Christmas (part 3)- Christmas and Leavenworth

Survival Tip #10 (cont.): Spend lots of time with family.

Finally! Christmas! I have been telling my students for weeks "Isn't it great that on Jesus' Birthday He lets us get the presents?!" And this kept coming to my mind all day. It is so amazing that we get to exchange gifts with family and friends, but Christ gave us the ultimate gift of all! Praise God!


We started the morning opening gifts at our apartment, just Vander and I. This was the first year I was more excited for him to open his gifts than I was for mine :), but Vander was so generous and thoughtful with his gifts for me. We then took a walk around our neighborhood and spied as we could on other families. I know, we're creepers, but it was so fun to see kids running around their Christmas tree, squealing so loud you can hear them out on the side walk. Then we headed up to Vander's parents. We opened presents with them and then had a fabulous brunch, (cinnamon rolls and bacon) and hung out until June's brother and his family came over for an early dinner. 

Quick side note: Vander's family finally found the "joke" we left for them in their tree. We bought this... ornament, I guess, when we were in San Francisco for Christmas. It sat in their tree for two days before they noticed it. :)

Sunday, after going to church we left for Leavenworth, WA. It is the most fabulous winter vacation in Washington. It's only a couple hours away and is magical. Several decades ago when the town started to lose it's industries (pear and apple processing primarily), the town decided to go Bavarian to revitalize the economy through tourism. If you prepared, knowing you're going to some where that is super touristy, you are going to love it. We always go for a few days after Christmas and stay at the Enzian hotel. We love it sooooo much! Everyone except Shawna was able to make it, (we missed her so much!), and Big V and June were kind enough to divide their two-room suite into girls side/guys side rooms, so Joel could come! We went tubing, cross country skiing, the guys went shooting and the girls relaxed. We sat in the outdoor hot tub while it snowed... and threw snowballs at Emily and Joel while they were in the hot tub :). I'm trying to convince my family to make a trip out some winter so they can experience the joy of Leavenworth.

Before Cross Country Skiing

The Enzian Tree. The real bottom is on the 1st floor;
the tree goes through a hole in the 2nd floor!

What did you do this Christmas? What are your favorite traditions?

Christmas (part 2)- Christmas Eve

Survival Tip #10 (cont.): Spend lots of time with family.

Every Christmas Eve that we spend in WA, we go over to Grandpop and Aileen's for Dinner and fun. The night always begins with Vander and Nate trying to get the toy train to work. 

After that dinner begins. Aileen always has a nice dinner for us that normally includes a Christmas Goose, but since no one shot a goose this year we had turkey and roast. Aileen does a lot of her cooking on their wood stove, and June brings some yummy sides down. Have I ever mentioned The Grandparents live next door to Big V and June? A few years after Big V and June built their house the property next door came up for sale and Grandpop and Aileen bought it. ANYWAYS... Christmas Eve is pretty mellow. We sip wassail and eat "Sludge" (Grandpop's fudge), and sing some songs after dinner. We (myself not included...) also try to recite Luke 2 from memory. I need to work on my memorization before another year passes as I mumble through the verses. Aileen plays the trombone and a few grandkids accompany her  on various instruments.

  Then we try to find our gifts, which are hidden in the tree with our bells. 

When we find the bell we sing the first verse of this carol "Ring the Bells". Now, us Corley's are not known for our singing skills, but we try. This year we sang fast which helped.  We also open our gifts from Big V's sister Sefia and her family. They always send the guys something hunter-ish and the girls stuff from Sephora, which we LOVE!  

This year for Christmas Vander and I gave the grandparents a live raccoon trap. Yes, I did say a live raccoon trap. They actually really seemed to like it! (It's not so much surprising that they liked the trap, but that it can be hard to know what they will like when it comes to any gift). 

It's a funny tradition to check up on our National Geographic reading at some point that night, but this year June said she didn't want us to be anti-social reading NG. So when she went up to take dishes back to the house we ran and grabbed the NGs and tried to look as boring as possible :).

This year we rushed off to go to church for a Christmas Eve service of reading scripture and singing songs that went along with that part of the Christmas story. After all this we head back to Big V and June's to open pj's and play a game. Here are the guys and girls this year:

Finally, look for the last Christmas post soon: Christmas Day and Leavenworth!

Christmas Break pt 1- Boobie Prizes

Survival Tip #10: Spend lots of time with family.

Well, it has been a while since updating, but that is because Christmas break was so so SO busy for me... in a mostly in a good way, (the only sad parts were we went to a funeral, and then caught the stomach flu the next day. Boo.) 

We started the Christmas fun by having our annual Boobie Prize party. This has become a Corley family tradition since the year Vander and I were married. The Zellar side of the family gets together quarterly to celebrate family birthdays, and at the November gathering Grandpa Zellar had something up his sleeve. Grandpa asked Aunt Terri for paper, a pen and scissors, sat down and proceeded to write out 2 sets of numbers: 1 through how ever many people were present. After being asked what he was doing, Grandpa indicated this was all for the "boobie prize". He slowly cut out each number, leaving us puzzled about what in the world a "boobie prize" is. Finally, he had cut them all out, had one set placed in a hat and had each person pick one of the other numbers. Grandpa then drew out a number and Big V was the winner! So now we are all eagerly waiting to see what he won. Grandpa reached into his pocket (someone whispered, I told you it was money) ... and pulled out ... A watch. And not just any watch. A watch he got for free with a magazine subscription. A watch that didn't even fix Big V's wrist, and did not seem to have a battery.

Now, in memory of this really odd event in family history, we get together every Christmas to exchange boobie prizes. The idea is that everyone brings a semi-dumb prize that is won by competing in a semi-dumb game. It's sort of like a White Elephant, but with a twist. Vander and I always host which is a fun way to get the family out to Tacoma, and we LOVE it! This year we expanded the group, with two foster kids and a fiance joining the fun. Because Paula and Kevin's foster kids are not supposed to have pictures online, there aren't many pictures I can put up for this post, but it was a really fun night. We competed in Christmas trivia, identifing what pictures we thought represented various months in a wildlife calendar based on description alone, de-tangling Christmas ornament hooks, racing to complete a holiday dot-to-dot (by 9's), and played Chubby Santa, to name a few. Here are a few Chubby Santa pictures:

Joel! The Big Winner! And Big V, a close second. Please note they both got the flu two days later.

Prizes included the DVD "What Women Want", a 6 foot tall Christmas Tree poster (this gift was given twice!), a (free) dog owners convention shirt, and a framed picture of Vander making his neck disappear. After games we walked down to look at Stadium Bowl before the party ended. It was a really fun night and I can't wait until next year!


Next post: Christmas Eve with Grandpop and Aileen Corley!