Category Archives: Holidays

2014 Christmas Gift Exchange

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The drawing of the names has been done, and the results are below. I’ve done the draw so that no one is buying for someone that they’ve had in the last few years.

  • Alisa buys for Dad
  • Andrea buys for Lisa
  • Brianna buys for Julia
  • Dad buys for Brianna
  • Graham buys for Jason
  • Jason buys for Mom
  • Julia buys for Alisa
  • Lisa buys for Ron
  • Mom buys for Andrea
  • Ron buys for  Graham

Note: Please look it over and let me know if there are any mistakes. We don’t want people buying for each other as part of the gift exchange. We also don’t want spouses buying for each other as part of the gift exchange.

Here are some guidelines:

  • The amount this year will be the same as last year… $60. There is no rule about spending exactly $60 to the penny (or nickel if you are paying cash) and no rule about whether it is $60 including tax or $60 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $60.

The Christmas Eve party will either be at 77 or 69. We’ll send around another email later with the details of where it will be and who is bringing what.

2013 Christmas Gift Exchange

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2013_Christmas_Gift_Exchange

The drawing of the names has been done, and the results are below. I’ve done the draw so that no one is buying for someone that they’ve had in the last 5 years.

  • Alisa buys for Lisa
  • Andrea buys for Brianna
  • Brianna buys for Dad
  • Dad buys for Alisa
  • Graham buys for Andrea
  • Jason buys for Graham
  • Lisa buys for Mom
  • Mom buys for Jason

Note: Please look it over and let me know if there are any mistakes. We don’t want people buying for each other as part of the gift exchange. We also don’t want spouses buying for each other as part of the gift exchange.

Here are some guidelines:

  • The amount this year will be the same as last year… $60. There is no rule about spending exactly $60 to the penny (or nickel if you are paying cash), and no rule about whether it is $60 including tax or $60 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $60.
  • It would be good if people could provide a list (more than just a couple of items) to the person who is buying for them. That way the person receiving will be getting something they want, but if the list is long enough, they won’t know which it is.

I assume we’ll be hosting the Christmas Eve party and Christmas Day dinner. We’ll send around another email later with the details of who is bringing what.

2012 Christmas Gift Exchange

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I’m later than normal getting this out, but there is still 6 weeks until Christmas, so there is still lots of time.

The drawing of the names has been done, and the results are below. Most people are buying for people they haven’t bought for before. Three people are buying for people they bought for before, with the most recent being 3 years ago.

  • Alisa buys for Andrea
  • Andrea buys for Mom
  • Brianna buys for Alisa
  • Dad buys for Graham
  • Graham buys for Nanny
  • Jason buys for Dad
  • Lisa buys for Brianna
  • Mom buys for Lisa
  • Nanny buys for Jason

Note: Please look it over and let me know if there are any mistakes. We don’t want people buying for each other as part of the gift exchange. We also don’t want spouses buying for each other as part of the gift exchange.

Here are some guidelines:

  • Five of us talked about it, and we decided to up the limit to $60. We’ve had it at $50 for the 10 years we’ve been doing it, and it’s time to increase it.  There is no rule about spending exactly $60 to the penny, and no rule about whether it is $60 including tax or $60 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $60.
  • Try not to get a gift card for the person (or give cash, or equivalent) unless that is what they specifically ask for
  • It would be good if people could provide a list (more than just a couple of items) to the person who is buying for them. That way the person receiving will be getting something they want, but if the list is long enough, they won’t know which it is.

We’ll be hosting the Christmas Eve party and Christmas Day dinner. We’ll send around another email later with the details of who is bringing what.

In case anyone is wondering, we are definitely getting in the Christmas spirit. It looks like we’ll be putting up our Christmas trees (we have 2) on Nov 19 as part of Family Home Evening.

Lastly, this is the kids favourite song/video at Christmas:

Halloween 2012

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Well, Halloween has come and gone. We ended up with a lot of rain (remnants of Sandy), but it was barely “spitting” out while we were trick or treating. The kids each got a huge bag full of stuff… enough to last them for a couple of days anyway 🙂

Below are some pictures of the St Catharines kids and the pumpkins we carved. Then I’ve also included the various pictures from the other kids as well.

2011 Christmas Gift Exchange

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At the request of several people, the drawing was done early this year. Last year, the drawing took place November 6, and today is October 24, so we’re about 2 weeks early…

The drawing of the names has been done, and the results are below. I believe that no one is buying for anyone that they’ve bought for in the last 5 years or more.

  • Alisa buys for Nanny
  • Andrea buys for Dad
  • Brianna buys for Jason
  • Dad buys for Lisa
  • Graham buys for Brianna
  • Jason buys for Andrea
  • Julia buys for Mom
  • Lisa buys for Julia
  • Mom buys for Graham
  • Nanny buys for Ron
  • Ron buys for Alisa

Note: Please look it over and let me know if there are any mistakes. We don’t want people buying for each other as part of the gift exchange. We also don’t want spouses buying for each other as part of the gift exchange.

Here are some guidelines:

  • As far as I know, we will continue with the $50 amount. There is no rule about spending exactly $50 to the penny, and no rule about whether it is $50 including tax or $50 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $50.
  • Try not to get a gift card for the person (or give cash, or equivalent) unless that is what they specifically ask for
  • It would be good if people could provide a list (more than just a couple of items) to the person who is buying for them. That way the person receiving will be getting something they want, but if the list is long enough, they won’t know which it is.

I assume we’ll be hosting the traditional Christmas Eve party at our house again.

