Every year one of our groups of friends organizes a Christmas Party… I’m sure some of you remember pics from last year. The party is technically called the “Erection Party”, to celebrate the erection/raising of the Christmas tree. The premise — everyone wears an ugly Christmas sweater or Christmas getup!

It’s always a lot of fun…

Amy and Kim did an amazing job of decorating their place…

I always enjoy the festive slippers and socks the most!

Christmas isn’t complete without a little tequila and a gift for the gift exchange game!

The gift exchange is always hilarious… as you can “steal” from each other a limited number of times and there is a definite strategy!

Allan wasn’t too happy since he always ends up with the most ridiculous gift every year… this year was no different… you can tell from the smile on his face that he loved his Jonas Brothers make-up gift pack.

I ended up pretty stoked about my red Olympic knit mittens! I actually wanted a pair. Yeah, I ended up wearing them the rest of the night.

The party wouldn’t be complete without several group photos, of course!

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In other news, I am flying out tonight to the Calgary airport where Allan and I will rent a car and drive to Golden, BC. We’ll be snowboarding and sightseeing two days at Kicking Horse Ski Resort for their opening weekend… and possibly even doing some backcountry hiking and boarding with Canadian Powder Adventures! We’ll be staying at the Canyon Ridge Lodge for two nights and the Copper Horse Lodge for a night. Then it’s a mad dash in the morning to drive back through Banff and snowboard at Sunshine Village, and then fly back to Vancouver!

Yeaaaaah… I ended up packing way too much stuff. All you really need is your board, boots, and jacket right?

Phew! It’s going to be a busy weekend. We’ll have lots of photo and videos. Wohooo! Enjoy the weekend everyone!

And so begins the week of Christmas parties! Saturday was Amy’s Erection Christmas party as I mentioned.. and it was a lot of fun!  This was only my second Erection party since I’m new to the group, although Amy’s been organizing them for a long time now. This Friday there will be TWO Christmas parties in one night (both my work party and Allan’s work party) so it’s going to be a hectic time party hopping!

Something that really struck me was how disappointed I was with my low-light photos. Most of my photos turned out too dark, blurry and grainy. I really need more experiencing shooting people in low-light conditions without any extra lighting. Do you guys have any tips?

Crista and I decided to make mojitos for the party… and yes, they taste delicious even though it’s not the summer! We made them with Havana Club rum, lots of mint, lots of lime, and some organic ginger ale that tastes like real ginger. Not for everyone, but I like it!

Tara and I… I wore a Christmas pajama top, santa hat and red Christmas slippers.

Adam and Amy… Adam came all the way up from San Francisco to visit Amy!

Trevor had a huge candy cane .. uh, cane! Awesome!

Ben and Alissa brought the baby all dressed up real cute in a Santa outfit Awww!

Gift Exchange was really great this year! Hockey Night in Canada boxers!

Others got funnier gifts

I didn’t think it was possible for Trevor to get even more Christmas-y with his oversized Santa-beard-sweater but he got a Christmas ornament in his gift exchange.

J dressed up as Dirty Santa, I think J why are your pants undone?

Crista made a fabulous Christmas sweater for the party and I just had to feature the awesome little Christmas lights strings on it.

It was a great party and a nice way to wish everyone Merry Christmas before everyone gets lost in the holiday craziness. I’m looking forward to the Double-Work-Christmas-Party this Friday, and then Christmas with the family. And lots of snowboarding!