Football Blues and Traditions

Boy, this weekend was not good for football at all! Last night ND lost and today the Bears lost to the Patriots...oh well, let's just hope ND gets to go to a bowl game! Enjoying the nice weather today, got some more shopping done - for my niece and nephew in Texas. Tyler stayed home this evening with me while Ben and Trenton made another round at hunting (no luck). We started a tradition some years back...I want to say 4 or 5 years now, Ben, Trenton, Tyler, Gabi and I draw names around Halloween time for a tradition we call "special gifts." We listen and watch our person we drew through the remainder of the year and we get that person a gift to open on Christmas eve-something special with meaning. We also take time to write a small letter to that person telling them how much they mean to the family and to them personally. It turned out to be a nice tradition that the kids look forward to doing each year. It seems everyone gets more creative each year - shows that we can actually LISTEN to each other. We enjoy it! Anyways, Tyler was able to get Gabi her "special gift" from him today while shopping. This year Tyler has Gabi, Trenton has me, Ben has Trenton, Gabi has Tyler and I have Ben.