Christmas Recap

We had Christmas in several stages this year, which is fine for me! I would personally like to see Christmas and gift giving extended for weeks. It is just too much hard work and preparation for it all to be over after one day.

My family was out the week before Christmas for the Cardinals game so we had stage 1 with them. Our traditions with my family include a Secret Santa gift exchange and White Elephant extravaganza. My family has quite a weird sense of humor so White Elephant is always quite entertaining. Some highlights from this year:

1. Carolyn opening up a "shake weight" courtesy of JJ (you will appreciate this much more if you have ever watched the shake weight commercial...in slow motion...with friends...after a beer or two)

2. Me opening up a headlamp a la the Chilean Miners 2010, courtesy of my dad (this is even funnier because the theme of last year's Bliss Christmas ended up being flashlights and everyone got one...thanks mom for making sure we are all covered in case of emergency)

3. My dad emptying out all the cash in his wallet and throwing it in with all of his gifts...you could end up with $20 dollars, like my sister and JJ, or $0.57 like me, thanks daddy

Christmas day was fabulous because JJ had 3 days off, which never happens. They always have to go in on Christmas. We slept in, JJ made pancakes, we baked cookies for friends and opened our gifts to each other. JJ did a fabulous job this year and got me a black, quilted leather Michael Kors bag. I love it. I got him a weekend at the Arizona Biltmore Resort with couples golf lessons and dinner at the Wrigley Mansion. Yes, it is just as much of a gift for myself as it is for JJ. :) We opened gifts with JJ's parents via Skype and had lots of fun. Everyone is invited to our house to play xbox Kinect and enjoy our new grill!

We went to mass on Christmas Eve and had dinner with friends and then had Christmas lunch at their house as well. Of course we had to bust out Apples to Apples after we ate. That night we went to another friend's house and had a great meal and lots of fun playing games with them and their kids. We learned how to play Monopoly Deal, so fun! It has all the fun parts of Monopoly without all the waiting around.

We were reminded again how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends. God is so good to us! Hope your Christmases were full of love and fun with people you care about.