Christmas 2012: What He Got

Christmas morning was something magical at our house. It always is.

I am married to this thoughtful guy, and today’s post is all about him.

It is already one of my favorites because of the myriad of faces that he pulls in these pictures when opening some presents.

We’ll start with his big “surprise” present first, since the single green bow was the extent of wrapping this giant, heavy box. I was so excited to get Hubby his very own Turkey Fryer and secretly ordered it weeks before Christmas.

(In checking that link now, I see that I got a killer deal when I ordered his from Amazon. I paid less than $80 for it!)

Amazon tries to ship packages in their original boxes if they can, but we have yet to receive one like that. Except this time. And Hubby just happened to be home from work an hour early. When we pulled out of the garage to run a quick errand, this giant turkey fryer box was sitting on the porch. I tried to get him to look away, but it was too late.

I was so bummed!

He was still pretty excited, but I wanted at least one good surprise for him on Christmas morning! Hubby is eerily good at guessing what exists inside boxes. It’s almost no fun at all.

In his family. all of the kids draw names for who-gets-who for Christmas. We had Hubby’s brother, Steve and Amy, and they had us. They are such wonderful people, so we were pretty excited to open their box.

They know us so well…a gift card to our favorite restaurant will get this reaction from Hubby every time! Here we come, Cheesecake Factory!

  

Then they got us each individual edible treats. Hubby loves Corn Nuts. Absolutely loves them! So three giant bags of them were right up his alley.

  

I recently stopped at an Army Surplus store when I was working in Los Angeles, and I found a bunch of fun things that he could use on his Scout camping trips.

This First Aid kit was first in an entire lineup of things to help him stay safe and warm in the mountains.

I realized that the pictures just weren’t turning out, so I made Hubby move couches so that we could get some better lighting. I am so glad we did, since he is so handsome (and funny) in these shots!

I married a looker, that’s for dang sure.

Not that he ever gets lost or anything, but I know that Hubby is always looking for new ways to teach the boys how to navigate out in the boonies.

So he got this military-grade compass to help him out. It has all sorts of cool bells and whistles on it.

You can’t say that I’m not romantic.

And he is always saying how he wishes he had a knife. They are making some from scratch this month for a Scout activity, but I thought that it would be nice for him to have something…er, reliable up in those mountains, too.

  

He was pretty excited to get a knife. It has a saw and a can opener and a blade…the three main necessities for men camping in the mountains.

And, because I was in an Army Surplus Store, all of the knives were engraved with the different sectors of the military. I opted to purchase the S.W.A.T. knife so he wouldn’t think that I was trying to get him to join the Marines or anything.

My wonky hand is included in this picture for your viewing pleasure.

He guessed this as soon as he saw it under the tree. We only go to one movie in the theater each year, so it is almost a given which blu-ray is going to show up on Christmas morning.

We now own a whole three blu-rays. That lets you know how often we buy movies!

At least he acted a little surprised. It was all acting.

But his fun faces make every moment worth it.

Feigned surprise. He’s a good actor!

And then, reality sets in. That he now owns another movie from his favorite franchise…the new Batman series. He really enjoys these movies, and when he is showing other man-cave guests his sound system in the theater room, this is always what he plays to blow them away!

He was happy. Which meant that I was happy.

This was actually a surprise for both of us, since I couldn’t remember what was in this box.

Remember…I’m getting old.

Open it! Open it! What’s inside?! What is it?

In continuing with the camping theme, this is the world’s second-brightest flashlight and some gigantic rechargeable batteries to fit inside.

We have a fun neighbor who claims to have the world’s brightest flashlight, and I knew that I couldn’t complete with that. So I got Hubby the next best thing.

  

He wanted to show me how awesomely bright it was. And I must admit…it looks like I got a good one!

I’ve never seen batteries like it, but they last forever and then can be recharged. So I hope that they literally last forever. This flashlight will help Hubby in all of those midnight hikes.

I hope that I’m home in a nice, warm, soft bed for those, by the way.

And we’re down to the last box to open! It isn’t as heavy as he is making it look. I know what’s inside this one!

  

Yes, I really am as wonderful as to get my husband socks for Christmas. Romantic, remember?

But he always says how his feet freeze up there when they are camping. So I figured that some military-grade soft, cushy, thick socks could be just the ticket to keep him coming home with all ten toes.

But I was really excited about these snow gloves. Along the same freezing theme, his hands were never quite warm up there, either. So I found some great gloves with liners inside that will keep his little fingers as warm as his little toes.

Oh good! He approves! They were a little snug, but they don’t make them any bigger than this! I am so excited that he has so many things to help him on all of these camping trips now.

And heck. I might even go camping with him again sometime. It will need to warm up first, though. I’m not really into that whole “snow camping” thing.

And this is the closest that I’ve ever seen Hubby with Jazz Hands. Truth be told, it kind of freaks me out.

This was the aftermath when we were through. Just solid proof that we had a wonderful Christmas! I got spoiled rotten, too, and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow morning.

How was your Christmas? Did Santa find your chimney? Did you get things to keep you warm?