Jason and I throw a Christmas party every year. How many parties can one couple possibly host you ask? Regardless of the wisdom, for this couple that number is apparently a lot. Our holiday shindig usually involves a meal, white elephant gift exchange and the bearing of ugly Christmas sweaters and moustaches. This time, however, we decided to add another layer of seasonal wistfulness to the festivities.

Jason and I opted to rent a cabin near the Sundance Resort for our get-together and the entire corresponding weekend. We invited about twenty friends to enjoy the restful beauty and holiday aura of this 4400 sq. ft. rustic hideaway surrounded by hillsides of thick forest dressed in white.

For the party portion of this excursion we provided everything from soothing soup to cozy hot chocolate so that the lucky invited could warm and expand their innards as they chatted around a welcoming fire. There were lively games of pool and Dance Central following dinner but, for most, the evening was primarily spent simply enjoying the grub, company and nostalgic setting.

Although everyone was invited to linger for the weekend, the bulk of our friends left late that night after the revelries. (Seriously people, you’re offered a free stay at a giant cabin and you don’t take advantage of it?) Adam, Abigail, Drew, Simone, Tom and Aimee all stuck around though for a couple days of serene relaxation. After the party-goers departed, we eight played Saboteur until the wee hours of the morning and awoke the next day to oversized flakes of snow peacefully drifting down around us as if we were in the middle of some traveler’s globe trinket. The flurries didn’t let up the entire day; about 22 inches fell within 24 hours. I guess someone kept shaking that watery orb.

We all jumped in the patio’s hot tub that afternoon while fluffy powder silently built up on our heads and melted into tiny icicles in our hair. Honestly, it was a little magical. Later, after more gaming, we bundled up and walked down the buried mountain roads to eat dinner at Sundance’s Foundry Grill. It was a fun adventure and quite filling.

More board games were played, books read and stitches knitted that night and then, the next morning, the boys set about the laborious task of digging our frostily interred cars out so we could head home.

Our party and weekend were quite a success, if I do say so myself. Between the boisterous crackle of wood burning in an inviting fireplace, the glittering shavings of snow noiselessly floating down and the happy chatter of friends forgetting their to-dos, the holidays felt very close at hand in that comfy cabin.