It was a...

...memorable night filled with booze and funny gifts. We celebrated the big family Christmas last night. The big family is becoming the really big family - as the cousins get married the pre-meal-prayer circle gets bigger and bigger. And since our schedules are getting crazy with our collective success, I am really thankful that we were all able to find a night to get together.

And as much as we like to celebrate together when we can, usually the "celebration solution" is imbibed, not necessarily gifted (with the exception of Craig, of course, who always gives his target a nice bottle of rare beer). But last night for some reason we found a bottle in more than one package, and leave it to my older brother Chris to try to swap out his bottle of tequila. But have no fear, Grandpa immediately offered a crisp $10 bill for a piece of the action. Actually, he handed his whole wallet to Chris.

Amongst other gifts...

Jim got a Hillary Clinton nutcracker.

Blake got an "Entrepeneurship for Dummies" book (he he, from me)

Blake also ended up with a remote-controlled dragonfly.

Chris got a bottle of tequila.

Tyler got a Jack Daniels gift set (what he has always wanted...)

A few of the girls ended up with clothes from Paige's new clothing line - Aviator Nation.

And Jordan got an incredible shirt from Freestylewalking.org.

Overall a great time. Lots of laughs, lots of love. Perhaps one of the greatest joys in my life has been growing older with my family, watching the dynamics change and our bonds/friendship grow stronger. Merry Early Christmas.