The Wii

Christmas night we watched the kids play Wii until Larry and I couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. We called it a somewhat early night and fell asleep as we listened to the kids having a good time downstairs. Every once in a while we would hear Paul explode in frustration which meant that one of the girls had just one-upped his best score. It was a good day
-Brenda

The Bear

Kelsie & Josh had a homemade Christmas. She fussed around and made him a camo tie and a date can. He surprised Kelsie (and all of us) when he came up with an idea for a Teddy Bear. He carefully drew it by hand, cut it out, sewed, turned it inside out, ironed, stuffed and sewed it closed, then sewed button eyes and tied a ribbon around his neck. While I may have taught him what to do, Josh did every step himself... after all Kelsie wouldn't want a perfect bear, she would want a bear made by her Josh. She loves it perfectly! Now to come up with a name?
-Brenda

Opening Presents

This year the kids drew names and made a homemade gift with no more than a $10 budget. It was fun to see their minds work through the holidays as they came up with the perfect gift. These are always the best gifts of Christmas.

Paul made Katie a wooden step stool
Ashlee made Josh coupons for his favorite treats
Lindsey made Abby embroidery hoop push pin boards
Ransom crochet Lindsey a beanie
Katie made Kelsie a jewelry display frame
Kelsmade Ash acorn earings and fridge magnets
Josh made Paul a cool target for BB gun practice
Abs made Ransom banana bread and a monthly coupon book for treats

No one knows who the presents belong to until we are ready to open them. Each year there is a different ribbon color for each person. I have to hide the codes somewhere in the house to remind me when I wrap presents. No one has ever found the hiding places throughout the years... no one.


We kept Christmas simple this year. Homemade gifts are my hands down favorite...Ashlee made me a What if? question game, Katie & Ransom helped Conrad make a cookie jar with his handprints and the rest made a handpieced tablecloth. Larry loved his Packers shirt 05 (for 5 daughters) and slippers. He has never had a pair of slippers before and is wearing them
everywhere.

The grand finale? The girls each unwrapped a box with an outfit perfectly chosen for them from the Gap. The look on their faces was priceless... they were speechless as they checked out their ugly clothes. My thinking? Well, it doesn't matter what Larry and I pick out through the years... they generally take it back. A gift card seemed impersonal and so as Lindsey says, 'Go big or go home'. They had to model their outfits for us and then they will take their clothes back, get cash and go shopping. :)

Pictures by the Tree

I often wonder why we do this... the same background year after year. But, (just about) everyone likes getting their picture taken with each other in front of the tree. I believe that Abby is wearing her most comfy tie dye t-shirt just to bug me this year! Through the years as we have all grown and gotten older, it is pretty nice to look back on :)
-Brenda

Christmas Dinner

We made Christmas dinner at home this year and invited Josh's Mom to eat with us so we could share Josh... Ashlee made beautiful sparkly table settings that included a piece of fine chocolate truffle that was meant to cleanse our pallet... it did! Instead of turkey we made a 5 cheese ravioli with garlic chicken sauce or alfredo sauce and strips of grilled steak drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Soooo out of this world good that I ate it for breakfast the day after. Lindsey made me laugh so hard that I passed gas which sounded like a loud blow horn. Of course, I quickly blamed it on Larry and tried to direct the conversation to something else, quite unsuccessfully ... it did linger for what seemed like an eternity :)
-Brenda