2010 Christmas Gift Exchange

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Last year, the drawing took place November 5, and today is Nov 6, so I’m only 1 day late…

The drawing of the names has been done, and the results are below. I believe that no one is buying for anyone that they’ve bought for in the last 5 years or more.

  • Alisa buys for Dad
  • Andrea buys for Julia
  • Brianna buys for Graham
  • Dad buys for Ron
  • Graham buys for Mom
  • Jason buys for Brianna
  • Julia buys for Lisa
  • Lisa buys for Alisa
  • Mom buys for Nanny
  • Nanny buys for Andrea
  • Ron buys for Jason

Note: Last year there was a mistake and it took us a few weeks to notice it. Please look it over and let me know if you see any problems.

Here are some guidelines:

  • We will continue with the $50 amount. There is no rule about spending exactly $50 to the penny, and no rule about whether it is $50 including tax or $50 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $50.
  • Don’t get a gift card for the person (or give cash, or equivalent) unless that is what they specifically ask for
  • It would be good if people could provide a list (more than just a couple of items) to the person who is buying for them. That way the person receiving will be getting something they want, but if the list is long enough, they won’t know which it is.

We’ll be hosting the traditional Christmas Eve party at our house again. Nanny has also mentioned to us that she’ll have some games ready. We’re also open to discuss anything new you’d like to try/do that night when we’re together. We’ll send more details out as we get closer to December.

2009 Christmas Gift Exchange

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merry_christmas

After the initial request for comments I sent out and the limited response, I have gone ahead and done the drawing for the 2009 Christmas Gift Exchange. I do have to confess that I did get one request to rig the election, but my high moral values wouldn’t let this happen (or the person didn’t offer me enough to make it worth my while!). I did this about 3 weeks earlier this year than last.

I’m pretty sure that once again no one is buying for anyone that they have bought for since we started this. This will be the last year this will happen so next year some people will need to buy for someone they’ve already purchased for.

So, here are the arrangements:

  • Alisa buys for Brianna Julia
  • Andrea buys for Ron
  • Brianna buys for Jason Mom
  • Dad buys for Nanny
  • Graham buys for Alisa
  • Jason buys for Lisa
  • Julia buys for Jason
  • Lisa buys for Julia Brianna
  • Mom buys for Andrea
  • Nanny buys for Graham
  • Ron buys for Dad

We will continue with the $50 amount. There is no rule about spending exactly $50 to the penny, and no rule about whether it is $50 including tax or $50 plus tax. Just get something nice for the person that is close to $50.

I assume we will be hosting the traditional Christmas Eve party at our house again, but Lisa can send more details about that later.

Matthew the Archaeologist

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For Christmas, Nanna and Poppa (Mom & Dad) got Matthew a gift that would let Matthew “dig” for dinosaur bones. It was a block of sand of some kind, and there was a toy dinosaur inside in pieces. It would have taken Matthew a few years to chissel out the pieces as they were in there pretty good. Even Lisa wasn’t able to help much. The set came with “tools”, but I even had to get out a real hammer and chissel to get the “bones” out. Regardless, Matthew had a great time, and we made a huge mess (you can see stuff all over the table and floor). Here are some pictures.

Matthew “digging”:

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You can see lines from Matthew’s goggles:

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Here is the raptor that we put together with the bones we dug out:

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2008 year in review – 2009 look ahead

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For our Family Home Evening this past week we reviewed the year and talked about what we were looking forward to this year.
Here, in no particular order, is our list of things that were noteworthy in 2008:

  • Andrew ate lots of Nanna’s hospital food
  • Andrew got 2 trophies from bowling in the summer
  • Lisa got a new calling (released as Primary Music Leader and called as Enrichment Leader)
  • We got a new van
  • Andrew got his own room
  • Matthew got his own room (because Andrew got his own room)
  • Matthew got out of Nursery and started Sunbeams
  • We got some of the bathroom redone
  • Christine kept getting cuter
  • Graham kept his calling
  • Matthew learned how to write his name
  • Andrew learned to tie his shoe laces
  • Christine learned to walk (it was a Christmas miracle)
  • Andrew passed a swimming course
  • Matthew passed a swimming course (Sea Turtle)
  • We put in new tiles in the kitchen
  • Andrew really got into LEGO
  • Christine says “Hi” to everyone
  • We spent a lot of time at the hospital visiting Nanny, Mom, and other people
  • Andrew spent the March Break at Grandma and Grandpa’s house
  • Graham started a monthly father/son night
  • Andrew started grade 1
  • Matthew started JK
  • Christine turned 1
  • Matthew turned 4
  • Andrew turned 6
  • Andrew was the student of the month in SK
  • Lisa went in her first craft sale
  • We went to Buckhorn

Here are some things were are looking forward to in 2009, or things we would like to change (quasi-resolutions):

  • Andrew will start grade 2 and turn 7
  • Matthew will start SK and turn 5
  • Christine will turn 2
  • We will go to Florida in February
  • Julia will get married in March
  • Both boys want to pass another swimming course
  • Matthew would like to whine less (honestly, he said this himself)
  • Andrew will listen better
  • Lisa will be more fun (when she said this, the boys yelled out, “Yay!”)
  • Lisa will exercise more regularly
  • Graham will be less of a “junker” (this is the boys nickname for Graham because he always gives them junk food)
  • Graham will keep working on the house
  • As a family, we’d like to do monthly service for someone
  • Lisa and Graham want to get to the temple every month.

In case you were wondering, Graham and Andrew stayed up till midnight on New Year’s Eve. Matthew was allowed to, but was too tired to stay up so he went to bed. Lisa was obviously allowed to stay up, but slept on the couch for a couple of hours. Lisa, Graham, and Matthew were up for the actual date change at midnight.