Christmas 2007-- The Cliffs Notes Version

I know that in blogger years I am horribly late with my Christmas Recap, but we have been at my parents' house and there hasn't been much time to sit and update the blog. Plus, I left the camera cable at home, so I don't have any pictures. Oh, well.

We had two Christmases this year since we didn't want to schlep all of the gifts to grandma's house. So on Sunday we opened most of the gifts under our tree and just brought a choice few for the real day. Good thing, too. Since my siblings and parents had PLENTY of things to open. We had almost the entire family around. Megan and John drove up for a few days, and Katie and her husband Brandon live around here. Jacob and Emily are in Vegas and weren't able to make the trip, but hopefully we will see them this summer. They were missed.

The Favorite Gifts

The Family -- Santa brought a Wii. Jillise has already kicked everyone's hiney in bowling.

Brian -- His "big" gift was a trip to Vegas at Thanksgiving to see his beloved Tarheels play. He also got Guitar Hero for the Wii. He has been up until all hours of the night playing it and speeding the onset of arthritis.

Paige -- I got a new laptop computer. Woo hoo!! I am so excited. It was actually delivered AFTER Christmas (no -- it's not on my front porch, don't worry) so I haven't seen it yet, but I can't wait. And I am the proud owner of a Pioneer Woman 2008 calendar. SO very fun. ;)

Jillise -- Her Webkinz and Barbie Girl have been big hits -- making me that much more grateful that I will have my own computer so I don't have to be interrupted every 10 minutes by little girls asking me if they can play. She also got some books, the game Sorry (we've played multiple times this week), some art stuff, new pjs, and some dolls.

Joelle -- also got a Webkinz, though the website is still a bit advanced for her to navigate alone. She got a HUGE dollhouse, but it is still in the box back at home. She had asked Santa for a My Little Pony, but on Christmas morning all she saw was her Koala Webkinz and she burst into tears. SkyWishes the pony put a smile on her face though, and Christmas was saved. Phew. Santa needs to do a better job of putting the requested toys in plain sight. She also got some books, dolls, games, and new jammies.

Jaren -- he gave us a great gift by starting to WALK. Hip hip hooray! He can also get up and DOWN the stairs now (because I forgot to pack the baby gate) and loves to climb. For Christmas he got cars. And trucks. Lots of them. He is in heaven.

**As a side note, watching my children discovering their Santa treasures and other gifts I was reminded again of just how blessed we are. I feel so fortunate that we can give our children the things they asked for and then some. We were in a position this year where we were able to do some service to others to help make their Christmas memorable and I am thankful for that blessing. I think that our faith, stability, jobs, family, and friends are what made this Christmas so wonderful.

The Weight loss

I officially lost 23.4 lbs in the challenge. It worked out to be 15.?? % My mom lost something like .4 more than me, but our percentages were about the same. I haven't done as well AFTER the weigh in, though. Too many cookies and treats lying around. I can't wait to be over this cold and back in the gym.

Projects

I had some sewing gifts I was going to make, but since my last foray into the world of following patterns was the great Snow White Halloween Costume Fiasco of 2003 (where so much time, money, blood, sweat, and tears was put into making one stinking dress that I will now ALWAYS buy premade ones), I decided to wait until I had my mom around to help before I started them. So they will be New Years gifts. Or Martin Luther King day gifts, depending on how soon I get them in the mail. I have completed two and a half of them and I think they look SO cute. I am pleased with them, though my back is killing me . I would have finished the third, but the bobbin tension in my mom's sewing machine went wacko and she has to take it in. (She says it's not my fault -- it has needed to be tuned up for a while, but I can't help but feel guilty.)

The After Christmas Sales

I scored big this year. I can't wait to decorate next year. I just hope I have enough room in the car to get it home.

Sports

We are fitting our trip back home around basketball and bowl games. Brian and my dad have watched hours and hours of games every night. Thank goodness I had my projects to do.

And I think that about wraps it up. We should get home on Monday and we will pack everything up and continue on with life as we know it. I about passed out when I saw the Valentines stuff up at Target. How quickly we move on...