Laddish Family Web

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Introduction

We try to hold a year end holiday celebration party each year. This page contains links to all our party pictures, and explains how we do the (optional) whacky gift exchange. These events are organized using eVite. Please IGNORE the eVite map links, as they are wrong! If you got an invite before and stopped getting them, it's because we lost your email or it changed. (updating the list takes way too long each year - a big pain!) If this happens, let us know as we'd like to add you back on & see you again!

Invite description

Happy Holidays!  As the year draws to a close, it is once again the time for our annual holiday party and whacky gift exchange!

This will be a casual evening with time to catch up with everyone. Please show up at 6pm to mingle and eat appetizers.  Dinner will begin about 7pm and the gift exchange starts around 8pm or 9pm.

The "whacky gift exchange" is always fun. To participate, bring a useful gift under $20 and wrap it with flair - for example, Tim wrapped a windshield defroster in a brilliant cardboard replica of the magic van. Ram usually designs a puzzle or something with electronics that looks like it might explode (you never know!).  We take numbers and pick/steal gifts in order, then unwrap them all at the end. People get attached to the creatively wrapped ones, so the gift exchange can go on for a while! The purpose of the gift exchange is not just to get cool gifts, but to have fun! Bring 2 gifts as a couple if you both want to participate, or bring a single gift, or none at all if you just want to watch.

This party will be an informal potluck. Please choose a dish to bring from the list below and bring your drink of choice. We will provide lasagna and some hot spiced cider. Please bring your spouse, friend, or significant other as well.

Reply soon using eVite, as it is limited to 30 people (only children under 1, please as our house isn't kid friendly).

DIRECTIONS: the evite link is incorrect, please see http://laddish.net/replace_link for a good map!

Please let us know if you are coming and what you plan to bring by Dec 7th so we can prepare. We hope you can make it and we look forward to seeing you!!

Gift exchange rules

Our party is meant to have fun & catch up with friends. The gift exchange is optional. You don't need to bring anything, and can watch and enjoy it for an hour or so with the rest of us. If you care to join in, this section should help answer common questions. Listing it out sounds dry, in practice it is a lot of fun!

• The gift should cost <=$20.
• The gift should be useful or fun: food, kitchen utensils, etc. It's not a white elephant where you wrap things you don't want.
• Please wrap it creatively! This is the best part!! If you are out of ideas, talk to your friends, or bring  something simple.
• To start, we all draw numbers out of a hat & go in order.
• When your number is called, you can pick a gift from the pile of unchosen gifts, or steal one from someone else. We don't unwrap them until it's all over, so people chose based on appearance.
• If your gift is stolen, you can't still it back directly. Your choice is the same, pick one from the pile or steal a different one.
• If it starts to go on for a while, we'll set a timer, and when it goes off, if someone is left without a gift because it was stolen, they'll have to pick from the unchosen gift pile.
• After all the gifts have been picked, we go back in the same order and unwrap them to see what they are!
• It's "mostly anonymous". Add your gift to the pile when you come in, and we'll bring them out when it's time to start. Sometimes people are really impressed by an idea and ask who did it. Feel free to speak up or not.

Creative wrapping ideas

This section lists & shows some of the cool ideas people have come up with over time. Hopefully it will help give you some good ideas!

• TBD