the day.

this was the ornament marshall & i bought for our tree this year. it is so fitting because we call each other “bear”!!

although we went to sleep around 1 AM, marshall and i were still up bright and early to open gifts we had for each other.

at 8:15 AM.

yes, that is “bright and early” for us. i know that many of you laugh and shake your head at that… but the facts are the facts! and gone are the days of waking up at 5:30 AM to see what santa brought for us. my poor parents, they sure were good sports when i was a kid.

we woke up to see that, indeed, santa had come!

looks like santa left the grinch for marshall. how fitting ;)

santa filled our stockings with lots of goodies. penny and randy even had stockings of their own. it may sound silly, but opening my stocking is my favorite thing about christmas morning. i just like little odds and ends. this year was extra special because santa filled my stocking at my house and at my parents’ house.

i don’t really feel like posting details on what i got for christmas because i honestly don’t think you all want to hear it. but i will tell you the top 3 things marshall got me.

1. uggs

let me tell you something about me. i don’t have expensive taste. i could shop at forever 21 and target for the rest of my life and be content. i had brown sweater boots on my list.. just the cheapie knock off brand. when i opened these, i was so shocked! marshall said he knew i would like the knock off brand, but that i would REALLY like the real deal. he’s right. these are so much cushier and nice.. i guess you get what you pay for. but really, i never thought i’d own a pair of these, only because i never buy expensive clothes or shoes. however.. i am not complaining :)

2. an ice cream maker!!!!!!!

at long last. i can’t wait to make vanilla bean ice cream from scratch!

3. a zagg charger

this is something i NEEDED and didn’t even know it existed until christmas morning! my phone is always, always, ALWAYS going dead or is dead. (anyone else with a droid have that problem?) anyway, this handy little gadget holds a charge—you plug it in for awhile, it charges up, then you can take it in your purse and plug your phone or ipod into the box and it charges your device! no wall or outlet or car chargers necessary. how cool is that? i charged my phone at the movies sunday night.

after opening our gifts from each other (and giving the kids more bones than they could handle!) we headed up to my parents’ house for breakfast and gift giving.

my mom made an ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS breakfast casserole. seriously, it was amazing.

it had shredded red potatoes, diced bell peppers, diced red onion, diced ham, shredded cheese, eggs and milk.

i topped mine with salsa and sour cream.

after breakfast, my siblings and their families came up and we opened gifts with my parents.

there were some surprised faces and lots of laughs. here are a few candid shots…

my dad got my mom a brown carhartt jacket…

and guess what my mom got my dad?

haha.. YEP, a brown carhartt jacket!

i had told my mom about a vintage diet book (from the 60’s!) that i had seen at a consignment store. she ended up going to the store and buying it for me. it was a fun and funny surprise.

i mentioned in my last post that i got marshall a painting from an artist he loves. i’d been storing it at my mom’s house so i gave it to him there. he was pumped!

in case you can’t tell.. that is a painting of a bunch of ships, and a hybrid shark-octopus (sharktopus, as the artist calls it) attacking one of the ships. the artist is kat and her website is kat’s creepy art.. she takes paintings and adds in her own creepy touches. her website is here!

this is my FAVORITE photo. my mom wanted to buy marshall some green bay packers sweats, but they came and were flipping GIGANTIC! i knew about this so when i saw them i started cracking up.

he’s gonna have to eat a lot of christmas cookies to fit into these.

 

priceless face when my dad opened a gift from my mom.. money for his harley fund :)

he was so happy! i love this photo.

hahah.. another great one of my dad.

here’s something you don’t see every day. or ever. marshall holding a baby! our nephew, ben.

the photo calendar always makes my mom cry. mission accomplished!

it was a great time but we missed my oldest sis & her fam. they moved to san diego and went to the beach on christmas! how would that be?

we spent the rest of the day eating, napping, visiting marshall’s side of the family, exchanging gifts with kristen and rory and ending the night with some toy story 3. i fell asleep before it was over so don’t tell me the ending!

and that, my friends, is my christmas in a nutshell. hope you had a great holiday with your family and friends! back to regular scheduled blogging soon. oh, and regular scheduled working out.. i haven’t been to the gym for a week! woops!

xo. janetha g.