Jeff and Jeanne

Today was the Proefrock family’s Christmas get-together. This year, because of remodeling dust at Mom and Dad’s house, we had it at Granny’s house. Jeanne and I drove up in the wind this morning. Not a great drive, but we made it in one piece.

When we got there, Mom and Dad didn’t have power. So, Dad and I went to the house to check the generator. All was well. They also had a little tree problem over the night. I think the crab apple tree will be no more. The good news was it appeared that the most that happened was some gutter damage. The remodeling is going well too.

Back at Granny’s we kicked things off with food of course! Pot-Luck style. Josh and Julie brought a veggie tree. Quite a cool creation. Jason and Debra brought bread and muffins. But not just any ordinary bread and muffins. They were made with interesting types of flour. Why you might ask? Because Jason and Debra have found they have some food allergies. I know one was rice flour. I don’t remember what the other was. Maybe Debra could post a comment and tell us what the other was It was all quite good! There was also potato salad, meatballs and cocktail weenies, and… other stuff. I can’t remember what all. Jeanne and I brought a Santa cake that Jeanne made and decorated.

After food it was on to presents! For the last couple of years we’ve been drawing names from a hat to buy presents for. We also set a dollar limit. Then everyone only has to buy for one person. Not a bad thing since our family seems to be getting bigger and bigger!

We opened presents in alphabetical order by first name. So Granny (Audrey) got to go first.

I was her “Christmas elf” and I made her a digital picture frame out an old laptop and a shadow box. I was able to get a bunch of pictures from Mom, Jason and Debra, Josh and Julie, and a few we had on it. 148 pictures in total. It changes the picture every 60 seconds, then starts over. The pictures range from pictures of her as a little girl all the way through current day. It turned out quite well. I’ll get into the details of the build in a separate post. I also got her a gift card to Meijer.

Debra was second. Mom was her Christmas elf. Mom got her some gardening tools, and Dogopoly. Each item was wrapped separately and had a little poem with each. The gardening knee pads poem might have been rated PG-13 cuz Debra wouldn’t read it out loud. Maybe she’ll post it as a comment.

Next was Jason. Dad was his Christmas elf. Dad got him a bench-top gun vice. It’s for working on guns. Cleaning, mounting scopes, etc. It looked pretty nice. He had it put together in a matter of a few minutes, bu then had to take the feet off of it to get it back in the box for the ride home.

Jeanne was next. Julie was Jeanne’s Christmas elf. Julie made a very nice wall hanging (I think “spray” is the technical term for it) for our entry way. She also got her a sign that said “Home is where your story begins.” Unfortunately, the sign didn’t get here in time. We hung up the spray already!

I was next. Josh was my Christmas elf. Josh got me “The Joy of Work: Dilbert’s Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-workers.” Of course it was wrapped in duct tape. I love Dilbert, so this should be some good reading. He also got me “Sneaky uses for everyday things” and “Sneakier uses for everyday things.” I had those on my Think Geek wishlist. Those should be fun! He also got me a Yoda Dashboard Driver. It’s a 4″ tall Yoda that says a dozen different phrases at the push of a button or, if you mount him to your dash, at the movement of the vehicle. He’s going to live on my desk. He made a BroJo Inc. gift certificate to a restaurant of my choice before the Kid Rock concert this February. I guess that depends on us getting tickets. Last but not least, he game me some more parts to some old laptops, so I can make some more digital picture frames!

Josh was next. Jason was his Christmas elf. Jason made him a set of three juggling balls. Jason, not know for his sewing abilities, really outdid himself. They were made of multicolor fabric and filled with beans. Pretty cool. I got some video of them here. Oops, apparently Gallery doesn’t like .MOV files. I’ll see if I can convert them. Jason, again showing of his craftier side, knitted Josh a very nice wool hat. It was even “felted”. Those of you that know about knitting will know what that means. Apparently it is a method of making the the surface smoother to hide the stitching. It also shrinks the object. It looked good and felt like it would be quite warm. Also included in the present was an Archaeological Study Bible. Unfortunately, that had not arrived yet. He’s still got something to look forward to!

Next up was Julie. Granny was her Christmas elf. Granny got her a scrap booking tote so she can bring all her stuff over. I originally thought it was a gardening tote. I need to pay attention more. She also got a set of organizer drawers. I’m guessing that’s for the scrap booking too. Doesn’t make much sense to put gardening tools in there! Last but not least, she got some very warm looking slippers. Those should be nice for these lovely cold Michigan winter mornings.

Mom was next. Jeanne was her Christmas elf. Jeanne put together a collage picture frame with pictures of Jason, Josh and I throughout our lives. Between that and the card, it had Mom’s eyes a little moist. I think they are going to hang it in the kitchen after they finish the remodel. Jeanne also got her a Christmas tree ornament that is a small digital picture frame. She loaded it up with some of the same pictures that were in the collage and Granny’s frame. It’s pretty cool. I want to get one for ourselves!

Last but not least was Dad. Debra was his Christmas elf. Debera has been knitting lately and they made Dad a nice pair of wool socks. They looked quite warm and should be great for hunting. She also reloaded Dad 200 rounds of ammo. I’m not sure what caliber they were. But, except for the first one that Jason loaded to show her how, Debra reloaded them all. Quite industrious! Dad was thrilled!

That was it! It was on to desert. Which was Jeanne’s cake and tea. The tea was one of Josh’s concoctions. I think it was ginger and peach. Quite good.

At four, Jeanne and I had to leave so we could get home before dark. They day definitely ended too quick. But, with the weather the way it was and Jeanne having to work tomorrow, we had to do it. It was windy on the way home too, but with the added bonus of snow! Great fun. We made it safe and sound, just after dark.

I hope you all have great Christmas gatherings like we did! If you would like to check out all the pictures Jeanne and I took, click here.

Have a merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and be safe!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 9:59 pm and is filed under Family and Friends, Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.