A few years ago Jim and I decided that with 32 (almost 33) grandchildren and 11 kids and 10 spouses, we simply could not afford to give individual gifts to everyone. While it makes my heart a little sad because I would love to give everybody some gifts, it isn't possible for us to do that. Having said that, Jim and I also decided not to spend much money on each other but to give gifts that have meaning to us. We usually try to send something to each family that captures a piece of family history. It isn't much fun for the spouses but hopefully one day the grandchildren will treasure the voices of the great grandparents or grandparents and the bits of history we continue to send. The family calender comes because Jim and I can't remember anything anymore without it being written down. I can't even remember when I've sent the same e-mail to all of you more than once. :)
But it is also a way for us to remember each of you and remind each other of celebrations in each family.
This year Jim and I both became creative and I think we both hit a home run. I have been having trouble with Blogspot tonight and can't get the pictures to download in order so this might be a little confusing. As you see in the first picture, Jim opened the gift I gave him and I think he was touched. The last picture shows what he is looking at. About a year after we moved to California, Jim was called into the bishopric. It had been a tough go financially as we were trying to get our feet under us and as Jim was learning a new job. His shoes wore completely out and the souls began to get holes in them. There was no extra money for him to get a new pair. The tops looked pretty good but he had to remember to keep his feet down in church meetings so no one could see his worn-out shoes. He just kept putting cardboard inside. It was more important that the kids had decent clothes to wear and that they had shoes without holes. For some reason, we kept the shoes in a box after he got new ones. I thought it was appropriate to put them in a shadow box as a reminder to all of the kids that Jim always worked very hard to provide for his family. Thanks to Gillian and Kevin for getting it put together. (They make a great team.)
About 5 years ago Jim bought me a beautiful print of the Salt Lake Temple and we picked out the matting but we never got it finished. It sat in a plastic bag stuffed behind the amoire all that time. About 3 years ago Jim convinced me that it would be a good idea to buy a mat-cutting machine so we could mat our own pictures. It's an expensive part of any picture. We never learned to use it and I kept trying to get him to sell it online. This morning he brought up a small bag for me containing a mat to put around a 5x7 picture. I was so excited! I said, "You learned how to use the machine, didn't you!" I was completely content with that small mat. Little did I know that he had learned to mat well enough to finish the picture and he learned to make a gorgeous frame. It is so beautiful! He used the picture we already had. A friend gave him the glass and he used scrap wood that Calvin had sitting around in his office. I suspect he bought the stain but the cost was minimal. And it was the best gift EVER! I am so pleased. Now he has to teach me how to cut mats.
We did spend some money on Ammon since he is our only kid home now. The TV in his room was very large and old. It took up a lot of space on his counter and he can't do homework in his room easily. So we bought him a combination TV/Monitor that can be used either as a TV or as a monitor on his computer. If anyone needs a older but good TV, let us know.
Mike and Adrianne can post pictures of their Christmas with the kids, but this gift was funny. They bought laser guns and I think these two will chase each other around the house every day. Their boys were delighted as well.
Everyone came down about 1:00 this afternoon and the kids headed out to sled. They had a lot of fun. Amazingly, no one broke an arm, neck or leg.
Sarah stayed on the disc. I thought she was going to fly off, but she was pretty good on this thing.
Mia loved riding down the hill. It was slicker today and we were worried it might be too slick for her, but she didn't care and she didn't fall off once.
Leah had some serious moves. Another future Olympian??
Geoff spent most of the afternoon playing with the kids.
Here is the shadow box with Jim's shoes. I will hang it somewhere so that kids can see and remember.
1 comment:
Since no has made a post about grandpas birthday yet, and I can't, I would just like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!!
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