Christmas 2009

Let me tell you a little story. I married Adam, master of surprise (need proof? Just ask me about the details of our engagement story). I love Adam, and every time a gift-giving opportunity comes up, I think about how much fun it will be to get him the PERFECT gift and see that PERFECT moment when he opens the gift at the appointed time.

Well, I give up. I cannot succeed in surprising him. It is NOT meant to be. Seriously. Here's the recent track record...

A few years ago, Adam mentioned in passing that he would love to have one of the old Atari or Nintendo systems. I didn't make a big deal of it, but tucked that little piece of info away and started scouring ebay. We were in the early stages of entrepreneurial life (translation: no money), so I got creative and looked on Freecycle too. I had a few leads, but nothing came through. After months of searching, there it was: an original Nintendo system with a few games to boot! We were leaving town the next day for an extended stay with some CA relatives, so I engaged the help of my awesome mother-in-law to procure the package. She tucked it away to save it for Christmas. Six or seven months pass, and one Saturday evening in November while I am busy preparing a lesson for Relief Society, Adam decides he is going to do a good deed and goes up to clean out the garage so his dad can park the car inside since the mornings are frosty. He quickly returns, exclaiming, "Look what my mom has had all this time!" I look up to see him holding the box with the Nintendo, Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, Tetris, the controls...even that little gun thing. I am so distraught that he has discovered it that I can do nothing in the way of covering my disappointment. "Oops," he replies. "I wasn't supposed to find this, was I?" Fail #1

More time passes, and Adam's birthday rolls around. I decide to get him a Roku - which is a great little box that enables you to view Netflix "Watch Instantly" on your television. We have a tradition of family movie night that Adam started and all of us love, so it was, once again, a perfect gift. We had moved out of the Wride's basement, and since Adam works from home I made the stealthy decision to have his gift sent to the Wride's home instead of ours...just to avoid him answering the door when the package arrived. Well, we still go to the Wride's house for dinner once a week. You guessed it. The UPS guy just happened to have some late deliveries that summer day, and Adam just happened to be the one to answer the door, look at the label on the package, and immediately he saw the company name at the top: ROKU. "Um, Marie...I think this is for you." Fail #2

This Christmas, I decide to give it another go. Adam's work laptop is dying, and I know that it is one of his resolutions for the year to make a MAC his work machine, so I make the arrangements. His parents and I decide to go in together to get him a new laptop. I pick out the right one, hide all of the e-mails of confirmation and put Adam on strict orders not to check credit card statements or e-mail accounts. I again have the computer shipped to the Wride's house in hopes of better success this time. It arrives without Adam suspecting a thing. Then, one day in early December, he comes out from the office all cheery and announces, "Guess what! My boss is going to buy me a new laptop as a Christmas bonus! And I get to pick it out!" I try to summon up a normal, happy response because I really am quite proud of him. He works hard, and it is always good to be recognized for that...and OF COURSE I am happy to let his boss pay for the laptop since he's offering, but there it is. Fail #3. That night, we go over to the Wride's, and Adam gets to open his present early...


So, I have officially given up hope of trying to surprise Adam. However, that does make moments like this all the more cherished. He DID NOT expect this fun Argentine soccer jersey. See! An actual, legitimate look of surprise.

He was happy with the gift, and I was happy with the reaction.

Here is Spencer playing with the Geotrax Santa brought. It was hard to get him to pose for a picture. He was so intent on making new tracks and maneuvering the trains that we got more focused photos than anything.

This is Emma with a fun book from her cousin Maddie. This book combines her two great passions: books and music. It has a little piano at the bottom so you can play songs of your own or follow the music in the book to play the princess songs. It's been an absolute favorite!

Here's a little overhead of the Christmas morning extravaganza. I love spending Christmas with the Wrides. They are all great, giving people, and it is fun to celebrate with them. (In fact, we were having so much fun with everyone after staying over Christmas eve, we spent the next two nights on an air mattress in the basement just so we wouldn't miss out on all the good times!) Anyone for a repeat performance sometime soon? We miss you all!