The Perfect Christmas Party (Part One)

Okay, so the Advent Calendar thing got away from me a little at the end there - we have been very busy, what with four Christmas parties to attend in three days, and two of them being at our house!  I hope this story will make up for my absence - and fill in the gaps of what our Sylvanians were up to in that last week before Christmas!  This is a collaboration, so many of the creatures pictured here are my daughter Caitlyn's.  She has written the second half of the story on her blog, Sylvanian Stories.

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'Twas the week before Christmas...  and everyone in Macadamia Grove was looking forward to the big village Christmas party!

Every year in Macadamia Grove, the whole village is invited to one big celebration on Christmas Day.  Each family takes a turn hosting the big event.  Some families (generally those with smaller cottages) choose to host the event in a park or by the river;  others hold it in their own home.  This year, it was the Trunk family's turn, so of course the event would be held at the Courtyard Restaurant.

Savannah was very excited and proud to have a chance to host Christmas in their beautiful restaurant.  It was the perfect venue, with the large grassy area outside, the huge old tree with the "special functions" dining platform, and of course the restaurant itself.  Savannah had planned the perfect menu too, and the whole family had had some input into what decorations they would have.  Savannah just knew this was going to be the best Christmas party ever - it was going to be perfect!

Many other people in the village were excited about the venue for this year's party too, and were very interested to see what delicious food Savannah would be preparing!

By the 18th of December, preparations were in full swing.  Hugo had placed orders for everything they would need from the Supermarket.  Most of the decorations were waiting to be put up.  Hugo had also arranged one or two extra surprises without the children's knowledge, and he went to see Mr Rivertail to check on progress.

"Don't worry Hugo,"  Murray said cheerfully, "It will delivered safe and sound the day before Christmas!"

On the 19th of December, Edward Babblebrook arrived at the Courtyard Restaurant to see how things were going.  As the Chairman of the Macadamia Grove governing committee, it was his responsibility to make sure the host family was managing okay with all the preparations, and to see if they needed any help.  He was very impressed with how organised the Trunks were.

"Is there anything I can do while I'm here?"  he asked.
"Well actually, you could give us a hand putting the lights up if you don't mind,"  said Hugo.  "Brooke Rivertail will be here soon to help too - she is bringing a ladder."
"Sure, no worries!" said Edward.

In due course, Brooke arrived, and the three worked together to hang the lights all around the front of the restaurant, and in the big tree.  Brooke had an excellent eye for where the lights would look best.

On the 20th of December, the Buckley family played host to a large group of village children.  This was Nellie Trunk's idea.  She had had so much fun making paper snowflakes with her brothers and sister that she thought it would be lovely to display their efforts at the Christmas party.  Her brother Ivor had said, "But we won't have nearly enough!", but Nellie knew just how to fix that, and had gone to see Mrs Buckley.

With school finished for the year, Mr and Mrs Buckley had a bit of time to spare, and were glad to help out.
"Now children,"  said Anna, "After you have finished folding, take your scissors, and..."

Maisie Honeycrackle leaned over to Misty Rivertail.  "It's just like being at school!" she whispered.
"But more fun!" Misty whispered back.

On the 21st of December, Christopher Appleblossom started on a new gingerbread house, specially created for the party.

He wanted to make sure he got it done before he needed to concentrate on all his cranberry macadamia nut bread orders...

On the 22nd of December, Mr Whiskers and his daughter Pearl brought the Supermarket order to the Courtyard Restaurant.  Hugo was amazed at the large number of Christmas Crackers Savannah had ordered.

"Well there needs to be one for everyone, dear!" she pointed out.

On the 23rd of December, it was time for Savannah to start making some of the food for the party.  She decided to start with dessert.  Meanwhile, she set Ivor to work in the garden, picking vegetables to be roasted tomorrow.

On the 24th of December, Savannah got up very early, as she had a busy day ahead!  All the mixing, chilling and freezing was done - all that remained was to fire up the oven and get baking!  Savannah turned the oven on, humming, and walked around doing a last check on things while she waited for it to heat up.  Everything was looking perfect!

But just as she got back to the kitchen, disaster struck!  A plume of smoke drifted up from the oven, accompanied by a nasty crackling sound!

"Oh no, oh no!" cried Savannah.
"What's wrong, Mum?" Ivor exclaimed, running downstairs.
"My oven is broken - how will I finish this cake now?  Let alone all the roasts I need to cook!"  Savannah wept.
"Well can't you ring Mr Prickles?"  asked Ivor sensibly.  Mr Prickles was the local handyman, whom everyone tended to call on when something needed fixing.
"He's away, the whole family have gone to spend Christmas at the Seaside," Savannah groaned.  "Oh, what am I going to do?  Our perfect Christmas party is ruined...!"

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Oh no - will the Trunk family be able to pull their Christmas party together, even with no food?!
Head over to Sylvanian Stories now for the thrilling conclusion...