

This little tradition had to be pushed until after the New Year because I was so sick on the original party date. And, we did things a little different this year. 

As these kiddos age, friend groups shift and divide, especially for the girls. Roen's little group of friends has basically stayed the same since middle school, but the girls have not. So for this reason, we ended up just doing Friendsmas for the boys this year! It ended up being just as fun, albeit, a bit more rambunctious, but I recruited some help!

Crissy, Racheal, and I created 8 mini games, to end with one champion of the night! Rumor was super duper impressive, beating out everyone in the final game with his extensive Christmas trivia knowledge! After games, Micah, Rob, and Bryan fed the boys burgers, followed by a gift exchange, some hot tub time, ending the evening with a fire and s'mores! It was a really great night and this is definitely one of my FaVorItE Christmas traditions!

And, I thought you all might like to see how these boys have grown since our very first Friendsmas, so at the very bottom you will find previous years...

FRiEndSmAs '24...

I sure do love this tradition with Roen's little friend group! This was the third year I hosted this party and it has been so fun seeing these little boogers grow-up over the years!

This year, I wanted to do things a little bit different, so we decided to have a Murder Mystery Dinner! I'm gonna be honest, if it weren't for the girls, I am not sure any of the boys would have know what was going on! There were several that were a bit bored, and made their own fun of the evening...and I hate to say, Roen was at the forefront of that! Him and several others just ran around, laughing, playing and creating ruckus!

There were 4 groups and two of them correctly named the suspect! We had one running around stealing everyone's money, another was more concerned with his groups name than anything else and then you have several who ran and jumped in the pool the minute it was all over!

My overall take of the evening... they had a blast being together and would find fun no matter what they were doing. Will I do another Murder Mystery with this group... that is a hard no! Next year, it will be back to the drawing board, but it's safe to say, this is a tradition that will continue on!

* And a big thanks to Remi for printing all the trophies again this year! 

7th Grade Friendsmas 2023...

Even though I had every intention of hosting Friendsmas again, time just got away from me, and it was a very last minute, thrown together evening! But, it was also a fun and festive evening! We did this party almost exactly like last years, except we got to do the polar plunge this year.  It seems to work best to keep the kids busy, so I did my best to have it all planned out, with very little lag time. 

They were a bit more of a handful this year, so I am thinking of changing a few things up for next year in hopes of them staying a little more engaged. Overall, it was such a fun night and I just love getting to watch this group of friends make memories!

*This year, I had Remi help me with prizes- he 3d printed the trophies and gingerbread ornaments!

*Also, noticing that I had a misspelling on my chalkboard... some things never change, lol! 

Roen's Friendsmas Party

This year, I decided it would be so much fun to throw a Friendsmas for the kids. Remi's friend group already had something planned (which he missed while we were in Utah), so I asked Roen what he thought about hosting a party with all his friends. Of course, he was all about it and instantly helped me make a guest list!

I had an absolute blast coming up with games and prizes for the evening! We started off with voting for the best girl and boy ugly sweater/Christmas attire. After this, we dove right into the gingerbread house decorating. I drew names for teams and hot glued each group's house together to make things go faster. I gave them a time limit and when time was up, everyone got to vote on their favorite decorated house. I did make one rule for the evening- that you couldn't vote for yourself in any of the competitions. 

Next up, was the White Elephant Gift Exchange. On the invite everyone was told to find something in their room (no buying allowed) and wrap it themselves. They were encouraged to wrap something funny! We did a Chinese gift exchange style, but based on the wrapping- they weren't allowed to open until the very end. Once all gifts had been traded and stolen, we opened up presents one at a time and some pretty great laughs! Us adult hosts voted on three categories after the exchanged had finished up- Most Creative, Most Funny and Most Unique. 

From here, we broke the kids up into groups again for YouTube Short Videos. Before the party, Roen and I rounded up funny props we had laying around the house and divvied them up into black trash bags. Each group got a bag and when time started, they all fled to their assigned rooms and had to use everything in their bag, making up a short video that was both funny and entertaining. They also had to name their group, so once time was up, everyone got to vote on their favorite skit. 

Winter weather (well below freezing) blew in that day, so we had to cancel the Polar Bear Plunge. So following the YouTube skits, we had a big awards presentation! This party was an absolute blast and it is my hope to do it every year! I'd love if I could do a big combined party with Remi and Roen's friends... but Remi will most likely have his own opinions about that, lol! 

Until next year...