Our First Annual Christmas Exchange

I will admit, it was my idea. With John in the midst of umemployment, I asked the girls if the six of us should exchange names for Christmas gifts and they wholeheartedly (wow, that is a big word, maybe it is supposed to be two words) agreed. Courtney because they are all about downsizing Christmas and Alissa because she also had an unemployed husband.

Well, John thankfully landed a job and things were looking up in the financial area in our home, so I started to regret my hasty decision, but my girls stood firm and wanted to give a try. We could always reevaluate after the trial run. I guess I was feeling badly about not being able to buy my own daughters a Christmas gift especially if I didn't get one of their names. But to be honest, I had purchased many silly gifts over the years just to have something to give them and that is a waste of money. Case in point, the year I gave them the Boyfriends in a box! Note to self: Make some of those up and try and sell on Etsy!

Anyway, back to the gift exchange. It was a huge success. I, personally, had a great time searching for that perfect gift for Nathan. He wanted square bar glasses as opposed to eyeglasses and I looked long and hard for the perfect ones. It was fun and I felt like I put much effort into it. I know John had fun selecting books for our bookworm daughter Alissa, too.
I am going out on a limb here, but I think when we only had to concentrate on one gift, we all really put some thought and work into getting that perfect item. It was fun and it felt good to have downsized a bit.
I just wanted to document the gifts and the gift givers here:
As I said, John got Alissa an assortment of books by two of her favorite authors.

I bought Nathan his square glasses and some small bottles of booze. His PJ's didn't close properly thus the unusual placing of the gift.

Alissa got her sister this cute apron. I think it resembles something that a mom right out of the fifties would be wearing to prepare dinner.

Nathan bought Paul a T shirt which when purchased donates a portion of the cost to some project in Africa. I can't remember the particulars, but if you know Paul and his giving spirit, this gift was perfect for him.

Courtney bought her dad a new cooler on wheels and he couldn't be happier. I think the day that put the old Packer cooler over the edge was when Nathan and Paul had to haul that thing up three flight of stairs into a hotel. It was loaded with beer and it was heavy! We are not getting rid of the old one yet, too many memories tied up in that thing.

Paul got me some awesome gifts and I was so excited with the thought he put into his choices. He got me a Herman Hermits CD, some beautiful homemade earrings, and a very pretty homemade frame. I could tell he put some thought into these perfect gifts for his MIL.

So, to summarize, it was a great idea I had way back when to exchange names. We all agreed it will become an annual event.

Thanks to all of you for making it a fun event and for putting so much thought into the gifts.