White Christmas Day

Just as we hoped, Santa found us up here in Snowy Flagstaff. He slid down the chimney and left lots of toys for all the girls & boys...or something.

The day started with Bill waking up about 5am to let Harley out...he noticed the Christmas tree had fallen over on top of ALL the presents!! He quickly grabbed Robyn and they lifted our large tree back to the upright position and repositioned the goods Santa left. We all decided the age old question had been answered: If the tree falls in the living room & nobody is around to hear it, does it make noise? The answer is of course NO...

All the kiddos were down stairs and ready to open gifts by 8am...and so were all the grown-ups. It was We had a fabulous Christmas. There's no other way to say it. This was an amazing Christmas holiday...one that will never be duplicated. It was so fun to watch all the kiddos open their gifts & watch the excitement on their faces. I love the innocence of a child.

I was also able to pull of a great surprise for Mike. He's been asking for a PS3 since they came out several years ago. They're $350, so we've always found other stuff we needed or wanted. This year, I told Mike repeatedly (every time he brought up the fact that he still wanted a PS3) we just couldn't afford it this year...with all the house expenses and the new truck, etc. I had been stashing a few bucks away in a place Mike doesn't look (at least I think he doesn't look), so I could finally buy him his PS3.

The smile on his face was priceless...I love making him happy. I also bought him a handful of new Blu Ray movies to watch on the PS3's blu ray player...and the one game I knew he wanted: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Unfortunately because of the language and violence, he won't be able to play his game until we are home and away from ALL the impressionable children.

I told Mike we weren't going to spend much money on each other this year, and asked him not to buy me much, if anything. He bought me a few good purchases and didn't spend too much...he did perfect!! I got the Crocs I have been wanting for a couple years, the new "Eat This, Not That" book for 2010, and an awesome book about Bon Jovi. These Crocs have been a lifesaver up here!! I also got the much anticipated movie, "The Hangover"...very excited about this one too!!

The rest of the day was spent playing in the snow or relaxing...it was a fabulous day. Mike & Trent built a sled run and we all took turns on the toboggan and other assorted items brought to propel us through the snow. The snow clothes we purchased were definitely worth the money...and I even got my 16 year old snow jacket out of the closet. I haven't worn it since January 23rd, 2000. I guess my parents really got their $100 outa that purchase.

We also played Ryan's traditional "money ball" this year. We all collected change and a few bills and deposited into a clear ornament. We each guessed how much was inside and the closest guess won the money!! McKenna was closest with her guess of $19.50 and the total amount inside was $19.98. I'm pretty sure she had help...

After a fabulous dinner (side bar: I think we are all gaining several pounds this week from all the amazing food!! EVERY meal is amazing and all the homemade goodies we've been making are heavenly.) ...where was I..?? Oh yeah...After a fabulous dinner of fried turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and ALL the other good stuff that goes with it, we played "Do You Like Your Neighbor" and then had our gift exchange.

All the adults put in a $25 gift card, and then we draw numbers. We follow the "white elephant" gift exchange rules...we always have a fun time stealing cards to hopefully end up with a desired card. There really isn't a bad $25 card, but some are obviously better than others. This year we brought a Shell gas card & Carrabba's...we ended up with Carrabba's and Olive Garden. We love to eat out on the weekend, so both cards work good for us.

This year the kiddos also started doing a gift card exchange instead of their regular gift exchange. We thought it would be easier to bring up gift cards instead of all those actual gifts. The kiddos had fun with it, so maybe it'll be the new thing for them.

Like every year, it seems Christmas Day goes by too quickly.