WHITE ELEPHANT EVENT RECAP

The annual White Elephant Gift Exchange was held this year at Bandana's BBQ in Ankeny. We all had a really yummy dinner...and the waiter was quite fun!

So the opening of the gifts began....some where, well, er, obvious why they were in the White Elephant Gift exchange, and others were less obvious. I guess it just goes to show you that one woman's garbage can truly be another woman's treasure!

Carol got a whole bunch of fun little things...even some hotel lotion....maybe she'll use that on her trip to Hawaii!!!!

Deb got a great package of spa items.

Denise ended up with some wine glasses with hearts!

Peg's was an interesting mash of things....I even heard her say her sister likes cow things so the salt and pepper shakers were going to find a new home right away!

Peg's box was alot about "love" and she just "loved it all".

Deb got a really bad bottle of Sangria and a teapot (wait, I'm sure I saw that last year too)...and the teapot was defintely getting regifted to her Mom!

Ginger received a fabulous container with everything you could think of for a nice relaxing bath!

Peggy went right for the big bag....

But great gifts do not ALWAYS come in big packages...this is a corn hat....Peggy shows what she thought of it! Too funny!

We also collected our gifts for our four gentlemen that we adopted for Christmas. Carol will be getting those gifts to the men and providing us pictures if they get some taken. Thanks to all for making a difference in the lives of these men.

WHITE ELEPHANT EXCHANGE

Monday, December 6th - 6:00 pm
Bandana's - 301 East First, Ankeny
http://www.bandanasbbq.com/


Please bring your gifts for the Adopt a Family to this meeting.


And you will not want to miss this great annual event...the WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE!!!!



Dig through your closets and drawers and find something that you think "now, why would anyone have that" and wrap it up and bring it on over to Bandana's! It's a hoot and a holler to see what people bring.

You may remember these from last year....can you top them this year?

ADOPT A FAMILY 2010

We are thrilled this year to be adopting four gentleman from Progress Industries to shower with gifts and love this Christmas. Carol shared that these four men would NOT receive gifts from anyone else, so we are truly their family this year!

To ensure we get everything purchased for the men, please contact the "captain" listed with each "adopted person" below. We need to ensure we get each item covered and decided to name a "captain" per person to coordinate each one.

Also, if you'd like to buy "stocking stuffer" type things, please purchase four of each so we can ensure each person gets the same thing as the next person.

We can purchase additional things for these men (let's say you are buying a stocking hat and you see a scarf that would go with it, that works), but we do need to try and stay as close to the list as possible to keep it "even". We will be meeting with these men and watching them open the gifts, so we want to make sure it is as close to "even" as possible so no one feels slighted.

Don (approx age 40) - captain Carol Warren swarren117@aol.com
Jeans - 36x40
sweat pants, size L (need to have a draw string)
T-shirt or sweatshirt, size L
crazy about AC/DC so t-shirt could have AC/DC on it or any other AC/DC trinkets
music magazines (rock n' roll)

Dennis (approx age 55) - captain Peggy Hoemann hoemann60@aol.com
sweats, windbreaker (nylon, slick) style, size XXL
2 plain flannel shirts, size XXL
IA Hawkeye stocking cap
Gloves XL or XXL

Jimmy (approx age 40) - captain Gail Turner thepetpal@gmail.com
2 plaid flannel lined jacket type shirts, size M
stocking hat
gloves
cassette tape player with head set (all his music is cassette)

Travis (approx age 28) - captain Debbie Hankins dhankins88@gmail.com
jeans, size 40x32
athletic tube socks (shoe size 12)
long sleeved t-shirt, size XXXL
Eminem CD "recovery"
Buckcherry CD "15"

You may bring the items to the December 6th White Elephant Christmas Party or drop it off at Peggy Hoemann's house at 1013 NW Prairie Ridge Drive. She has a container on her front porch to put the gifts in.

The gifts should be WRAPPED and LABELED.

Details to come later about the evening of fun when we can all go to deliver the gifts.

THONG 'N TELL RECAP

Thong 'n Tell night was a fun night. First we had dinner and drinks, then we did a "guess the picture" contest....are these pictures cute! One of us (who will remain anonymous) forget her picture so Peggy drew a picture of her...yep, aren't we silly!

There was a prize for the most right....Deb Hankins and Carol Warren were in a tie, but Carol answered the tie breaker question correctly and won...what else, but a Gumby!
Gumby made his way around the room...he even enjoyed some of the chips!

We then each shared something that was "nostalgic" to us. The stories were great!

