Christmas 2009

This year was a pretty low key Christmas it seemed. At the beginning of the month we got together with my side of the family & had a Christmas party after our family pictures. We did it at Pat & Megan's house, I think it was a great way to start the month off! The kids had drawn names about a month before and they did a gift exchange, probably the cutest & sweetest thing was when Garret opened his present from Sara (they have always been super close & best friends) it was a box full of paper airplane making supplies, he was so excited, he jumped up & grabbed her in a huge hug, seriously it wanted to make me cry seeing them this way. So Garret had picked Sara's name & she opened her present from him & it was the same thing, just great big hugs to each other! I hope they stay this close because it just makes us all smile to watch them together! Us adults did a white elephant give exchange, can I just say I totally suck at buying white elephant gifts!! I didn't have a clue what to buy. The fancy gift I ended up getting was from Pat, just want to give a public thank you to him for the fantastic whoopee cushion. He splurged & got the self inflating one, you didn't even have to blow it up with your mouth it just automatically filled up on it's own, ready to fflllaaaarrrtt over & over. My little boys got the biggest kick out of that. The Snuggie was a big hit too, but the funniest thing was the Cuddlee, I bet nobody even knew there was a knock off of the Snuggie, my mom found it at the dollar store! So Michael & Clarice ended up with a Snuggie & a Cuddlee, the pictures were a crack up (to bad they got deleted!). Anyway it was a great time.

We had our ugly Christmas Sweater Party again this year. Our turn out was a little lame this year as I guess we were competing with other parties that were much be better than ours?! Like that's possible?! Anyway Todd went all out this year. The day of the party he went to the mexican clothes store in downtown Buckeye which will now become his fav store for his work shirts I am sure. Anyway he managed to find some light blue polyester Wranglers, of course he bought them on the tight side (nerd). His ugly sweater this year was purchased on ebay, it was a lovely royal blue with a Christmas tree on it, presents underneath & a fantastic cat that was batting at the presents. The best part was the shoulder pads, he looked so funny! To top off the outfit he had been growing his hair out for awhile & he shaved the top of his hair & left the sides & the back so it looked like he was bald with a receeding hair line, then he took hair gel & the blow dryer & fluffed it straight out. Holy cow!! Talk about a laugh, I couldn't even look at him without laughing. He also did some fancy shave job on his face, was a little on the creepy side. Before we ate he was thanking everyone for coming over & he is being all serious & we all just start laughing because we couldn't take him seriously. He ended up winning the grand prize, I must say he deserved it. What a crack up! I think Brennen took some pics with his phone, I will find them & add to the post because they are so stinking funny! Anyway the sweater party was a great time.

Christmas Eve we spent with the Hall's. It was so low key & quiet. Todd's sisters Lindy & Mattie decided that they should live across the country & have moved. Lindy to Ohio & Mattie to Missouri. So they weren't able to come. It was just Todd's parents, us, Katie & her boyfriend (hopefully fiance soon!) Brandon. We ate dinner, had Navajo tacos & chicken enchiladas, yummy. Then we opened gifts, they gave us a Wii, which we love & the kids play non stop. Afterwards Skeeter had bought this peppermint pig, can't remember what it is actually called but it comes with a metal hammer & a bag. Everybody takes a turn hitting the pig with the hammer and breaking it. Then everybody takes a piece of the broken candy & tells about their good fortune for the past year. Is supposed to help with bringing good luck for the new year. Everyone went around the room, Katie & Brennen were last & of course they made us all cry with what they had to say. It was a great night, quiet but great! We got home from there & cleaned house & got things ready for Santa's arrival. We had done a gift exchange within our family & decided to open them up before going to bed & saying 1 nice thing about the person they bought a gift for. This is the time when my camera took a dump & it really ruined the moment for me because I was so frustrated. Todd had Laynee & gave her some little toys, I had Mak and got her a new Tachikara Volleyball because she starts her vball league this week, Brennen had Russ & got him some CAT heavy equipment toys, Mak had me & she got me some photo albums (for the lost pictures!), Garret had Brennen & he got him the Micro Smores maker, Russ had Garret & got him Tony Hawk DS game, & Laynee had Todd & got him a male manicure set because he can never find clippers! By the time the kids went to bed it was midnight & we figured Santa was going to fly on over the Hall house!

Christmas Day started at 5am for us. Santa brought some great gifts for the Hall kids this year. Brennen got his first shot gun, Mak got an electric Razor scooter, Garret got a new bike, Russ got a powerwheels Jeep, Laynee got a few more toys. The kids were so excited they wanted to immediately open all the gifts, so we did at 5am. It was all said & done by 5:45 & me & Todd went back to bed until about 7:30. It was a fun morning. Later that day Todd's parents came over to see what the kids got & visit for awhile. Then around 6 my parents came & we had steak for dinner & Christmas again with them. They stayed for a few days afterwards. The kids had a great time & got plenty of stuff. I would have to say it was a fun Christmas having 5 kids! Next year will probably be even better with Laynee being older, I can't wait!

So that is our Christmas 2009 in a nutshell & a half...sadly with no pictures :(