Christmas 2006

The kids all slept graciously late Christmas morning. In fact, we had to go wake up Patience and pull her out of bed at 7:30. She was in bed really late the night before, and kept saying, "I'm soooo tired!"

Everyone was ecstatic with their gifts. This year, the theme appeared to be "few, but expensive," which, I suppose, is normal for older kids.

Nathan was wowed with the Wii, compliments of Grandma and Grandpa Steitz, and thanks to Don, who stood in line all night long the night before it was released. If he hadn't done that, I don't think we would have been able to find one. He also got a Sharks treasure chest full of everything teal: shirts, hats, jerseys, a wallet (with Sharks/Canucks tickets inside), and lots of other things to make a Sharks fanatic happy.

Dylan got a keyboard, filled with features for a budding musician. He wants to learn to play piano, and this keyboard has a lesson mode with light-up keys, etc. He also got a cell phone/mp3/camera thingy, and a couple of serious racing suits for the upcoming swim season. Let's just say that if he doesn't win any races this year, it's not the suit's fault!

Sean is now the proud owner of a digital camera, Heely's, serious racing suits, and more stuff, I'm sure! He and Dylan got the Knights and Cities expansion pak for Settlers of Catan, and many movies...

The girlies got a kitchen, which they love, an adorable table and chairs and tea set, a toy organizer (such a boring gift could only come from their mother), the little people zoo (very cute), and a gazillion other fun toys.

I got a new digital camera from Don! It's teeny weeny and I'm afraid I'll lose it. I'm still trying to figure everything out...for instance, this morning I tried to fit the battery pack into my computer to download pictures. There wasn't a slot that size anywhere. Lucky for me, I have tech support who showed me the teeny weeny SD card (thanks Mom & Lee) that slides into a teeny weeny slot in the front of my laptop! Very convenient!

Don had a clothes Christmas! It's been a while since his wardrobe has been overhauled, so I went through all his stuff, donating some, tossing some, and organzing the rest so he can find things easily. He now looks very hip!

We had the pleasure of having Don's sister and her family down from the Edmonton area, and it was the first Christmas ever for both families to be all together Christmas morning. It was a full house, with Don, Waneta, and my mom, but it was great!

After brunch, the Murphy's and my mom loaded up and went south of the border to spend the day with Val and Dave and their kids. We had more Christmas presents there...my favorite being portraits of the girls! When my mom was up that first weekend in December, she and Lee took the girls shopping with Val in Bellingham. At the mall, they took the girls to the Picture People and got some adorable shots! Apparently is was very hard work, which is why I've never attempted to do it! But I'm so thankful that they persevered : )

In the picture is me holding Jordyn and her Christmas stocking that my mom's friend, Dani, knitted for her. Patience has a similar one, and they're both precious. Thanks, Mom and Dani!