Christmas Eve and Day 2007

We have never lacked numerous family parties around Christmas time! This year for Christmas Eve, of course we went to my Aunt Diane's house. We did the Mexican food and Home Alone, but left a bit early so we could make it to Doug's family party. Down at Doug's Grandma Higginson's we exchanged the siblings gifts since Steve and Jessica weren't going to be here on Christmas Day. I was so excited to give my gift because I had Brooklyn (I know, the luckiest pick of the lot!) and got her the cutest fur boots. It was really fun to have everyone there and Ileigh was just so dang cute. Jill got her a red tricycle and her eyes got so big when she first saw it. Like last year we all had a big sleepover over at Grandma H's so after the party we pulled out the air mattress and bunked on the floor (there are just getting to be too many married couples and we got booted from a bedroom!) Christmas morning, like usual, was wonderful. There were so many gifts it looked like we were having Christmas for everyone in the whole town! Kensie's favorite present was the Magic Bullet she had wanted forever from an infomercial, Wesley got a bunch of clothes from Cabellas, Mackenzie got her Zune, and James got a new laptop. But my heavens that wasn't all - everyone got so many gifts, it was such a great Christmas. The great thing about Christmas morning is that Doug's family wakes up really early and my family sleeps in. So after we were done at the Carlson's we ran up to my house for another bout of present opening. I love giving people presents and picking out just the great gift so everyone will just love it. This year I gave Allison a plaque listing all of the places she has traveled and she just loved it. It was so fun to give it to her. And we showered Landon with Jazz and Hannah Montana accessories that he really loved. I was also proud of the stitchery I did for my mom saying "Everything I need to know I learned in Primary." It turned out so cute, I was so excited for her to have it. To both of our parents Doug and I gave a gift certificate to the Cheesecake factory (hopefully they'll both invite us to go with them!)











This year Doug and I had a great time picking out just the best gifts for each other. I absolutely loved my gift from Doug. I was so amazed that he actually remember something I said I had wanted so bad. When I took a humanities class at BYU I saw this sculpture that I absolutely loved. It was of David, however it wasn't the Michaelangelo sculpture that has gotten such fame, but it was sculpted by Bernini. Doug remembered how much I loved it and ordered me a small statue of David! I couldn't have been more caught off guard and surprised and happy when I opened the gift, I just loved it! He also gave me some really powerful walkie talkies to add to our camping collection, and a pack of Pepsi! I loved giving Doug his present - I had made a plaque of Doug's line of authority engraved with an etching of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receiving the priesthood. HE LOVED IT and I was so proud of my gift giving skills! I also got him an original Nintendo with all 3 Super Mario games. He had wanted them since seeing a game exchange store in the mall, and even put his name on a waiting list. So he loved the games and was so excited to play them. We had a great Christmas this year!


This year for Aunt Lecia and Joyce's cousin gifts at my Aunt Sue's party they gave us all $50 along with a stock! It really was the coolest thing and made me want to get a little bit more involved in investing in the stock market. Pretty cool! Merry Christmas everyone!