. . . christmas day 2012 . . .
. . . i will long remember this one . . .
{mostly because of this photo overload}
. . . starting with placing the star . . .
. . . that same star
followed by wise men
seeking jesus . . .
. . . a fitting final advent ornament . . .
. . . then we had
traditional christmas fare . . .
. . . grilled hamburgers
and hot dogs . . .
. . . why not? . . .
. . . cute centerpiece? . . .
. . . check . . .
{every single one of these people know i have a blog
and i will post their photos}
. . . i can highly recommend
the game we played this year . . .
{thanks so much to my friend, vicki,
who told me about her family's experience with it last year}
. . . on thanksgiving day,
we handed out money,
wrapping paper, and ribbon
to each of our children
and their spouses . . .
. . . with instructions for them
to purchase
and wrap their own gifts . . .
. . . spend the entire amount . . .
. . . don't tell anyone
{not even your spouse}
what you bought . . .
{they didn't do very well on that one}
{note to self: more wrapping paper next time. some of us ran out}
. . . banish all grandchildren
{except hayden}
to the other room
to watch a movie . . .
{very important step and they were so good about it ~
bless their little hearts}
. . . take turns opening a package
you know you did NOT bring . . .
. . . try to guess whose gift it is . . .
. . . amelia opened
these cool spectacles . . .
. . . after some contemplation,
she figured out
they belong to brent . . .
. . . oh, chris . . .
. . . it wasn't hard to figure out
that amanda was the only one
with the nerve
to bring this gift to the party . . .
. . . we discovered that chris
spent all his money
{well ~ he had 60¢ to spare}
on this swell gun safe . . .
. . . amber is hard core . . .
. . . she paid her
phoenix marathon entry fee . . .
. . . got spiffy new running shoes
and lots of her favorite
lululemon workout clothes . . .
. . . brent treated himself
to the aforementioned glasses,
bowties,
weight lifting shoes
{who knew?},
a jumprope,
bluetooth headset,
and a book
about his favorite soccer player . . .
. . . i know amanda will enjoy
her new blender,
panini press,
workout clothes,
and foundation garments . . .
. . . she didn't follow the rules
and still has
some unspent funds . . .
. . . tyler is a power shopper . . .
. . . after lots of research,
he ended up with a compressor,
a surround sound system,
iphone speakers,
and shoes . . .
. . . amelia bought four bar stools
and fifteen
down east basic undershirts . . .
. . . yes . . .
. . . fifteen undershirts . . .
. . . drew treated himself
to taylor made golf clubs
and a carry bag . . .
. . . i wonder how he feels
about snowy utah golf? . . .
. . . jessalyn wins
~ hands down ~
for sheer number of gifts . . .
. . . four pair of shoes . . .
. . . lots of clothes . . .
. . . makeup . . .
. . . gel nail polish
and the UV lamp
to cure it . . .
. . . it was so fun to see
what everyone got . . .
. . . i could never have fulfilled
all those wishes . . .
. . . i was supposed to be
figuring out awards
as i was watching . . .
. . . you know like most unique,
most practical,
most predictable, etc . . .
. . . totally didn't do that . . .
. . . so we decided
it would be like t-ball
and everyone wins! . . .
. . . gift cards for all . . .
. . . but you have to shoot for it . . .
. . . nerf dart guns . . .
. . . drew cheated and practiced . . .
. . . he really loves pei wei . . .
. . . tyler cried foul
when chris shot him
in the back of the head
at a crucial moment . . .
{i believe the phrase he used was, "i got lincolned!"}
. . . and he was thrilled
with his f21 gift card . . .
. . . then the cheater took aim . . .
. . . and walked away
with exactly what he wanted . . .
. . . brent showed everyone up . . .
. . . shooting with his eyes closed . . .
. . . and scoring
the barnes & noble card . . .
. . . concentration paid off
for jessalyn . . .
. . . cpk time! . . .
. . . have you ever seen
how crooked amelia's arm is? . . .
{a broken elbow, surgery, and pins will do that to you}
. . . aiming is tricky . . .
. . . but she seemed happy
about bj's . . .
. . . not sure what manders
was doing . . .
. . . but i'm sure she'll enjoy
her endless fries at red robin . . .
. . . and i somehow have no photo
of amber shooting . . .
{we were in a hurry by then ~
it was torture for the little boys not to get to play.
fortunately the guns came in a three pack.
perfect for handing off to tate, tagg, and elliott}
. . . but i'm sure a trip to old navy
will happen in the near future . . .
. . . jammies at grammy's last night . . .
. . . and toys from grampa today . . .
. . . pretty sure the kids
were a little excited
about what they saw
in the garage . . .
. . . shiny new bikes all around . . .
. . . beach cruisers
to match the girls' skinny jeans . . .
. . . striders for
the three littlest boys . . .
. . . and it's totally fine
to ride in a onesie
when you're sixteen months old . . .
. . . at eighteen months, though,
a helmet is a must . . .
. . . and apparently
at age twenty-nine also . . .
. . . elliott will have this mastered
in no time at all . . .
. . . tagg loves green . . .
. . . tate is almost too cool
for pictures . . .
. . . i would say halleigh
was the most excited of all . . .
. . . with addison a close second . . .
. . . thanks for the wheels, grampa! . . .
. . . little miss hayden
was content to enjoy
from the sidelines
in her new bumbo . . .
. . . her mom is just happy
to have another option
of where to put her . . .
. . . she mostly likes
to be carried around all day . . .
. . . the cousins gift exchange
is finally starting to work out . . .
. . . for so long,
amber's four kids
outnumbered their cousins . . .
. . . but now there are
just as many rasmussens,
johnsons, and romneys
as there are hansens . . .
. . . so there's no need for anyone
to buy for a sibling . . .
. . . addi got really cool tween stuff ~
lip gloss, nail polish,
and cheetah glasses
that i may or may not
be coveting . . .
. . . halleigh got a sassy fedora
with a bow . . .
. . . tate realllllllllllllly loves bubbles . . .
. . . isn't that lucky? . . .
. . . and tagg is a huge fan
of transformers . . .
. . . while elliott loves
all things super hero . . .
. . . and costumes . . .
. . . cameron is obsessed
with yo gabba gabba . . .
. . . and colby just really enjoyed
the unwrapping process . . .
. . . addi was so proud
of the outfit and boots
she helped choose
for hayden . . .
. . . it's easy to see why . . .
. . . um . . .
. . . those boots? . . .
. . . that skirt? . . .
. . . at the end of the day . . .
. . . i find myself
counting my blessings . . .
. . . happy that my family
was all together . . .
. . . happy that they seem happy . . .
. . . i'm thankful
for another successful christmas . . .
. . . prayerful for a happy 2013 . . .
. . . and to all a good night . . .
4 comments:
FANTASTIC! Amazing post! Love it! Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful family! Happy, Healthy 2013!
Lots of great ideas for us to play with next year. Thanks for such a fun post - Happiest of New Years for you and your family!
I love your present idea. I'm using it in two years when all my kids are here again. (Next year is the in-laws turn) I hope I remember. It sounds pretty fun.
LOVE that gift game idea!!
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