it twas a merry Christmas

Christmas is my favorite. i love it so much. even though this year we worked a lot, we still managed to get some good quality time with our family and friends. rick and jennie came up earlier; mom and roman, chad and april, matt and megan all came to visit; and the beachams and shells are just right down the road. we had an obbc party, a night of caroling, a gathering at the beachams, an engagement party, non-stop Christmas music and lots of food. i just can't help but wear red and green every day from thanksgiving until Christmas. yes, i decorated my sweatshirt below. don't be jealous.

we all love the show "the office" so of course i would get the boardgame for my brother as a gift. turns out, he knew the most about the show, and therefore won the game. it was "awesome blossom". i love all the character cut-outs below. do you know the first names of the founders of "dunder and mifflin"? doubt it. they were both named robert.

brad and rachel hosted a small party that included matt (brad's brother in the middle), who rarely gets to come home. all them boys below are hilarious. please be sure to check out mark (2nd from left) and his outfit. that night we played a game in which brad and i won and jamie (on the right), as usual accused us of cheating. he hates to lose, and it was a competitive group of people...

another night there was an engagement party for brittany and adam (who got engaged in nyc on the 13th). brittany loves Christmas just as much as me, so it was only appropriate and perfect that adam surprised her and proposed to her in front of the rockefeller Christmas tree in n.y. this party was a follow up of the joyful event. see the next picture to really view our love and passion for the holiday that celebrates Jesus' birth.

aunt whit (pronounced "ant" NOT "ont", i'm from the south thank you) and uncle jesse are the coolest aunt and uncle ever... we gave emily and seth giant sugar daddy's to enjoy for the next five years. and when they're done, their teeth may look like those fake ones we gave seth. oops.

good ole "pop" below lookin' all studious with his preppy sweater from J.Crew and his new book. our friend buffy always talks about what a stylish clothing consultant and surfer he is... she's right.

ladies ladies ladies.

i'm skipping around a bit. as you can see, mom is very stoked on her new bathrobe. the woman has a great collection of them. roman doesn't seem to care quite as much.

i gave jesse the best gift of all... bodyboard fins. i should have called our friend scott to make sure they are good ones, but i ran out of time. these are for his swimming exercises in the ocean. AND he actually loves to bodyboard when it's huge and choppy... shhhhhh.

brother and sister april with their precious boardgame. chad always looks this happy.
roman loves his sweats, under armor, zubas, and acorns.

well, that's a wrap folks. these are a few of my favorite Christmas pictures. it was eventful, crazy, fun, and i hate to see it go. 2009 is here and we'll see what happens next back in the swamps of kitty hawk...