3 days of Christmas ...

Apparently, Christmas lasts longer the older I get. This year, Thomas & I had our own Christmas on the 24th. We exchanged gifts throughout the day, had a nice dinner, and spent some quiet time together. Our lives keep getting busier, so having some time to simply sit and relax is a gift to us. This year for Christmas, I bought Thomas a new computer for his do jang office. He needed one (and I wanted my laptop back) :) He was quite happy with that, but I did end up getting him some smaller things to open at home. He spoiled me (again) with some very wonderful gifts. I decided that warm was the theme this year. I got a foot warmer (looks like a really big slipper), some flannel lined jeans, and a fleece shawl with pockets. I also got some awesome triathlon training books & a DVD since one of my goals this year is to finish a sprint triathlon!

After our personal gift exchange, we went to Jim & Nancy's for Christmas day & the 26th. Thomas' sister and her family were here from NM, so we had a great time with them. On the 26th, Nancy's brother's family came over from Lawton, IA. Again, much fun was had by all.

We still have some gifts for my parents, so eventually we'll have another "Christmas" with them. We aren't sure when, but we'll get together with them soon, I hope.

Thomas received an oriental noodle bowl and "beginner chopsticks". We both can use chopsticks just fine, but have had company over who can't. So, Tammy & Milt got him a set of beginner chopsticks for company.


We got Bailee some princess sticker books. She was already working on some of them as the night went on.


Milt & Tammy each got work out shirts from us.




Jim was being silly with a gift that Thomas wrapped for him. Inside the long "antlers" were several gift cards to Menards!


"Its my dream!" Sometime during the evening, Bailee opened a gift and announced that "its my dream!" It quickly became the theme, with Jim capturing the emotion quite nicely!


Kaylee received some very helpful kitchen wear.


The last gift opened that evening was a digital photo frame that the four of us got for Nancy. Tammy, Milt, Thomas and I wanted to get her a very special gift this year. We found a great digital frame and spent a few weeks gathering pictures from family. Thomas put them on the frame. I think there were 178 pictures on the frame when we gave it to her, with much room for many more. There were pictures from her mom's youth to present day.


Here are Curt, Bonnie, Jess and Luke (with Bailee) checking out the frame on the 26th. They helped with sending some photos for the frame.

As I said, this was a great Christmas for all of us.