We got a special treat for New Year’s Eve this year. The Smiths, Mike’s sister’s family, stopped by our house on their way home to Florida. They got to spend Christmas with the Minnesota relatives, but their journey home will be quite long. It was decided that they would take a 2-day break at our home. The Smith girls are getting so tall and mature. They are all taller than me now (not that that’s a big record to break) and no longer resemble the little girls I have carved into my memories from our Beaufort, SC days.

The Smiths are a fun group, so we decided it would be amusing to ring in the new year with another white elephant party. They were definitely on board and searched for interesting gifts at Grandma Minnesota’s favorite store called Bethesda Thrift Shop in Hopkins. The Smith girls also got presents to participate which meant more fabulous gifts to exchange. Mike and I shopped for our gifts separately in order to maintain the surprise element. The Johnsons also attended and brought along Seth’s sister’s family. They followed our instructions properly and each provided one gift per adult. There were 11 wonderful presents to open, and everyone could hardly contain their excitement.

I picked #1, and the gift I chose was a Vanilla Ice c.d. and a “Happy Purim” noise maker from Morgan.

Next up was Seth’s brother-in-law, and he received an inflatable, Vikings pennant from Maddie.

Then Seth’s sister received something so useful, an adding machine. Rozzie was the giver of this gift and apparently was coveting it greatly as she stole it back on her turn.

Seth was so thrilled for his gift, a cobra incense burner. Jenni later stole this in hopes of intriguing her students. Mike provided this gem.

Morgan couldn’t have been happier about her “Lunker Lake” board game all about fresh-water fishing. After some other stealing Mike ended up with this and tried to convince us later to play it with him. I believe Seth’s brother-in-law gave the ever popular board game.

Maddie’s gift required a lot of work to discover the final contents. Seth thought he was so clever to use up all the boxes around his home to wrap this up.
Box #1.

Box #2.

Box #3.

Box #4 finally revealed what the gift was to be, the Clapper. The Clapper caused quite a stir and was stolen into to retirement with the final recipient being me.

So Maddie got to open another gift. Oh, the pure joy she expressed after realizing it was a Dale Earnhardt lunch box. What a collector’s item!

But wait, there’s more. It’s look awfully like the winner’s cup after a Nascar race. How appropriate! (This was my contribution.) This combo gift was popular among the fellows and was stolen into retirement with Seth being the final recipient.

As you can see, Seth was quite proud of his “tropy”.

Travis was up next, and he got exactly what he had been wanting for so long, Stitchopoly and a wall hanging reminiscent of something you’d find in the Cracker Barrel General Store. This wonderful combo gift was from Seth’s sister.

Julie received the perfect gift, a 1999 Internet for Dummies desk calendar. And she was just telling me the other day how she really needed help on how to use the internet. Turns out that 1999 and 2009 have the same days. I believe this was Travis’ gift.

Jenni’s turn was next, and she actually got a gift that I think most people wouldn’t have minded, 10 pounds of candy corn in Valentine’s colors. At least I wouldn’t have been disappointed if I had received this delicious gift. Of course, it probably would a little nauseating after eating a few handfuls of that stuff.

And the final gift to be opened was a garlic house given by Jenni. I told Jenni she should have provided some garlic to the recipient to make the gift so aromatic.

Violet was sad that she couldn’t participate and kicked herself in the eye.

I’m pretty sure fun was had by all, and I hope we can continue the tradition next year with another party. Most everyone stuck around for the final minutes of ringing in the new year. Mike has had the urge to rent a keg of root beer for ages, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get one. It provided 90-12 ounce glasses of Pointe Root Beer made right here in Wisconsin. Yum! There was enough root beer to enjoy the next day, too.

It may seem like I’ve given up on blogging, and there were days when I thought the same thing. Life is finally feeling a little normal again, so I think it’s time to get back on the horse. To be honest, all my Christmas pics from our trip in NC were on my laptop, and I was too lazy to unpack the laptop to transfer the pictures to flickr. The deed is done now, and I now I can blog about Christmas.

Our time in NC was relaxing and fun. The weather cooperated all week with sunshine and warmth in the high 50’s most of the week. It was a nice break from the snow/wind/cold. My dad wanted me to search for retirement homes for him one day, so Mike decided that day would be a great opportunity to take the girls on the ferry over to Bald Head Island. They rented a golf cart and toured a couple of lighthouses. The girls had lots of stories to tell and shells to show.

On the ferry.

At the lighthouse.

Can you imagine the excitement these little girls had when they got to ride in the golf cart?

A chilly day on the beach.

The house my dad rented was right on the water. It was gorgeous.

The town was all along the water with a quaint downtown within walking distance of the house. We decided one morning to go for some hot cocoa and muffins down at the local coffee shop. Lucy accompanied us. She was made to wait outside, and looked so pathetic as she stood by.

Mimi and Lucy are great buddies.

My dream is to one day have wrap-around porches like this. I have always loved the southern style homes with their large porches.

