in the middle of it all

that’s where i am right now.  in the middle of a huge recyclable mess; in the middle of a family performance of lego rock band.  in the middle of sorting through my thoughts/expectations of christmas day.  in the middle of downloading lots of pictures from my camera to my laptop.  in the middle of rescuing toy after toy from the confines of its ridiculously-impossible-to-open packaging.   in the middle of christmas day.

and loving it.

          

favorite moments from stockings:

• nolan’s club penguin membership card
• ellison’s jamba juice gift card
• the predictable orange in the toe of the stocking
• ellison “helping” ray discover the rest of his stocking contents (so we could move on to opening the rest of our gifts)
• nolan, ray, and savannah discovering “real jewels”
• ray’s confusion over receiving a purple hotwheel- which he kindly donated to savannah’s pile
• the mini bambi board books that my sweet friend tami sent to me to put in the kids’ stockings
• santa’s Ho.Ho.Ho. gift bag that he left by our fireplace, full of gifts
• emma’s white tights that she’s been asking for all year
• see’s chocolates gift certificates in the girls’ stockings

                     
memorable gift-opening moments:

• emma and savannah receiving their “little pretties” skirts
• elli and emma receiving wrapped notes that sent them on a hunt for larger gifts
• nolan’s confusion at receiving Lego Rock Bank for xbox 360- when we don’t have rock band instruments OR an xbox 360.  “oh well.  i guess we can just borrow the fleig’s xbox 360.”
• ray getting his very own mariokart- which means we can safely return the collett’s mariokart that we’ve been borrowing for the last month+
• the kids finally getting and respecting my “keep all your stuff in your own ikea/costco bag and put all the garbage/recyclables in the correct box” systems

favorite gifts:

• ellison:  acoustic guitar
• emma:  american girl addy doll
• nolan:  zoo tycoon 2
• savannah:  littlest pet shop “color me” kitty
• ray:  huge amazon.com bubble tubes

until…

for this:ahh.  it’s all making sense now. 

 

least favorite moments:

• the mess
• having ray wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom- and discover that santa had left pez candies in his bed and down the hallway and stairs leading to the stockings.  it took him an hour to fall back asleep
• having our band hero disc get scratched inside the xbox and become unusable before we even got to play it.
• having the anticipation of christmas morning be over

my favorite gift:
 
was originally this vest- because it may have been something i purchased for myself and it may or may not have also been the only gift i thought i was receiving.

until these became my favorite gift:

which was my favorite gift until i read this perfect letter from my husband:


which was my very favorite until we received the ultimate gift from my brother:  an e-mailed menu of gifts to choose from and agree upon.  we were instructed to choose “one appetizer gift, one entree gift, and one dessert gift” as a family unit.  and then call back and place our “order” within an hour’s time.

 
our choices were difficult- as some of them were intentionally tempting for specific children.  some of the choices we struggled with were:

1. appetizers:
   • an i-tunes gift card
   • a book entitled “how to beat your dad at chess”
   • a trio of classic family movies
   • a hand-selected christmas ornament
2. entrees:
   • an extreme lego star wars set
   • a $150 shopping spree at forever 21
   • 2010 american girl doll of the year
   • family wii game package, including 2 wii games of our choice
   • dinner at ruth’s chris and an overnight stay at seattle’s downtown hyatt for 2
   • family bowling night, including pizza
3. desserts:
   • cold stone creamery ice cream package for the kids
   • harward-style snack box
   • gamble grab bag dessert chosen by giver’s family

we are excited about our final selections.  and we may have had to barter with our children to end up with our final selections.  what we chose:  ornament, dinner/hotel for 2, and gamble grab bag. 
  
this particular gift was especially meaningful for many reasons.  first, it’s from my brother.  second, my brother and his wife put a lot of time and thought and creativity into this special gift to make it unique to our family.  they took the time to figure out what would be a meaningful gift for each member of my family- and they were dead-on.  third, it was super fun to discuss our options and make compromises as a family in order to have everyone walk away happy.  fourth, all of the choices were fabulous gifts.  and fifth, it’s from my brother whose name is pepper.

and that special experience left the biggest smile on my face until a surprise gift showed up on my doorstep from my photog friend, shannon:

a scrabble tile pendant necklace she made for me that had a picture of calvin on the other side of a “C” scrabble tile.  of course, it made me cry.  so sweet and thoughtful.  loved it.  thank you, shannon.

but, really, the best gift of all is feeling loved.  feeling the love of my children, my husband, my brother, my family, my friends.  and especially the love of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  it’s what christmas is all about. 

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