Now that the official gift-giving season is over, here is a recap of a few of my favorites…

We managed to pull of a huge 80th birthday surprise party for Grandma. Over 100 people showed up from all over Texas, Colorado, and Louisiana. My grandma is completely beloved by everyone who knows her. She’s the oldest daughter of 9 brothers and sisters – so it goes without saying that we have a huge family. Members from each of the families of her siblings were there, except the ones from Mississippi. They would have been there too, but their whole group just took a big trip to see some of our Colorado relatives around Thanksgiving. Anyway they were there in spirit. I could write volumes of pages about my grandma and what she means to me. She’s my best friend. I can’t event imagine what my life would be without her. I felt so lucky and blessed to be a part of planning this wonderful surprise for her. 

Most of the gifts we gave for Christmas this year were hand-made. David is amazing. He built my niece a horse stable. She loved it, and we all had a blast giving it to her.

Since we started homeschool with Corbin, he’s been doing a lot more tinkering. Mostly with remote controlled helicopters and cars. David built him this amazing workbench and we stocked it with everything he might need. He actually helped move the workbench from the wood shop into the garage. This was the moment when he realized that the cabinet he helped install, was actually a workbench for him!

It’s always tough to figure out what to get for David’s mom and dad. They don’t really have a lot of interests or hobbies. My brother-in-law had a stroke of genius when he thought of getting him this vehicle for their bay house. I love this picture because they seem to be having fun! They are truly amazing people, they deserve just a little whimsy. 

I really loved this Christmas. We had a lot of family time with all of the boys home!