Due to the weather (stupid rain and cold), we didn't do the couple activities I had for outside.  And the one thing I had for indoors didn't get finished because I had to go into work on Saturday.  Thanks to that fact and that I still had to stop at some stores to pick things up, I was running late!  I got to Caleen's about 4:30 probably.  Fortunately, our family has a tendency to run late too :)

So once I got to Caleen's and hauled all of my stuff in, I got started on the soup.  Now I'd just like to note that I do NOT cook.  Matt is the cook in our house.  I bake if anything - and I've done limited easy things from scratch, and I can do things in boxes.  I have generally felt I could probably follow a recipe, but never took the time and effort to prepare and follow through.  Being a picky eater my whole life didn't really help the cause, either.  However! I was in search of festive foods for a main dish and a punch - thank you Taste of Home.

I made this delicious pumpkin soup.  A lot of people were like, "I've never had pumpkin soup before," and I'd reply, "Neither have I!"  However, it turned out really well.  Lots of compliments.  Even my littler cousins enjoyed it.  Since I was busy making soup, Grandma made the punch for me.  It's supposed to be slushy, but we didn't have time to freeze it.  It was yummy all the same. 

So we had dinner - my cousins made adorable festive desserts.  The BYU game was on in the other room.  Gestures was played in the kitchen.  And I was not the only one to dress up :) I was beginning to wonder at first, but the beardalls were nicely decked out :)  In all the hustle and bustle, I didn't grab my camera.  Then when I tried to take pictures with my cell phone, I didn't have enough memory.  Weird, cuz I swear I recently cleared it... Oh well.  We had fun - and names got drawn for Christmas :)  Next time I plan a party, I'm doing it with more than a week in advance.