Christmas presents....

Well, it was the first Christmas without my parents and sister, so it didn't feel like Christmas for me.

We will see each other in Mexico in a month though. I was glad to have one of my sisters with me on Christmas Eve.

Since our wedding is so close, we decided not to give each other presents and we were only buying for FI's niece and nephews.

My parents and sister sent me some things, small items since we are are spending $ to go to Mexico.

I received lot of thoughtful goodies, but these were my two favourite items:

A Frida Kahlo day planner for 2008 from my MOH.

So many interesting paintings every other page in the planner.

My FI gave me a guitar! I mentioned it in passing that I wanted one when I heard a song I used to play called Romanza.

He actually bought me one! I have not played in 18 years, but it brought tears to my eyes. I used to play my little heart out.

Let's see... I also prefer to list what I gave, rather than what I got (although I did get some nice stuff so I'll list that too!).

For DH:

Craftsman tool chest for the garage

Johnny Walker Black (Jaime, our men have good taste!)

Misc. stocking stuff

For Dad:

Meat Grinder & Time-lapse camera for hunting

For Mom:

Robe

George Foreman Grill (I didn't think that there were still people that didn't own one of these!)

For MIL:

Carved Cherry plant stand

Candlesticks

Hand-blown vase

For Step-FIL:

MSU "Scoreboard" that shows time.date.temp for their bar room

For FIL:

Emergency radios

Robe & PJs

Gourmet coffee

For SIL, BIL, & 4 nephews:

Robe & gloves for the BIL.SIL, then a crapload of toys for the boys

For my Bro, SIL & Niece,

I shipped a 40lb box full of toys for Ava. She got a princess tent, tons of dress up clothes, purses, play jewelry, dolls, stuffed animals and clothes. She's spoiled It's my fault It's just my first Christmas away from my brother (he's stationed in kansas now) so I went a little overboard.

My BFF & her DH/Kids:

BFF got a photo book (made by me) of her recent trip to Italy for their 5th anniversary- it turned out awesome if I do say so myself!

Her DH: Humidor

Her kids: a ton of toys

I got...

From Jeff: A GPS (woohoo!), a heated mattress pad (yes!), a couple movies, 8 PSP games, Fox racing sweatshirt, hoodie, t-shirt and hat (love Fox Girls clothing), some candy/socks/misc stocking stuff

From bro: A gorgeous 1st christmas ornament

From MIL & Step FIL: A PSP (Woohoo!), slippers, tons of stocking stuff, and some $$

From BFF: A ginormous gift basket with chocolates and gourmet wine/foods/coffee...yummy

We still have to do Christmas with my parents, jeff's sis, jeff's dad & my grandma. That will be this weekend

Oh, Paula, Matt and I just bought one of them also! Best buy ever!

Mike and I said that we weren't going to do much for Christmas this year, and we pretty much stuck to it. Here's what I got from him:

PJ's

beautiful Waterford wine glasses

GC for mani and pedi

Red Sox sweatshirt

Creme brulee kit

leather gloves

cashmere scarf

a new wine opener

stocking stuff

From my family/Mike's family:

Pottery Barn duvet cover and shams I wanted

PJ's

George Foreman grill (to replace the old one that died)

Blender and food processor combo

a few gift cards

money

Vera Bradley makeup bag to match my duffel

a bunch of frames

What I gave Mike:

clothes

leather gloves and North Face gloves

The Art of Shaving shaving cream

Giant spotlight for his car (I have no idea why he wanted this- he is an underwriter)

stocking stuff

some other stuff I don't remember

His B-day is January 5th and I got him a new iPod, battery for his phone, case for his Blackberry and a jeweler's loupe.