It's rude to go on and on about gifts at Christmas...

Maybe so. EVERYONE that knows me knows that I am incredibly thankful for all of the true gifts in life. My God, my husband, our family and all of my family and friends everywhere in this world. Our health and prosperity. My successful business and the ability to be a better mom because of it. Our Air Force life and the amazing places we have lived, traveled and the people that have come into our lives because of this career that Zach has chosen.  I feel like I do a pretty good job of expressing that regularly and of course this time of year I take some extra time to reflect and make it known.
BUT...let's talk about the loot TOO!

Well we have some winners! For Jr. the fly fishing gear from us and bird feeder form Santa (all of the scout stuff) was a very close second to the camera. Only because he has to wait to use it I'm sure. And for Wyatt the gun and the pirate chest! 

Along with expressing a HUGE desire to take up the sport of fly fishing and a serious need for a bird feeder to be able to attract birds to our yard for his birdwatching log, Zachary asked for a digital camera for Christmas this year. From Zach and I. After standing in line outside Old Navy from 10pm-12am, buying a bracelet from some teenage kid because I wasn't close enough to the front of the line to get one, spending the qualifying amount in item purchases and then waiting in the checkout line for another hour or more, we scored him a "FREE" Kodak Easyshare underwater digital camera! It really is very cool and perfect for a new photographer or in our case, just a super cool kid that wants to take random pictures for a while. He has already made 3 movies. Attack Of The Vampire Cockatoo and Secret Agent Cockatoo 1&2. Pretty funny. I'll attach some of his masterpieces sometime.

He fell asleep shortly after breaking down his pole for the 19th time today !<3

Wyatt is obsessed with his pirate chest. He has been inside, behind, on top of and everywhere in between. It has been the treasure chest, the pirate ship, the jail, his table for lunch and dinner, a hideout and the headquarters for his Airhogs attack missions. He INSISTS that he will be sleeping in it every night that is not a school night. Who are we to argue with a pirate?! He was also gifted the most beautiful "pirate gun" from Santa. It's an old 1688 Flint Lock Blunderbuss replica pistol. He also insists, in his best pirate voice, that we stole this chest from him and just cleaned up and re gifted him his own stuff! All of the hours of restoration and the inhalation of the awful mold/mildew smell that took us forever to get rid of were so much more than worth it!

He was NOT kidding. Complete with two weapons in case a middle of the night dual is required! <3

My kids have the greatest imaginations!  We've played all day!

Zach and I got some pretty awesome stuff but I think that we both agree that the best gift was this first Christmas of just The Frakes Four. Play, build, record, play some more...Dinner at 915pm, dessert around 10? This day has been so much more than I could have imagined. I love my guys so much.