Huybers Retirement Adventure: Christmas Party

As Christmas approaches, I find myself missing the party atmosphere that usually comes with the holiday festivities. Since we don’t have any family here on the island and we don’t know very many people (hardly any), I decided in order to get to know people I should have a party.

The only people we actually know are the people we bought the house from, Carolyn and Gordie. After selling us their house, they moved into the house right next door. They have been amazing neighbors and very helpful when it comes to finding out information on the island. We hadn’t met the neighbors on the other side of us, so I thought what better way of meeting them than to have a party. I made up special invitations and put them in both the neighbors mail box. That night I received a phone call from the neighbor I hadn’t met yet, Kim. She called to say they would love to come to the party. They have a 4 year old daughter that would be coming as well. She sounded really nice on the phone.

The house was all decorated for Christmas. The tree was spinning and Christmas carols were playing in the background. It was going to be a casual evening with drinks and appetizers. It was only going to be the 7 of us but as usual I made enough food for about 30 people. We had a Spinach dip, deviled eggs, veggy tray with cucumber dill dip, Boursin cheese & Brie Cheese with crackers, seafood wraps (cut bite size), stuffed cherry tomatoes, special meatballs, sausage rolls and mini quiche. I always say, it’s better to have too much than not enough. There were plenty of leftovers after the party, but it made for snacking for the next 2 days … no cooking!

The new neighbors, Mark, Kim and Katie, arrived, and as predicted, were very nice. They arrived with a lovely card that said “Welcome to Burlington” and a bottle of wine. We instantly became friends! Their little girl Katie was cute as a button and very charming. She settled in very quickly, playing with Bailey and feeding him dog treats.

Gordie and Carolyn arrived bearing a gift for us as well. I scolded them a little saying you weren’t supposed to bring anything! They just laughed and said “oh it’s nothing much”. They have been so good to us. We couldn’t have asked for nicer neighbors.

We all spent the evening sitting around, chatting, laughing, eating and drinking. It was a great evening and a great way to meet the new neighbors. It was a very relaxed and joyful night. I’m sure we are all going to be great neighbors for years to come.