A Snow Shower

This last weekend I got to go back to Des Moines for my future daughter in law's bridal shower. I wanted to do a winter wonderland theme for the shower. The wedding is December 10th, and they are going with a very winter theme for the wedding, so I carried that theme into the shower.

With the help of my daughter Alyssa and one of my best ever friends, Kelley, we put up snowflakes everywhere.

 I wanted it to look wintry, not Christmasy. We used snow flakes of all sizes and sparkles and pearl strings. It was a lot of fun.  We also had pine cones and buffalo snow, made the presents look like they were sitting in a snow drift. Kahlen even got in on the decorating action and went home covered in sparkles and glitter.

To go along with the winter theme, I made white chicken chili, and cornbread. For those less than enthusiastic about chili, I made mac and cheese. I also made a buffalo chicken dip, and glazed carrots. I almost burned the place down when I was preheating the oven, there was grease in the bottom that caught fire. We got the fire out and most of the smoke out before people got there though.

 For deserts, I made a chocolate coconut cake, yellow cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, rice crispy treats, oreo and nutterbutter balls. I think all of the food went over well. Something for everyone was my goal. Even the plates and napkins had snowflakes on them.

After lunch it was game time, or as I like to put it, torture Caitlin time. The first game involved questions that I had asked my son, Josh, and she had to guess how he answered, you know, newly wed game style. Alyssa looked forward to this game most of all. This game was played at her shower, and she wanted revenge. Revenge you ask, why did she want revenge? For every question she got right she received a chocolate. For every question she got wrong........ she had to put a piece of bubble gum in her mouth. Apparently Caitlin laughed a lot at Alyssa when her mouth was full of bubble gum, thus, the revenge.

And revenge Alyssa did get. Something you need to understand, my son, has a unique sense of humor, something I was counting on. For instance, when asked what he and Caitlin would do if there was an ice storm and the electricity went out, (and he was told to keep it clean, her grandma was there after all) what did he answer? Play a board game? No, read a book using a flashlight? Well, no, he answered shadow puppets. When asked if he could have anyone, anywhere, alive or dead, sing at his wedding, his answer........ Infant Sorrow. Yeah, Caitlin ended up with six pieces of bubble gum in her mouth. Alyssa was fiendishly satisfied.

Next torture game involved dark chocolate. I made snowflake shaped chocolates. But not just any chocolates, each chocolate contained an ingredient that Caitlin had to identify. You know, things like cinnamon, almonds, cranberries, hot peppers, bacon, cilantro, and garlic. She did real well, the only one she missed was cilantro, which I think was because I didn't put enough in. Her least favorite one was the garlic. Yeah, I put a lot in that one. That one got spit out.

We also played name that tune and wrote marital advise on snowflakes. Her favorite, "make hamburger and beans often, and buy an electric air freshener." Mine. I know my son pretty well.