Ah, another Christmas is in the books. I heard lots of "this is the best Christmas ever" from the kids. I'm not exactly sure what made it the best Christmas ever for them, but it makes me happy that they feel that way!
The kids' big gift from Santa was a Wii-U. The boys were super excited about it. Anna on the other hand said, "but I didn't ask for a Wii-U." Luckily, her other gifts made up for it -- furry lounge pillow, rainbow loom, sewing machine, Rebelle crossbow -- she was very happy with all of it.
I think Payton's favorite gift of the day was the $10 pack of Pokemon cards that he received from Conner. He has been carrying them around everywhere and has informed us that ALL he wants for his birthday (in 5 weeks) is Pokemon cards. Lots and lots of Pokemon cards. (When I saw this plush Rotom doll I knew that it would totally make his day. And it did.)
Conner was a hard one to shop for this year. He is 13. And there was nothing that he really wanted. So he got some LEGOs, of course, Skylanders for the new Wii-U, as well as an electronic programming board (Arduino) and his first bottle of cologne. He didn't really know what to think about that. Scott let him know it was for the ladies. ;)
In the afternoon the sister missionaries came over and they got to make a phone call home (Skype) from our computers. That's always an exciting day for missionary families. When they finished their calls we watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas and Joy to the World while dinner was cooking. It was delicious -- pork tenderloin, funeral potatoes, broccoli, raspberry jell-o/pretzel dessert, rolls, and individual bottles of Martinelli's to drink.
I had placed Christmas crackers at each setting and boy, that sure opened a can of worms. Between the jokes, the charades, and silly trinkets inside . . . . the kids took it all way too far and the room was filled riotous laughter and craziness. I hope we didn't scare the missionaries too much!
After they left we spent the rest of the evening lounging -- watching movies, Anna and I worked on her rubberband loom, C & P played Pokemon cards, Conner tried to hide his orange (but was easily found), and Payton built a huge tower with his Kapla blocks
It was just a nice day.
I hope you had a good one too.
Sometimes you purchase gifts and cross your fingers that they will be winners. And sometimes you randomly grab a gift off the shelf and it ends up being the recipient's absolute favorite thing. To aid in future gift-giving, here's a short list of Christmas winners that we gave or received this year:
Perplexus
Kapla Blocks
Skylanders
Rainbow Loom
Letterpress Family Proclamation - It is gorgeous! Can't wait to get it framed.
Disc-O-Bed
DropStop - Do you watch Shark Tank? We do. And this is one of the success stories from the show. I got these for my dad and Scott and they both love it!
Shark with Frickin' Laser Pointer -- Scott loves Austin Powers. And he has always wanted a laser pointer. Boom!
"Oh my Gravy" ladle - just cute and just for fun.
Homemade gifts (more on that later)
**Note: some links are affiliate (which means I receive a small tiny comission if you click and purchase), but opinions are 100% my own.
