25 December 2012

. . . the most wonderful time of the year . . .

. . . 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:

Carol said...

FANTASTIC! Amazing post! Love it! Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful family! Happy, Healthy 2013!

Merry Merry said...

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!

marilynl said...

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.

K Bailey said...

LOVE that gift game idea!!