Boys in a Box

It seems that the box is still more fun than the toys that came in it.

Sorry these are so grainy... the flash was working really hard with high ceilings.

Top 10 gifts from 2010 - Christmas Day Edition

In no particular order...

To Whom it May Concern

Your Christmas gits may or may not be in this pile...

Round 2

Lots of kids, lots of toys, lots of noise...

The hottest gift of the year... ZiuZiu Pets.

It's a real "Red Ryder"!

Nanny, PawPaw and the whole crew.

Round 1

Some of our favorites from Christmas Day...

Round Three

Alternately titled: Round Wii.


Nanny and Pawpaw are going to have to move to the big couch before the kids get too much bigger!

Zach loved his tractor...

Nanny loved her Dish remote...

and everybody else loved the wii. I think it will get plenty of use!

Boxed

One would expect that when you buy a video game the box would actually contain the game advertised on the front.

Not the one I bought Richie for Christmas. Thank goodness the lady at Target believed us and they exchanged it for another one.

Poor Richie :o(

Merry Christmas

love,
The Garrotts

C'est fini!

Nothing like waiting to the last minute to get things done! At this point if it isn't wrapped it's not going to be wrapped.

Now to start "giving" instead of "collecting".

p.s: I decided to give myself an early Christmas gift and watch my favorite movie... "I know! It's a keck!"... not once but twice this morning while Richie was working :o)

Round 2

Sunday we drove to Avon Lake. (We didn't make the two hour journey in less than 90 min. No not us. My dear husband never drives over the speed limit)

It was super festive up there with the 4 trees they had decorated!

The traditional holiday shot of the "kids" (Who are all over 21 at this point).

Monday we (and by "we" I mean Richie) iced all of the cookies we made almost 2 weeks ago. They turned out really nice. I got to put the sprinkles on which was perfect for me. Nothing too technical for me in the kitchen.

And Bevo watched and waited for us to drop things on the floor. Of course no one gave him any cookies. He never gets people food and we would never even think of giving him a taste. Nope, not us!

And one more "not-me" ... even though it's Tuesday...

There was no way that I would have been left alone in the aisle at Walmart this week by my dear husband who did not disappear the second we ran into a co-worker who we would never think of referring to with the word "crazy" before their name. We would never abandon eachother like that!

Here we go!

Let the holiday rush begin!

We went to our first family gathering last night with the Harsh family. It was nice to see everyone since we really didn't get to talk to them too much at the wedding. Of course I took my camera (but forgot to check if my flash batteries were any good and had to make a trip to the store to get some new ones) and ended up with some good pictures.

Zach wanted his picture taken with Grandma. He likes to see himself on the camera screen :o)

Thanks to Aunt Pam for taking this one. We have plenty that were taken by holding the camera at arms length. It's nice to have one were you can see more than our faces.

Look at those good lookin' guys!

Downtown

A snow storm and an unexpected detour put us and the camera in downtown Dover tonight. (Contrary to popular belief I don't keep my camera in the car constantly... besides the cold isn't good for it.) We couldn't help but stop and take a few pictures. I really wish my zoom had been working and I had a tripod along. Then I could really have gotten some nice ones. It was too cold to take many even if the snow was so pretty.

The last one made me laugh. I bet the water would be nice and cold!

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday kept us busy with Christmas activities. We went with Richie's mama to pick the perfect tree. It was Amber's turn to pick. Thank goodness she found one fast because it was cold out there. Richie cut it down like always and loaded it up on the cart. It wasn't as slippery as last year and we were able to ride the tractor to the field on the other side of the creek. Adam said he saw the tree he wants for next year. Hopefully it will still be there!

After Christmas tree picking it was time for Christmas cookie making. This picture pretty much sums up our cookie adventure... not so good. Yes those are pecans in the heater vent. It was at this point I told the dog that he couldn't lick those nuts. I didn't mean it the way it sounded, at the time he was making laps around the kitchen licking the floor to make sure we didn't drop anything yummy. Thank goodness the vent was closed and we could just pull it out and throw the pecans in the trash.

We did have some success but because of our poor planning, and this being the first time we made cookies on our own we couldn't make any more cookies Saturday. All of the dough had to chill before we could roll, flatten, cut, and bake it.

Sunday we decided to stay home since the roads were covered by the lovely snow. We finished the cookies and then enjoyed sitting on our sofa. It's nice to spend a lazy day at home. B is a pro at relaxing.

Countdown

The Christmas countdown has begun! I remember making these chains when I was little. I remembered it being really fun then so I thought why not make one now? Well I was a little less OCD about cutting each paper strip the exact same length and width when I was younger and I also didn't use super fancy (and expensive) scrapbook paper so that the chain would match the paint color in the living room. It was still fun and I can't wait to watch it get shorter and shorter and the month goes on.

Nikon Christmas

A quick Christmas wrap-up:

After all the unwrapping of gifts it seems that I had an awesome Christmas. Mostly because I got to spend time with all of the sides of our family but also because Santa knows how much I love my Nikon!





My sweet new speedlight from the sweetest guy I know.


Richie liked his xbox 360. Now we have to go buy games. Tetris here I come!


Grandma Garrott moved into the 21st century with her new cell phone. Now she needs her own ring tone and to learn how to text.


Jeff made a Christmas feast for everyone and then fell asleep on the couch before we could open presents. I found out that I don't like beef wellington, even if it is Chef Ramsay's favorite thing to cook.


This is probably the cutest thing I found under the tree!