Christmas

Scott's blade

Jess's pic

snow white doll

GG's plate holder

dad's pic

basketball hoop

Brandon's pic

So Christmas is over. Everyone had a really good time. We went to Chris' house for Christmas eve. He really goes all out with decorating. We ate pizza and then opened a few presents. We tried to start earlier so I wasn't getting the kids home so late but it still was almost ten before I got them asleep. They were up at 6:30 the next morning checking out the presents. They get to open the presents from Santa to keep them occupied until it is time to go to Mom's house for stockings and breakfast. Then we come back here and sort out the presents while Dad gets GG. We open for a while then eat Christmas dinner and then finish. We take turns opening the presents so it takes longer and makes Christmas last longer that way. Some of the highlight presents for everyone were: GG got a new really soft lap blanket, a gift card from Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim, a watch from Avon that she wanted and a paper plate holder that the boys made and I painted. Brandon got a RC monster truck that can go outside and new cowboy boots from Santa. He also got a lot of other cool toys like spy stuff, a basketball hoop that hooks onto the back of a door, things like that. Jessie received a prince and princess doll and a Rudolph doll that sings and the nose lights up from Santa and she got Barbie and princess stuff mainly for her other toys. I gave them both a painting that I painted, Brandon a fire scene and Jessie an ocean/dolphin scene. Every time I was doing a painting Jess would ask me for the rejects. She finally got to the point that she was intentionally trying to make me mess up so I promised her I would make her her own painting for Christmas so I had to make one for Brandon also. Scott's favorite presents were his fleece pants and the chainsaw blade I painted a fire scene on, and his drill. Chris' was probably his ipad Rachel got him. He also got some things for the house and some pretty knick-knacks. Rachel's was her ipod from Chris and her stuffed goat because she loves goats and music. She is really good at making the goat sound. She also received some scentsy stuff that she loves. Dad said his was the pizza and ocean paintings I painted for him. There is a story behind the pizza. My first painting I did was a fall one and it had a basket of leaves sitting on a chair. Chris and Dad have made fun of it for years saying it looks like a pizza. I finally decided to paint an actual pizza for him. I also made an ocean scene because he liked the one I did for Chris' birthday. He also got a plug in mug to keep his soup and tea warm when he is working. Mom said her favorites were all the jewelry she got, her granddaughter statue and the charms I got her for her bracelet. My favorite gifts was the new camcorder everyone pitched in to buy. Also my fuzzy robe and pjs and pretty much everything else I got. The camcorder was the big surprise. My best gift of all was having my family healthy and all together. The kids didn't fight and it was a nice pleasant white Christmas. After dinner we got to play with our gifts and watch a Christmas movie. It was one of the best Christmases we have had in a while.