Christmas 2003

Work got us all presents. It was awesome. Only mine was labeled like this. Slightly less awesome. I took this shot before Kris and I left for Chicago. Th edrive out there was alright. There was a ton of snow around Holland through to around Benton Harbor, then it cleared up, and we we able to drive significantly faster. There might have been some Celine Dion involved.

My parents had me build a computer for Amy for Christmas. This picture was taken in the off chance that she wanted to see what it looked like when she received it. After a few awkward minutes of confusion, she figured out what it was that had been given to her (they didn't think driving the thing all the way out here so she could take it all the way back made much sense), and she was quite pleased.

Here is the tree, with many gifts.

I wrapped these 3 myself. I had enough paper for one box.. then wrapped Kristin's other gift in duct tape. My parents figured out what the DVD player was fairly quickly.

My dad comes up with a code for the gifts every year. Originally, i think it was because some of us (Kristin) would spend hours looking at all the gifts, and figuring out what they were based on who they were for. So the code was made to diguise who each gift was for. The game is then to figure out the code as the evening goes on. This time I think we did quite well... without any hints from mom, we (I) were(was) able to figure out the code within 3 or 4 gifts. (I was given gifts labeled "New Jersey", "Thomas Jefferson", and "Olney". New Jersey was the 3rd state in the Union (and thus the 3rd Quarter released), Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd president, and Olney was the road we lived on in Kalamazoo... the 3rd place my parents lived after getting married. I was the 3rd child born in the family, and that's why those gifts went to me. Other labels included "Courtney Cox Arquette" (Amy, because she's the 2nd child, and Courtney is the 2nd in alphabetical order of the Friends cast), "birds" (Kristin, as the song goes "4 calling birds". There was also a "hens" and "doves") Other labels referenced the 10 plagues, 12 sons of Jacob, the Kings of the Old Testament, husbands of Elizabeth Taylor, Empires of the Ancient world, etc.

Here's my parents' house, all lit up.

My parents had their patio all dug up to fix a leaking problem, so we went out to see the hole. There's Kristin and my dad up ahead.

And here's a hole.

And there are the tracks that were left.

Tradition! Okay, 3 years ago, My dad and I went out shopping the on the 23rd of December to find a few gifts I still needed for people. Every place was crazy busy, and driving around was a nightmare. When we were finally finished, we were headed home, and my dad pulled into a convenience store parking lot... We walked in, and he picked up a tub of Vodka, saying something like "We could use this, too". I grabbed a bottle of Apple pucker, as college had made me quite fond of it, and it was a festive color. That evening, and the next few days, we went to town with that bottle of pucker (Dad, Kristin, and Me, anyway). The next year, Kristin and I arrived with a bottle of Apple Pucker when we headed home. We presented it to my Dad, who pulled out a bottle of Apple Pucker he had purchased for us. The Tradition was born. This year, Kristin and I went for the full deal, and got a bottle of Watermelon pucker as well, to complete the red and green holiday color scheme. We've been home about 2 hours, and the watermelon bottle has already suffered a few loses.

Here we are in front of the tree. Merry Christmas!

I sat by Kristin while we opened presents, and did my best to annoy her. A number of times my website was mentioned in relation to the pictures I was taking.... rarely did they seem all that pleased about those two things...

We're started opening presents now. Kristin very much enjoys opening presents.

My mom. We're all supposed to wear red and green when we open presents. I had slightly red hair, but no green (til I got a snazzy green sweater from Kristin).

Amy got my dad this globe that floats. There are 2 magnets on the globe, one at each pole, and the stand is an electromagnet, so if you set it just right, it floats (and can spin) in mid air. It's really quite slick.

Kristin got to open a few presents for her dog, Winston, as well. This toy was a favorite.. though I don't know if she'll be willing to give it to Winston.

The rule is that after you're given a gift, you have to get up, and pick out another gift. Another reason for the code was that Jeff and I figured out we could just keep giving gifts to each other, and there was no way to stop us. Once the code was figured out, the same proved true, but we also learned that if you're out of presents, it's a bit boring to sit around watching other people continue to get gifts. It also was fun picking out gifts, and trying to figure out who they were for, or why they were for that person based on the code... But whenever Kristin got up to give a gift this year, someone would tell her that Dad or Mom really ought to get one (their gifts had no code), and so she wouldn't get to pick from under the tree. it was funny.

here's my pile so far: A snazzy green sweater, IQ, and long sleeve shirt from Kristin. South Park Season 1 from Amy, Regarding Henry, Counting Crows Greatest hits, Star Wars page a day calendar, and a special cup for my Carnation Instant Breakfasts from my parents..

Here's my dad, along with the code cracking list. In teh backroung, my mom is putting in a new cd she just got. I later added the R.E.M. Greatest Hits that I received, and I might have "accidentally" skipped past my mom's cd to play it next as well.

This gift was awesome. My dad found this somewhere. It's a collection of 100 beer mats from pubs all over England. I looked through them, and there are a ton of really kewl ones, which got me thinking that I ought to go on vacation to England, and visit all 100 pubs.. or at least visit 100 pubs in England, and collect a beer mat from each one, and give that to my dad next year. So, the question is (and I'm serious), Anyone want to go to England with me sometime maybe this summer?

Here we have my mom, on a mission to save any tissue paper that lesser people might have tried to throw away.

Here we have the haul again. Added to the list is Elite Forces II, The Upright Citizens Brigade Season 1 (Yea!!), R.E.M. Greatest Hits, South Park Season 2, the Beer Mats, and somewhere is a 2 cd set of the HMS Pinafore.

That globe continues to amaze me.

Here are are stockings.

Here's Amy, trying to figure out what a scale replica of a computer could possibly mean to her.

My parents bought me a huge ass hard drive, and I was quite surprised and most pleased. Plans to create an entertainment machine are in development stages. TV shows and movies and Arcade games and TIVO all in one. Joy.

Kristin got a keyboard, and was very pleased. However, it took her a little while to realize that the keyboard was not inside the small box she opened.

My mom was all set to capture her reaction when the actual keyboard arrived.

Kristing was quite excited.

she's checking it out now. It is quite a snazzy keyboard. I expecially liked the dogs barking, and the car crash sounds.

Amy got a Chia Scooby-Doo head as well. She was most pleased.

They got the keyboard all set up, and Kristin tried it out, while my Dad and I distracted her.

The keyboard had all sorts of settings, and a screen that told you what keys and what notes you were currently playing.. and what notes you should be playing if one of the demos was playing. Here Kristin attempts to be a DJ.

My parents have this scary stuffed child thing that you can set against a wall and it looks like a toddler covering his eyes and counting for hide and seek or something... Well, he scared the hell out of me and Kristin, so my Dad gets a kick out of setting him places and waiting for us to react. So he set him up at Kristin's keyboard, and told me to get my camera and wait for Kris to arrive.

Kristin discovered him, and quickly executed him. My dad had to move in to protect the poor thing.