First Annual Christmas Road Rally

Two years ago I came up with an idea to do a Christmas party on a Monday night, where friends could bring their families and we'd just have a big Family Home Evening together. The weekends in December always seem to be busy, but who plans a party on a Monday night? ME!!

I wanted to do it two years ago, but never was able to squeeze it in. This year, I was determined to do it, and literally squeezed it in. I wrote the invitations on a Sunday morning, and handed them out that Sunday afternoon, I came up with and printed up the scavenger hunt at midnight, the night before the party, and made the crowns and put together the prize basket the afternoon of the party... it was a squeeze. It was pretty simple anyway, we had everyone bring cookies, and we supplied the hot chocolate, and marshmallows to roast. But, we pulled it off, and now I have a whole year to plan for next years! We already have some fun ideas...

However, of course I ended planning the party for the COLDEST day of the year so far, so that put a little damper on the outdoor festivities. We had planned to just have opening and closing activities outside with a bonfire and all the treats outside, but it was seriously too cold. So that made for tight quarters in our house!

Anyway, we love that we started this new tradition. You should do one with your friends too!

Here's the invite:

Come celebrate Christmas with the Hamiltons!
It’s our favorite time of year!
Bring the family, and come on over!
Let’s spread a little Christmas cheer!

Please join us on Monday, the thirteenth
For a Family Home Evening night.
And even though it’s FHE,
We hope there’ll be no fights!

It’s a Road Rally and Scavenger hunt.
Where you’ll earn points while on your race.
You’ll need a digital camera, and your car.
And more importantly, your smiling face!

Extra points if you arrive dressed festively,
Even more if you “decked” your car.
If your family comes up with a festive team name,
your family should surely go far!

Please also bring two plates of cookies –
one to give, and one to share.
If you want to bring a third for me, well…
‘Tis the season to love and care.

Extra points if you RSVP to Holly:
xxx-x zero x eight
We’ll be starting at 6:30,
You just won’t get as many points if you’re late.

If you can’t fill a car with your own family,
Feel free to invite another that will.
But if they damage your car in any way,
Please don’t send us the bill.

Don’t you love the twinkling lights?
We’ll send you on a hunt to find some,
And a nativity, and some figgy pudding…
It’s going to be a lot of fun!

If your Christmas spirit doesn’t keep you warm,
We’ll have a bonfire when you return to our home.
So, bundle up and bring a chair,
Enjoy cookies, marshmallows, and cocoa with foam.

Bring the fam, and come join the fun!
Excuses – we don’t want to hear it!
The family with the most points wins a prize!
Will your family be crowned with the most Christmas spirit?

I won't put the whole scavenger hunt on here, but here are a few of the items they had to find/do:

• Build a snowman with items found in your car.
• Find a house that has TEN or more Christmas lawn ornaments (blow up things,
reindeer, etc.) and take a picture.
• Ask a sales clerk what aisle the figgy pudding is on.
• Sing the chorus of, “We wish you a Merry Christmas” when you pull up to the drive thru and they ask if they can take your order.
• Donate spare change (any amount) to any Salvation Army ringer.
• Find strangers wearing Christmas sweaters and ask to take a picture with them (50 points per stranger). (Some people even found dogs with Christmas sweaters!)
• Stop at a Christmas Tree Stand and ask if they have any artificial trees.

One team used my camera on the hunt and these are a few of the pictures off of it:

So fun!

One of my friend's won the judges choice award for her going the extra mile for her team. Their team was the Dudolphs...

They even had shirts!



and they all had their reindeer names on the back! Here was her car:

Our neighbors were Santa, his elves, and reindeer! Too fun!

Our friends literally "decked" out their van.

I wanted to get a picture of everyone's decked out ride, but I got too busy and forgot... But I heard some had Christmas lights, and the battery candles in their car windows!

We put everyone's cookies out on the table outside, and they literally froze, so we brought everything inside!

Tight quarters in our house:

Their teams name was the Christmas Kisses; they had mistletoe on their hats and carried Hershey's kisses.

My friend, Shasta's family was crowned with the most Christmas Spirit! (I forgot about the crowns until that afternoon, and had to make them out of whatever I had, so that included some velvet bows and red tinsel (shown above))

It was so fun! We're looking forward to 2011!