Super Bowl 2014 Party!!!!!

 We are definitely BRONCOS fans at our house!  So we were extra excited for the Super Bowl this year when the BRONCOS were playing.  Too bad the Broncos didn't show up to play.  It was a  sad game to watch - luckily it was still a fun night!  LOTS of yummy food and friends - the only thing that would have made it better was the BRONCOS winning and all of our friends being there!

Dallin made necklaces for everyone to take depending on who you were cheering for - but my favorite was the "I am only here for the FOOD!!!"

The little 3 couldn't wait for the Super Bowl to start - ok, they couldn't wait for our Super Bowl PARTY to start.  They waited for everyone to come so they could help them pick their team.

 Gavin helped with the decorations too - he drew the sea hawk and bronco.

 Normally I wouldn't buy a huge banner for the team I was cheering for but I have LOVED the BRONCOS since I was a kid and John Elway was quarterback - and the BRONCOS are Dallin's favorite team so I bought this banner and it will go in Dallin's room.  There were more decorations (balloons, fun backdrop behind the drinks, etc) that I didn't take pictures of.  

 Now onto the FOOD!

First we had appetizers.  My mom made these jalapeño poppers - what a HUGE hit!  I will get the recipe from her and post it.  Next year we will make a LOT more of these. 

 Spinach dip with the good bread from Kneaders!  It looks like a football too - perfect!

 Buffalo bits - too bad by the time I picked up my camera after putting them out, they were GONE!  Next year I will have more of those too.  We also had 7-layer dip and a cream cheese dip and mini hot dogs - thanks to everyone that brought appetizers and side dishes and drinks and nachos and more.  

Look at all these cute kids!

My favorite addition this year was the super cool HOT DOG BAR.  We had a hot dog bar last year but not like this one.  I saw a fun sign on Pinterest that listed 6 different hot dogs to make and how to make them - so I made my own sign and had all the toppings in fun jars so people could make fun hot dogs.  The hot dog bar included hot dogs, polish dogs, even corn dogs (which the kids LOVED), diced green peppers, diced onions, diced tomatoes (thanks to Michele S. for bringing all the diced veggies), pickles, salsa, sauerkraut, cheese, bacon, chili, mustard, mayo, ketch-up, and BBQ sauce.

 We also had lots of sides - pasta salad, green salad, fruit, and chips.

One of my favorite parts at our Super Bowl party is what I call the GAME FOOD section.  You know the stuff you really only eat at a sporting event.  Like POPCORN (thanks to the Taylor's), the BIG pretzels, and Nachos (thanks Jones and Hansens) with the cool nacho trays.

 Here's some of the guys (including Ed) trying to figure out what kind of hot dog to make.

 Here are people enjoying the game - I don't have lots of pictures from the actual party - I was suppose to be sitting down during the game (which I did most of the time).  I am NOT good at sitting down during parties but I had surgery the Monday beforehand and was pretty exhausted - not too tired to not have a PARTY!

 Now onto my FAVORITE type of FOOD, DESSERT!!!!  Here is the DESSERT BAR!  We had 13 different desserts and then 2 other desserts were brought.

 I like to try new desserts at the Super Bowl - so I made a couple of things that we have had before (cupcakes, Oreo Rice Krispy treats) and then lots of things I have never made before.  Next year, I think I am going to make 5-6 desserts that are tried and true (maybe a new one or two just because).  I really liked the new desserts I tried - but I think when there are so many choices, people go to what they know they like.

We had 2 different kinds of brownies - cookies-n-creme brownies and chocolate marshmallow peanut butter brownies.  On the plate between the brownies is a S'mOreo Seven Layer Bars.

 These are Peanut Butter Cup cookies - a good and easy to make peanut butter cookie.

 Salted chocolate caramel pretzel bark - really yummy!

 Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate chip cookies - a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies and we made them BIG - they are a fun change.

 Snickers Popcorn - super yummy!

 We had 3 different kinds of Rice Krispy treats - next time I will make them all in bars so they look yummier.  We had Oreo Rice Krispy Treats (still my FAVORITE), Milky Way Rice Krispy Treats, and Reese Rice Krispy Treats.

 Can't have a party without cupcakes - chocolate "football" cupcakes and vanilla "BRONCO" cupcakes (orange cupcakes with blue in the middle and orange frosting).

 Oreo Rice Krispy Treats

 Milky Way Rice Krispy Treats

 Reese Rice Krispy Treats

 Snickers Popcorn

 Best, Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

 Cookies-N-Creme Brownies

 S'mOreo Seven Layer Bars

 Chocolate Marshmallow Peanut Butter Brownies

I will try to post recipes soon.

 I didn't get many pictures from the party but I did manage to get this one of my sweet Cameron with a cupcake - which he only licked the frosting off of.

 Here are most of my sweet girlfriends that came.

 Here the die hards still watching the game in the 4th quarter.

I almost forgot to post about our Raffle!  I totally forgot to take a picture of it this year so this is from last year (ignore the 49ers helmet).  Here is how it works.  Everyone gets to put their name in one square.  At the end of each quarter, we add the 2 team scores together and whoever's name is in the square, they win a prize.  Everyone loves this (at least I think they do).  Next year I am going to have this one just be for adults, and have a different one for kids.  I think for the kids though it will not be based on the score of the game - I will pick a number "out of a hat" every 5-10 minutes during the game - whoever's name is in that square will get to pick a candy bar or something like that.  I think the kids will really like it.

Here are the prizes for this year.  

I made this fun candy bar BRONCO "cake".

 A Fandago gift card and popcorn.

 $20 Little Caesars gift card and Fanta Orange soda

 And a BRONCOS t-shirt in a BRONCOS bag - luckily a BRONCOS fan won it.

Definitely NOT the outcome we expected or hoped for - but a fun night with great friends!  And I must say my friends are the best - they all stayed and got my house cleaned up (including vacuuming) and furniture back where it belonged before going home - which was a HUGE help! Thanks for making it a GREAT night!