Here Ginger shares a rag rug she made. Her grandmother had taught her to make this when she was much younger. Ginger talked about how her grandmother kept everything and found a "new" use for things even when the original use was no longer needed...example, made this rag rug out of old clothing!

Deb Hankins shared her favorite vacation was when she took her two daughters to Jamaica. She knew her girls were getting to that age when time together would be more difficult to find as the girls grew up and started their adult lives, so off they went to Jamaica. She had pictures of them zip-lining too! Here's a picture of them enjoying a fun time together!

Peggy brought a family picture that was taken in the fall in anticipation of the family Christmas card...a while ago! Peggy is #5 of 7 children! Oh my! She said every year her mother would line them up in age range (oddly, it always worked out to be height range too).

Carol shared a fabulous story about her husband sending her flowers for NO REASON...no, he was not in the dog house, no he had not made her mad, no he had done something he hadn't told her about...he just sent her flowers because he loved her and was thinking of her. They have been married over 25 years and are still in love. Sigh....thanks for sharing Carol!!!

Gail brought out her autograph dog. How fun! The wording was getting light as the years have passed, but she could still read some of the fun things that were written on the dog. One said something about "Fat Aunt Nat", but the best was the one that said "To My-Self from Gail". What a hoot!!!

And this picture is soley so you can all see that Jean-Paul has made it through the BT group for one whole year...there he is in the background! Ahhhh....a lovely sight!

HALLOWEEN PARTY PICTURES!

A fun time was had by all at the annual Halloween Costume Party! Clients from Candeo and Progressive Industries were in attendance, as well as some crazy Blue Thong ladies! Dr. Fever was awesome as usual!!!!

Enjoy the pictures!

There are a lot more pictures of the evening at drfever.com

Thanks to all who helped with decorations, food, dancing, clean-up etc.

NOVEMBER 1 MEETING INFO

Thong 'n Tell
Monday, November 1
6:30 p.m.
El Charro Party Room
2010 SE Delaware Ave #230 - Ankeny
(Same Strip Center as TJ Maxx and Shoe Carnival)

Everyone please bring a picture from grade school, or age 6 thru 12. We will post them and have a contest to see who gets the highest number correct. Just wait until you see the prize!

Also, since it's Thong 'n Tell - bring a fond photo, story, toy or keepsake to share with the group.

Lastly, we'll use this meeting to distribute the wish lists for our Christmas charity, Progress Industries and the 2011 calendar will also be available for you to select a month to coordinate.

Don't miss out on the fun!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

RSVP to hoemann60@aol.com by Friday, October 29.

OCT MEETING RECAP - LOTS OF GOOD INFO!

Halloween Party Update
October 23 - DMACC/Ankeny - Building 5
Decorate @ 5pm, Party 7-9pm
Featuring DJ "Dr. Fever "

As always the clients of Candeo will be joining us for another fabulous evening. Great news...this year we have extended an invitation to the clients of Progress Industries to come join in the party fun too! Carol Warren said this could be approximately 25-30 additional ghosts and goblins!

Progress Industries (www.progressindustries) is a charitable organization that helps individuals with disabilities in Central Iowa realize dreams and exercise real choices about where they work, live, and recreate.

Please be generous with your time and energy. We NEED contributions of snacks, paper goods, etc for the evening as well as YOUR time and energy to make this a successful event! This is our 4th Annual Halloween Costume Party - let's make it the best yet! (See forthcoming email for sign up.)

Peggy is collecting monetary donations for the DJ. Dr. Fever provides their DJ service free of charge, but we would like to provide them with a thank you card and some gas money. Please be considerate to their needs as well.

CHRISTMAS ADOPT A FAMILY PROJECT

This year our adopted "family" focus will be on disabled adults. Carol Warren presented that each year Progress Industries seeks an organization to adopt approximately 6-8 disabled adults that have absolutely NO family (can you imagine?). Lists of their needs and wants will be available at the November meeting. We will play elves and deliver the presents to them in December (date TBA).

ACTIVITIES FOR 2011
Ideas and suggestions for next year are coming to life! See your email for the 2011 sign up sheet. Take a month and help make a difference in our community and ourselves!

NOVEMBER MEETING
Monday, November 1st
6:30pm - El Charro - Party Room
2010 SE Delaware, Ankeny
Hosts: Gail Turner & Peggy Hoemann
Theme: Nostalgia Nite 2


DECEMBER MEETING
Monday, December 6th
6:00pm - Bandana's Bar-B-Q
301 East First, Ankeny
http://www.bandanasbbq.com/
Coordinator: Deb Tjelta
More Info to come....this is the White Elephant Gift Exchange!