Our Christmas

We had a very enjoyable Christmas this year. We've been budgeting our money this fall and had money planned for Christmas.  As it turns out, two-thirds of the budgeted Christmas money didn't come because our Marquette tenants had to break their lease. So we had to kind of scramble and rearrange our plans on how much we could spend on Christmas.

Really, I think we did very nicely overall on the gift end of things.  It was both challenging and fun to have to be a bit more creative with the gifts... amazon.com, ebay, Goodwill, and garage sales all came to the rescue. I guess, really, since we normally shop those places it wasn't anything new, but we just bought less of everything and were more selective. 

Anyway, here are a few shots of the day's festivites.  I'll try not to bore you with a ton of photos, but here's a few snippets of the day for you...

Joshua & his new friend.  He loves his new bear! :)

Naomi was pretty happy to have her own One Year Bible for our Bible times. :)

Joshua & Jesse checking out the computer game we gave them.

Marissa showing Naomi her "new" Sunshine Family doll family.  I had a set when I was a kid, and gave them to Marissa some years back.  Naomi has always loved playing with them, so I hunted down a vintage 70's set for her on ebay.  :)

Whaddaya think?  Does Jesse like his new weapon?

Marissa, enjoying her new fleece blanket.  This was something she really wanted for Christmas.

David opening a gift I found for an awesome price on amazon.com.
Don't you love how Zoe's head is between his feet?  I didn't even notice it 'til after I took the photo.

Matt & me with the "heart healthy" cookbooks Marissa got for me on amazon.com.  She was so sweet.  :)  I'd checked them out from the library and was bemoaning the fact that I had to return them, so she got me my own copies. :)

Marissa modeling her new toe socks (from ebay).  :)

Jesse & Naomi.  She made the chain stitch necklace he's wearing, and she's holding a doll Marissa crocheted for her.

Okay, a little story for you about my gift from Matt.  Last week, he came home with what he called "the deal of the century".  It was his gift to me, and from the satisfied sound in his voice, I figured it *had* to be something good.  The kids all saw whatever it was, and they all concurred that Mom was going to love this gift!  Marissa wrapped it and brought it in.  Honestly, from the shape and size, it looked just like a kids' guitar!  Obviously, that wasn't what it was.

The "deal of the century".  Exactly what I wanted for Christmas, and a really great bargain besides! :) The painting on it is one I started a while back and haven't quite completed yet.

The "deal of the century" was this $65 easel that had been marked down several times.  Matt got it for $1.94!!  It was EXACTLY what I was hoping to get for Christmas, and we didn't go into debt either, which was the other thing I *really* wanted for Christmas!  :)

So although I know Christmas is not about "stuff", I have to admit we got some really nice stuff this Christmas.  And all without spending lots of money, either! :)

We enjoyed a delicious ham dinner, Mark & Anita stopped over for a bit, and later on Matt got out some old family slides (from his side of the family) and we enjoyed looking through those.  It was a very enjoyable day with lots of good family time.  

And Matt gets another 3-day weekend in just four days!  :)