Christmas Re-Cap

Sometimes, I'm not sure I really belong in my family. This Christmas would be a good example. When planning for Christmas Eve menu, I offered to bring cider. My brother said he already had 15 bottles, but I was welcome to bring more. I declined...didn't seem necessary. However, upon my arrival, I discovered that I had missed the memo. This was not Christmas, it was Ciderfest '09. Everyone was required to buy at least two bottles of cider every time they went to the store. I also declined that edict. Silly boys. It was then announced that we would be spending Christmas Day making vases out of the used up bottles....of which there were 30 by then. We had every flavor: mixed berry, marionberry, peach, red grape, white grape, cherry, blueberry, strawberry, pear, and of course the plain apple. I was told that the only flavor they couldn't find this year was peach-mango. So sad. So I guess the plans are already in motion for Ciderfest '10. They are planning t-shirts, and bottle labels, etc. It was such an important thing to me, that I neglected to get a single "ciderish" picture. I'm sure I will be sent some after today.

However, here are a few other pics of things I thought were important. :)


The Most Beautiful Tree Ever


Also...the fastest dying tree ever.


Graham Cracker Gingerbread House


Peppernuts


Bundled Brother's Bunking Together


The Cutest Baby in the World



Christmas Quartet


Gingerbread Men - and yes, ear infection.


7th grade boys re-enacting the Christmas story in their 7th grade boy way.


Silly brothers thinking mom will enjoy her work more if she has to drag one of them around on each leg.


Ugly Christmas Sweater Event


Bohemian Brother Gets a Bongo


Batman!


Heelys!


Brothers!


Bongo


and more Bongo



Brutus doesn't want left out


Fake Nickelback tickets - for the bro that hates Nickelback


Puzzles- every piece had an edge
I hate puzzles.


Games, games, and more games.


Video Skyping with the Gifford family having Christmas in Louisiana


More Puzzles. Did I mention I hate puzzles?

Okay...so about puzzles. This is another area where I'm convinced I don't belong with my family. What is it with puzzles? Why do we have to do them? Why do we have to start another one if we finish one. My family was here for four days, and they did at least three puzzles. Brothers even offered money if other brothers could finish the puzzle that had all edge pieces in a certain time frame. I don't understand puzzles. They are so...well...puzzling. I don't get spending hours pouring over a table, looking for little pieces to put something together, just to tear it all apart. I don't get all family games being suspended until we can get paid for finishing a puzzle on time.

Growing up, our family room was decorated with....you guessed it: puzzles. After we finished them, my mom would mount them and hang them on the wall. One of my brothers is mad to this day about it, and has spent a chunk of his short adult life, finding those old puzzles on e-bay and buying them to do again because puzzles shouldn't be mounted. Can you guess which brother that would be? He happens to be the same one who earned $50 finishing a puzzle with all edge pieces in one day.

I pretended to like puzzles for one year of my life. It was 1994. This cute Southern Gent moved to Idaho and was friends with my dad. He liked puzzles. He had no family in town. He would come over to do puzzles with my parents. So, that year, I liked puzzles. It was the only excuse I had to join the cute Southern Gent in the basement while he was over. I began to hate puzzles the day he confessed his love for me. They were useless to me at that point - and forevermore.