My dad came well-equipped with Christmas gear including a tree/lights, decorations, stockings, hats, and other stuff. So we felt at home when it was time to open presents.

The girls awoke at about 4 am to open presents, but we made them wait until at least the sun had risen. Finally, at around 7:00 a.m. everyone was up and ready to open presents.

The girls were not thrilled to pose for this picture when all those gifts were just waiting to get torn open.

We had taken the girls a couple of days before Christmas to pick out presents for each other. Mimi gifted Annie with a jewelry box that has a dancing ballerina inside. And Mimi received a pug puppy in a cute purse. She named her Joey in honor of our friend, Matt’s, pet pug with the same name.

All other presents were overshadowed by long-awaited American Girl dolls, Kit Kittredge and Ruthie Smithens. The girls received a few other AG doll accessories like clothes, pet, vet set, etc. and the Kit Kittredge Movie, but the dolls were the big deal for this Christmas.

Of course, we couldn’t forget about Violet. She got some great clothes from Grandpa and lots of fun rattly toys from her stocking.

The adults got some fun gifts, too. Santa got Grandpa a Starbucks thermos and giftcard and a golf pullover from the local golf course. Mike received more hunting gear and new socks. I got a stick vac and a seasons flag pole. My dad wasn’t thrilled about getting me a vacuum cleaner for Christmas, but I told him that’s this is my life and vacuuming is what occupies my mind these days.

Mike and my dad spent a day golfing and another day fishing. Mike set it up to have a fishing guide take the guys out one day for in-shore fishing. It turned out to be a fairly windy/chilly day for it, but the boys survived and came home with lots o’ fish which now sit filleted in our freezer.

We had a really fun Christmas, and I’m glad we decided to make the trip down south. It actually reminded me a lot of my Christmas’ from my youth where we’d usually spend the holidays down in Florida.

Just a quick drop-in to say we’re having a fun time down here in NC. We did encounter some major delays on our travels here as the weather was horrific on our original path, and a rock slide in Asheville forced us to take yet another route. We made it safely though, and we’re enjoying the warmish and sunny weather.

I haven’t even gotten around to wrapping presents yet, so this video makes feel really behind.

I hope everyone is enjoying time with family and friends and having the most lovely Christmas.

My friend, Julie, posted her top 10 favorite Christmas songs on her blog yesterday. I don’t plan to do the same, but I was struck by her #1 pick which is “O Holy Night”. This song also tops my favorites list of Christmas songs. As a matter of fact, one of the songs currently getting replayed on my iPod is “O Holy Night” as performed by Sufjan Stevens. Have a listen for yourself. Wait, I added a couple of other songs to the list (couldn’t resist). Another favorite this Christmas season is “Winter Wonderland” by Goldfrapp. And an all-time, fun favorite is “I Want A Hippopatumus For Christmas” by Gayla Peavey. Enjoy! E.T.A.: I’ve added “Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)” by Sufjan Stevens because Julie requested it after I mentioned it to her.

The sick bug has struck Annie again (and probably the rest of us soon) with coughing and wheezing. I noticed her incessant coughing and wheezing the night before last and started her on the breathing treatments the doctor prescribed to her. I thought she was fine to go to school yesterday, but her school decided otherwise and sent her home. We did round the clock breathing treatments all day yesterday, and by bedtime I noticed her coughing had subsided and her wheezing is much less pronounced now. She’s back at school today, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that she won’t get kicked out again.

This picture was actually taken from the last time she was sick, but you get the idea of what she did all day yesterday.

In other news, our church ward had it’s annual Christmas party. This year it was decided that we’d have a brunch. My mom came along with us, and I think everyone had a great time.

I couldn’t help but get the girls dressed up in their Christmas dresses.

You know that I couldn’t resist putting Violet in this little Santa dress.

My mom was the designated babysitter for the day since I had to assist with all the activities for the brunch. Thanks, Mom!

I called on Julie and Seth to volunteer as Mary and Joseph. Well, Julie has the Mary “look” and Seth has been bearding it, so they really were the perfect fit. They thought otherwise but were willing to do it anyway. We had a hilarious time getting them dressed up for the their moment on stage. {Does anyone (ahem, Sara) noticed anything in particular on Seth’s head? I couldn’t resist.} The original plan was for Violet to play baby Jesus but because I had a bad feeling about it instead I brought along a dolly to use. That bad feeling turned out to be a good thing because about halfway through the program Violet had a violent blowout. Seth and Julie said they about laughed out loud on the stage when they saw Violet being escorted naked by my mom back into the cultural hall (I didn’t think to give her the extra change of clothes).

The girls got to visit with Santa. They were very excited to finally tell him in person all the American Girl stuff they hope to get.

Violet also get her chance with Santa. She had lots to say. Notice the new pants Violet is wearing thanks to her blowout earlier.

Of course, I had to get a picture of all the girls with Santa. So cute!

It was a really fun day, and I’m glad my mom also got the chance to come.