Party in the Hood (Grover Family Christmas Tradition #6)

Dennis and I moved to our house a little over three and a half years ago. Over the past few years, we have come to know quite a few neighbors while working in the yard or going on walks. There are still quite a few original owners from the 1960s in the neighborhood and they often tell us about the previous owners of this house and what a wonderful couple they were. Knowing the reputation of our little house, we have dreamed up lots of ideas for continuing to build community in our neighborhood but few of our dreams have actually come to fruition. Last year, I hosted a cookie exchange and invited some neighborhood women to attend. I think we had about 10 attend and it was a good time of getting to visit with some friends and meet some new ones.

This year, we decided to just have an open house for anyone in the neighborhood that would come. I sent a few emails to friends I had addresses for and Amity and I walked the streets passing out invitations. "Walking the streets" should be defined as walking a few feet, stopping to pick up leaves and pecans, carefully observing them for a couple of minutes, laying them down, and then walking a few more feet before repeating the whole process again. Due to our slow moving process, we didn't get to as many houses as I had hoped but we hoped the word would spread.

Our little invitation read:

You’re invited for Cookies, Cider, & Christmas Cheer!

NEIGHBORHOOD OPEN HOUSE

We won’t make you sing carols or play silly games.

We just want to meet you and get to know your names!

Come enjoy some cider and a couple of sweets.

Say “Hello!” to a neighbor and all the new people you’ll meet!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

4:00-6:00 p.m. (come and go)

Home of Dennis & Candis Grover

[address & phone number]

Children are welcome.

Please invite your neighbors!

Since we had promised refreshments, I knew that I needed a willing volunteer to test out the treats. After her nap, Amity was excited to discover cookies for snack instead of her typical raisins, apple, or crackers.

Why is it that I get her best posed smiles when she is eating and covered with food?

I don't know how valid her testing was since she never actually bit into the cookie but chose to just scrape the icing off.

Apparently, it is good icing!

Just before 4:00, the table was ready and we waited to see if anyone would show up!

AND THEY DID! We never got an official count but we are pretty sure there were at least 30-35 people here. About a third were people we had never met before. Some brought cookies of their own to donate to the spread. Many were original owners that had never met before. One told us that it was the social event of the season! :) Amity liked having so many sweet people that were willing to let her eat off of their plates!

We collected addresses, phone numbers, and emails from many of the attendees and hope that there might be more get-togethers in the future at other homes. Dennis and I decided last night that we are willing to add our Christmas Cookies & Cider Open House to our list of Grover Family Christmas Traditions!