Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Our Hanukkah Party

We had 3 tables
Sunday was our annual Hanukkah party. To be clear, we are not Jewish. We celebrate Hanukkah because I am weird  because I loves Hanukkah food. I celebrate Christmas without religious belief, so I see it as the same. It started in 2003, I think when I was looking for a different idea for a holiday party and has grown. We have Hanukkah dishes and Hanukkah decorations and Hanukkah music (oh we love the LeeVees).  I exchange Hanukkah gifts with my niece Maggie.  It is the my favourite holiday.

This year we had our biggest party yet. 21 people and cousin Emma (who is a dog). The Man, with Uncle D's help spent like 5
hours cooking latkes. The Man spent over 8 hours slaving over the stove and that isn't an exaggeration. It was a feast fit for a king. (We have leftovers, yay!)

Hailey has issues with kids and people in the house, so it is always hard. Aunt C, Uncle D and cousin Maggie arrived early (so Uncle D could help the Man in the kitchen because I am useless). After a time in her crate, Hailey was great. Then more people arrived and Hailey got totally stressed out. She went back into her crate for a while (over an hour). When we let her out, she was amazing. I didn't get a picture of it, but for a time she was laying on her bed right beside where the kids were playing. I was so, so, so proud of her. I would still never leave her alone with kids, but it was huge progress. Maggie is spending a few days with us over the holidays so we hope she will get use to her.

Phod was slightly stressed throughout the day. He was calm, but you could see he wan't sure. However, he was great with the kids.
Helping Maggie open day one of Hanukkah gift
Maggie was standing and Phod went to stand with her

Overall, while it was a tone of work, and we were exhausted when the last guest left around 6 pm (we ate after 2), it was a great Hanukkah. Although, maybe next years will be a little smaller!


Aunt C is one of her favourite people, so Hailey made sure to give her lots of kisses!



28 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you had a pawsome pawty...well done Man fur all that cooking!(My Dad only nose how to burn toast!)
    ANd well done to Hailey and Phod for being soooo good!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. How great that Hailey and Phod found their ways to keep a bit calmer. I would think with so many people, most dogs would get a bit stressed out. So glad you had a wonderful Hanukkah dinner!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it's pawesome that you celebrate Hanukkah! I'm proud of Hailey. Sometimes it helps chilling out for a bit in our crates and getting used to the idea of people around.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think it's pawesome that you celebrate Hanukkah! I'm proud of Hailey. Sometimes it helps chilling out for a bit in our crates and getting used to the idea of people around.

    ReplyDelete
  5. what a wonderful party and we are so happy Hailey did better

    ReplyDelete
  6. WEll that party sounds amazing and so did the food. We also love the kids at our house, but when everyone goes home, we wind down also. Its hard to share our space with so many people. We are proud of Hailey and Phod also.
    stella rose

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like a great day!! We are so glad Hailey and Phod were good hosts!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like a pawesome Hanukkah party and wow could Maggie BE any cuter. She is really growing.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks like a wonderful pawty! It is funny cuz mom's bff is Jewish and she of course celebrates Hanukkah but she also celebrates Christmas (with no belief). The Universe keeps itself in balance!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that you celebrate Chanukah just because you like the food, too funny
    DakotasDen

    ReplyDelete
  11. 21 people is certainly a lot...but I bet it made for a lot of fun and laughter, too. Sounds like Hailey and Phod did really good! AS for me....I'm not sure I would have done so well...good job, guys!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kristen your table is beautiful. You surely know how to celebrate!
    I can see why your Party if famous
    Hugs madi your bfff and mom

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a GREAT celebration!!!! Maggie is adorable (but then you already know that!!!!)...........

    Hugs, Sammy and Mom Pam

    ReplyDelete
  14. WE just LOVE that you celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas... it is a grand way to bring about some understanding.. and let's NOT furget the Fabulous Foodables associated with Both holidays... OMD you should give the MAN a Gold Star fur doing all that cooking!! WOW!!!
    Lee and Phod... we are VERY MUCH Proud of your behavior!! WAY TO GO... and Way to Earn some Extra Treats!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bravo Hailey and Phod too. We have a big Christmas Eve gathering so we know it can be stressful with so many people there. Great job!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & mabel

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love that you celebrate it for the hell of it! It sounds like a great party!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That is a great idea to celebrate the different holidays just for the sake of it. We wish more people would be like that. The world would be a better place!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a nice thing to do! Mom says that our human brothers and sisters all had Jewish friends so they learned a lot about their religion and celebrations.

    A lot of people in the house can be stressful for any dog. You are so good to let Hailey have the safety of her crate until she is ready. We have both grown up with all the grandkids around since they were infants. But it is always good to be cautious when there are lots of peeps in the house and life is just different from the norm.

    Happy Hanukkah - Mom says she wishes her Man was good in the kitchen:)

    Woos - Ciara and Lightning

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hope you had a wonderful Hanukkah. We saw a French bulldog on Facebook dressed up with the yarmulke and a cape
    Lily & Edward

    ReplyDelete
  20. Very nice job for providing the comfort and safety of the crate for Hailey. I also love to use filled KONGs and/or bully sticks whenever our pups are crated around too many guests.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hari OM
    Great job EFFURRYbuddy!!!!!!! Hugs and wags and wishes, YAM-aunty xxx

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a wonderful party and a great thing to do!

    Ziggy Out!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi hi hi! Ojo here! Happy Hanukkah! We had latkes. Well, the people had latkes. We did not. But they smelled delicious! Cousin Lee, did you survive all the guests? (Cobi does not like little guests either, so she says she understands.)

    ReplyDelete
  24. HAPPY CHRISMAKKAH!!!!

    Oh Miss Hailey, don't worry I (Wally) am not great around too many people either. I like little people, but only when they have foodables...or drop foodables...or share their foodables.

    Wally & Sammy

    ReplyDelete
  25. It never occurred to me to celebrate Hanukkah if you weren't Jewish, but why not? It sounds like a fun holiday and another reason to cook, decorate and have family and friends over is definitely a good thing!
    We have to keep Luke completely separate when we have company. I hope one day he will be able to be out with people but it's going to take a lot more work to get him to that point.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sounds and looks like fun!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and leaving us a comment. We love your comments!