Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 –II

December 25, 2011

Nick, Petra & Adriana

Cookie & Kelsey

the Kennas

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 –II

The party invitation always states that the party is scheduled from 5 PM – 10PM, but it always, always runs well after 10, and we don’t mind. This year was actually the exception in that the last guests departed at about 12:30 AM on Christmas morning- which is somewhat earlier than in past years.

Michael

Petra, Adriana, Scott & Wendy

Kris & TJ

The party evolves as the night progresses with children and families eventually giving way to a totally different group of revelers who stay long into the evening enjoying the food, drinks and company. As always we had a number of guests who brought their out of town visiting family members and friends, which is something else we always encourage. It is always nice to meet new people and they are all welcome at our parties.







We also had a very International representation this year as we had guests from a number of nationalities including friends from Albania, the Netherlands, England, Cuba, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Senegal, Ireland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Haiti and Trinidad. There were possibly more countries represented, but it was kind of cool to have such a diverse mix and typifies one of the great things about Key West. It was a fantastic representation of our community, heck even Key West Mayor Cates and his wife were on hand.

Florrie & Sy





Kathy & I were inundated with gifts from our guests, which were unnecessary but appreciated. We ended up with over three cases of gifted wine and have enough beer on hand to host a couple of more parties. The food was mostly gone though and that is a good thing, because it means that people enjoyed it and that we just about have it down on how much to prepare.







We are truly touched that so many people choose to stop by and include our party as part of their holiday. We wish to take a moment to thank everyone who came over for helping make our Christmas Eve so special. We realize that many friends could not make it due to other commitments and their own holiday traditions, but we want them all to know that they were missed and we wish them all a happy holidays and a very happy New Year!



Andrea

We also want to thank Andrea our bartender, Chris who handled the food, our photographer Nick and our wonderful neighbors Angela, Daisy & Cookie who helped us out in many ways. Also thanks to Pastor Larry and Peace Covenant Presbyterian Church for loaning us folding tables.

Michel & Malika

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 -I

December 25, 2011



Carol

Richard & Bethany

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 -I

“We are indebted and grateful to be invited to be a part of your Christmas crowd. Great food and drink -- and our favorite part, what an eclectic group of friends you have! The wide variety among your friends says so much about the two of you. It was a treat to meet new (to us) and interesting people, and folks from across the spectrum of Key West.”



Kathy & I received the note quoted above from friends who attended our sixth annual Christmas Eve open house. Though it was just one of many great thank you notes, e-mails and calls that we got, I wanted to share it because it captures so eloquently the reason why we continue to host our annual party. The wonderful mix of people who attend our party are what make it so wonderful and they simply represent the incredible community in which we live.







This year we once again hosted well over 200 people at our home over the course of the evening, people from just about every facet of our community and many incredible and unique people that make us feel so fortunate to live in Key West. My friend Trevor told me during the party that he likes our party because it is just like Goombay- which to me is about as high a compliment as we could receive. Goombay is known for bringing out people from across the diverse spectrum that is Key West and that is what we wanted for our party, something that represents the diversity and uniqueness of our island.

Susan, Carol & Sheldon

Jaynie, Brax & Jeff

Dale & Fran

It was an incredible evening for us. It took massive amounts of preparation and Kathy and I worked hard to make sure everything was ready. This year we once again hired help to tend bar and prep food and we even invited the incredible local photographer Nick Doll to take photos (though all included in this post are my photos). We almost didn’t have the party this year. After five years, we weren’t sure if we wanted to keep it going, plus I really wanted to head up and see my friends in Indianapolis and be with them during the holidays.

The Whitesides





Ultimately, we heard from so many people who expressed dismay that we might not have the party; that we decided to continue the tradition and host the party. We had a number of friends with young children who informed us that this was part of their holiday traditions and we have a number of six year olds who have attended each year of their lives.

Heidi & Donnie

Lisa, Todd & Kris

It was an amazing and fun evening, we had so many people, it was difficult to find time to even say hello to them all, most of the evening Kathy was on the far side of the yard while I was on the back porch trying to make sure that we got around to welcome everyone. The early portion was dominated by families and children, Kathy had erected a play area in the back yard under a large Kelty sunshade that was a hit with the kids (and some adults).

The Ford family

Cheryl & Craig

The Tafili/ Phoenix family

Celebrating the Season

December 22, 2011



Carla & Chuck





Celebrating the Season

The Holidays may dominate the celebration season this time of year, but there are still other reasons to get together and exalt the important moments of life and we had the opportunity to join friends this week and celebrate two momentous occasions in addition to the holiday parties which continued this week, leading up to Christmas.

Jim & Joanna





First up was another annual stop on our cavalcade of holiday parties at the home of our friends Jim & Joanna, who each year host a wonderful party with all the usual trappings of good food, friends and drinks. The party was another fun time and was packed with a multi-generational mix ranging from young children to grandparents. This is one of the things that make holiday parties so appealing, there are all variety of people there and Jim and Joanna’s is one of the best.





Kathy & Shawna

There are actually dual parties happening at the same time as their parents’ host a party for their friends at their upstairs apartment at the same time as the party goes on in the main house and the dual parties mean that there is something for everyone. We enjoy them both and want to thank them all for including us once again this year.





Marilyn, Trevor, Nadene, Melissa & Jim

Gary & Rob

We next headed over to the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon where we joined in a private celebration of our friend Chuck’s 60th birthday. Chuck and his wife Sue hosted a great gathering with yet another fantastic spread of food and an open bar. Chuck’s brother was here from Arkansas on his first visit to Key West and his niece was here from Ocala and there was a great gathering of friends were on hand to wish Chuck well.







Chuck’s party was great, he even had three delicious cakes and Kathy & I had a fantastic evening and wish Chuck a very happy birthday! The Tuna is a great place for a private party, they had a perfect and large private room that provided the perfect mix of privacy and access to the rest of the bar.

Arlo & Ashley





We were on hand for another celebration this week as we joined a gathering to toast the engagement of our friends Arlo & Ashley, who have decided to finally get married. They are one of the nicest couples that you could ever meet and about as perfect a match as you could make. Kathy & I are both thrilled that they have decided to get married. In all honesty there are few people that we know who we both admire and respect as much as this couple and we feel privileged to be included in the gathering of family and close friends to celebrate the announcement.









Clayton & Larry

The next party attended was the fabulous annual holiday party at the incredible home of Tom Oosterhoudt and his mother Mary Ann Worth, Casa Antigua. The huge, popular and wonderful annual party is attended each year by a who’s who of Key West including almost every city official and even our Congresswoman Ileana Ros- Lehtinen. It is an incredible gathering with tremendous food and drinks in one of the most exquisite settings in Key West, all decorated with amazing holiday decorations.

Jean & Randy

Tom & Mary Ann