Keeping Up with the Jones': Christmas with our friends

This year was the Hill’s turn to host our 14th annual Christmas party with out wonderful friends. With all of Jaclyn’s health issues this year and last, we had some last minute scrambling to the doctor for x-rays, but we were still able to get together. She had fallen on the steps a few days before and they were afraid that her hip that she had surgery on in September was fractured, but thankfully it wasn’t. Mrs. Dana put on an impressive spread of yummy foods and the girls made most of the desserts. Everything was super good!
This year, we decided to do a white elephant exchange. Jennifer got the lucky number 1 so she was the first and last to go.

She got to choose among all the nice gifts. She ended up choosing a Virginia Tech fleece blanket made by Mrs. Tina. It was so warm and cozy and everyone knew the Hills would want that since it was their team.

Jaclyn was next and she chose the biggest box. She unwrapped box after box after box..

until she ended up with this:

A Target gift card!!

Jessica loved her movie night stocking full of stuff to have a movie night-she didn’t want anyone to take it from her-and luckily-they didn’t'! Smile

Brandon got an ant farm.
Justin got a Pictionary Man game.

In the end, they all held up their gifts for Jennifer to choose from, and she chose the Target gift card, trading Jaclyn the Nerf gun which she enjoyed the rest of the evening shooting everyone from her chair.

Then the older girls went upstairs to Jordan’s room where Jennifer gave them their private gifts: some earrings from the cruise and a book of their lives together through the years. She did this all by herself on Heritage Makers and did an excellent job on it. It turned out so cute- here is a copy of it if you want to see it:

They had a blast looking through the pages together and recalling all times.