Sunday, December 30, 2012

Family Gift Exchange 2012


New Year's Eve - the very last day of 2012. 

Michael and the older ones tried to view the Hobbit again. This time the film worked through all the reels. 


I treated Stacia to any restaurant of her choice. She chose Burger King -  she loved this very rare treat. We then went shopping for a few treats at the commissary and BX.

The kids weren't totally SURE when we'd open presents. They know we have separated a family gift exchange from our celebration of Jesus' birthday, they know we "always" open gifts before the Twelve days of Christmas are over.  Michael and I decided New Year's Eve needed some jazzing up this year (and I'll blog about it before bed tonight - 1 Jan - or die trying - LOL ).

What you need to now for THIS post is, Stacia  was chosen to pick a clue from this bag... We told her she needed to read the message.

  She deciphered  "Gift Time," and said it wasn't much of a clue. ::snort:: She figured it out a bit later than the older ones.....

We opened gifts from Bre (which weren't here when we opened the ones from Krista and my folks). 



She made these necklaces for each of us - to fit our interests. Arielle's had a toothbrush and toothpaste on it! ::snort:: 

It was a blast to watch the excitement of the younger two to GIVE.....so much fun!  They had shopped at the AWANA store and could hardly wait to have us open our gifts.




Opening our "girl's gift". 

Sparkly confetti - which is a family gift - and we're sure to use!


The girl's gift was glitter gel for cheeks - can't really tell. 

Ear muffs! 

Gloves I can wear ALL day and work in. 


PRECIOUS! Zander said, "I figured everyone was getting tired of your old ties!" 


Arielle learned to knit this year...and she's done socks, hats, pillow covers, tie, gloves, scarves.... I can't figure out what happened to the photo of Stacia's scarf...and she didn't make Michael anything yet.


Pillow case cover - which I quipped would make a great hat....

Then discovered she MADE me one! 

We got the kids each a gift....Arielle's main gift is a series of books, but we're waiting to work out the "kindle issue" before we buy them. We did get her a t-shirt from the mall.

Wii game

 Gundam model 

Playing with my toys and not moving on! ::snort:: 

She was surprised - and I'm not sure HOW - as she's begged for this for months. 

Nail stamps - she's happy. We'll all  The girls will have fun with this.

Finally found them! 

Complete Series of Red Green. We started watching these in MT and have not been able to keep up as many spots don't carry them. 

Two definite themes emerge when you consider my gifts.... I'm COLD and I'm learning a new style of cooking....

 I am SURE this will make my stir fry meals much less of mess to cook....and look how shiny! 

YES - a good variety. I asked each giver if they'd try whatever I made from their gift...AND WROTE THEIR NAMES IN THE BOOK  to assure their compliance be sure I remember which book is from whom. 

There were other gifts as each of us bought for each of the others - but you get the idea. It felt just right this year - though we all felt something some ones were missing! 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Day Six of Christmas


Day Six of Christmas! It was a joy to spend the last Sunday of 2012 with our chapel family tonight. 

The day began, however, with a lazy a.m. (doesn't often happen on SUNDAY) and then lunch at the mall. We checked on the Hobbit showings for tomorrow.  We also took some time to look around.

Arielle wanted us to get some sticky pics made...when we got to the booth the signs  said, "No males." That was a bit disappointing - though  I'm not sure they would have liked the whole experience anyway. Stacia and I did. 

You come away with a strip of photos. They print on sticker sheets and are used to decorate all manner of things over here.  I scanned them into the computer and cropped them so we could all have the photos we want. ::snort::









We also succumbed to the temptation of trying to get Stitch out of the machine......We miss Jared (Stitch). 

Hope - 

gave way to despair. 

After chapel we had family circle. We discussed two names of Jesus tonight - Mighty God and Prince of Peace. 


Our clue tonight was: How can I be tired - I didn't go anywhere! The younger ones raced up the stairs...Nolan and Arielle thought it out.

One at a time, all  "found it!" It was hidden on the elliptical and is a new game. We're pretty sure we'll enjoy it...BUT....

All the instructions put us off....Yuuki even tried to help with set up. 


Michael took over reading the instructions while the rest of us did as told.......

When Arielle and I fell asleep, we decided to try to read the directions between now and tomorrow and play it tomorrow night. ::snort::  We could have used the elder Gherkins' help tonight. LOL 

Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...