Stuffed animals!
Actually, the animals acted as kind of a tag for the presents, but the only people who knew who got which stuffed animal were the people giving the gifts. This way, people couldn’t try to guess what they were getting based on their box’s shape and size.
Plus, the presents looked really good with the stuffed animals on top of them. My favorite was this one.
It just had the best combination of bow, paper, and animal.
But before I get into all that I think I should address the elephant in the room…Get off the table Dumbo!
Okay I feel better, but seriously, if I were reading my writings I would be thinking, “How did you get gifts on Friday, I thought you got presents on the Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Well we do, we give and receive gifts on each of the twelve days of Christmas (starting with Christmas and ending on the eve of the feast of the Epiphany) and we get presents on the Epiphany. After all the Epiphany is when the first Christmas gifts were actually exchanged (you know: gold, frankincense, and myrrh). Thus, we receive a total of thirteen gifts for one Christmas.
Today was the last day of gift giving and as is customary the older boys took charge of the gifts (Nicholas, Jonathan, and I). Not only did we give great gifts (I’m trying to be humble here, but that was just so alliterative), but in a spurt of inspiration I took pictures of the gifts while people opened them! I know I should have been doing this all along, but it didn’t occur to me until the last day (of course). Since I did the pictures correctly for once, I figured I should write about them correctly and do it in the order we opened them, instead of some arbitrary order of age.
And so without further ado, I (finally) bring you what I advertised in the title of the post…
We started the unwrapping with Dad, but he shared his gift with Mom so they opened their gift together 
They got pillows! Not just any pillows, but really good, goose down pillows. Mom specifically told us earlier the year that she wanted new pillows, but was too cheap to buy them.
Also, in case you’re wondering they got a stuffed kangaroo and dingo (you can see them on the furniture behind Mom and Dad).
Next, we had Veronica open her gift (she had a bird tag).
When she opened her box, she found a poor Cinderella doll! As soon as she saw the doll she shouted , “It’s poor Cinderella!”
So I think she knew who it was supposed to be.
She was really excited, but she then she got…another gift!
This was…another Cinderella doll! This was the rich Cinderella.
Okay, with Veronica done, we then proceeded in order of age.
Robert opened next, and was very surprised when he got a sword!
Well no, he didn’t get a sword, he got two.
It was a two pack of short gladiator style swords. They come with a scabbard so you can wear them on your back. Oh, and he also got a black bear stuffed animal.
Next Christopher opened his gift. He got a raccoon!
Oh, and a broadsword.
Anne opened next (she got a stuffed chipmunk (it just made sense)).
She also got a vintage style pink gingham turntable (no we didn’t get her a sword).
Now she can listen to records in her room.
Nathaniel got, you guessed it, a sword.
We gave him a samurai katana, because he already owns a broadsword, (he wrote a post about it earlier).
We also gave Nathaniel a stuffed fox because Mom and Dad dubbed him a fox due to his love for eggs (don’t worry, he cooks them).
note: these pictures are shown out of order.
Now to ease any worried minds, these swords are all dulled. Furthermore, there are strict rules in place in our house about the use of swords (everyone has rules about such things, right?). No one is allowed to use their sword, sharp or dull on anything, but a practice dummy.
Next Jonathan opened his present, and no he didn’t get a sword…He got an ax! 
This weapon was not dull. He also got a blue lizard (I’m really glad that he dressed to match it).
Next I opened (being older than Jonathan (Nicholas was kind enough to take the pictures). Nicholas and Jonathan gave me a very nice pair of sunglasses. My eyes are very sensitive to light so I always end up squinting in our new home in The Sunshine State.
These shades were very nice, and very stylish.
See? I look good. Oh, I also got a stuffed hedgehog.
Then Nicholas opened his gift
It was a hat, but not just any hat, a cowboy style hat. I looked for a while trying to find one like they wore in the movie The Man from Snowy River.
Here’s a better picture of the hat. 
On the floor the children are opening their final gift of the year.
It was our old Agents Lego. You might not know the Agents theme, but it was extremely cool and when they first came out we bought all of the first wave of sets. We’ve owned them for some time and the little ones have always been jealous of them.
On a final note, today a piece of Nathaniel’s scabbard came off, so we returned it, but we didn’t have to send it back so now Anne has a sword too! Great ending, huh?