Christmas Gift Exchanges

We are at home recovering from Christmas. It was absolutely fantastic! So fantastic that I apparently forgot to drink enough OJ and now I'm nursing a cold. That means I'll have some couch time the next few days to knock out a few blog posts. It's definitely going to take more than one to cover this Christmas!

This year we had our annual gift exchange with Derrick's friends (my friends too of course but it's easier to refer to them all that way :) at Kevin and Meredith's house. They have a great house and I loved seeing it all jazzed up for Christmas. Also, in true "Derrick's Friends" fashion Michael wrote a computer program that assigned everybody their secret Santa but excluded any chance at getting the same person you got last year or your significant other.

On the way to the party I guessed that Rebecca had drawn my name and that she had gotten me nail polish. BINGO! I've already re-painted my nails twice and I'm excited to try the rest of the colors. The only issue I have is that I'm not great at painting with my left hand so my right hand looks a little jacked up at the moment.

Kevin had Derrick and got him The Hive. It's a two player game so Derrick and I will be going head to head after we learn how to play. I'm fully prepared to lose. It's a mentality I've adopted since meeting Derrick.

Derrick had Holly and got her an adorable bag from The Wayward Stitch and I had Alexander and got him a charge kit for his new XBOX One controller. 

Enough talk...on to pictures

We had to get our annual picture with the girls.  Sorry for the bad picture quality. My phone had to do the job and I hate to say it but the droid photos are not as good quality as an iPhone.

 

And the  boys awkward picture....it's tradition.

 
The next morning we were busy getting ready for another Christmas party, our ride home, and an ultimate frisbee game. I had two appetizers to make and Derrick had some last minute wrapping so we didn't get to pack until after our winter league game which made us a little bit late to his aunt's house but it worked out OK. 

PS: These pizza balls are a hit. http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/bread/biscuits/pizza-balls.html
Also, the spinach artichoke dip made was a hit but I can't give you that recipe until I ask for permission. It's not mine to share.

We jumped in the jam packed car and hit the road for Clemmons to have Derrick's family gift exchange. We all draw names and exchange that way with each other. Additionally, we added an ornament dirty Santa exchange which was really fun. Derrick ended up with the shell owl that he and I brought and I ended up with a Darth Vader Santa.

I don't think we could have ended up any better! I'm in love with them both.

As always it was so nice to see his family and I loved the new twist on the gift exchange this year. Here are a few of the pics that Leanna captured of the family!

 

And then at the end of the night, Derrick had a chat with Cassie. 

 

And we converted her to a Wolfpack fan!

 Just kidding Aunt Mel! But she does look good in red!