Ideas for the Barruses

Happy December, everyone! We hope you're all having a wonderful and stress-free month.

For Christmas, our family would be happy with whatever--honestly, we appreciate a "small and simple things" attitude in gifts, and if there's a particular gift you'd like to give us, it'd be more interesting to see what you've come up with, and we'd be very grateful for the thought, whatever it is.

That last paragraph was meant to inspire you with an awesome sense of freedom. If it's a bit too awesome, here are some other ideas:

We like games and puzzles that we can all work on as a family, which takes a little care right about now, as Lincoln's very vocal when he feels left out. Play-dough's popular in our house. Someday we'd like to get Bananagrams.

The girls and I are reading chapter books a little each night. Inspired by suggestions of the girls' teachers, we try to pick books that are a bit above their grade levels (Kindergarten and 3rd grade), and we alternate between books Abigail will like and books Katy will like. In general, classic kids' books are great, as are cheesy ones. We don't own that many (we get them from the library), so owning anything would be great, even/especially if we've read it before. It would also be great to get a list of book ideas we could scour for ideas of what to read next.

Michelle and I like running. We don't use a lot of those crazy extras, but sometimes we're curious about gel units and those weird accessories. Michelle's also got a goal to read more for enjoyment. It's not easy to predict what she'll enjoy, but it's a goal. I like to read spy/suspense novels, mysteries, historical fiction, not-too-geeky science fiction, and well-written popular nonfiction, too. Oh, and math. :) Michelle and I are both now aspiring to work more on scrapbooks from our missions. We're into the multi-photo photo-sleeve pages that fit into 12-by-12 3-ring binders kind of scrapbooking.

We're also very grateful for practical/preparedness items, and everyone in the family likes Church-related items, especially those we can enjoy on Sunday or at FHE.

May your days be merry and bright!

Love, Mike (and the rest of the family)