A Christmas party to remember.

[This is formatting weird. But it took forever to get it on here and I don't want to mess with it. So i'm leaving it]
Every year we have a Thueson extended family Christmas party. This year it was at my parents house. This post is mainly for the family members who couldn't come (although I imagine by now they've heard all about it!). This year turned out to be a bit more exciting than most and I know several people in attendance have been waiting for the pictures and video footage from the night, so here you go.

It started out the same as most years. Everyone was late, we had tons of good food (but way too much of it) and there were crazy kids running everywhere.
Here's the patriach of the family (my dad) and his younger brother (the one on the right).


















Cousin Sam just got home from his mission a few days before the party. He did a good job not acting overwhelmed, but I'm sure he was.














































































My parents put together a little program. Some reading and singing. Thuesons singing is definitely a treat. :) I was going to put video footage on here, but it hurts to listen to so I decided not. We have a few great singers mixed in with some not so great singers. No names will be mentioned.

If you made it this far, here comes the fun part. Right before the program was to start, Shane walked in with his Christmas gift for my mom and dad. In true Shane fashion, he actually paid for and GAVE my parents two goats for Christmas. I'm not kidding. He gave them goats. A little history: While Shane was in Ghana visiting my parents on their mission earlier this year, my mom ran across some goats walking down the road. She stopped to pet one and said "Oh, I want a goat." She didn't mean it. Shane took it literally. So, for christmas, he bought her goats.

Here he is just as he walked through the door. The girl holding the other goat is his friend Sara.

She's thrilled.

They were a big hit with the kids. Mya loved them. Jaida stood on the couch shrieking in terror. The goats roamed around the kitchen. When everyone cleared the room, they pooed and peed everywhere (I'm sure in terror). My mom doesn't know that. I guess she does know. Shane, of course, was responsible for cleaning it up. And in case anyone is wondering, goats stink. Really bad.

A few days later, the goats and I had a little photo shoot out on the back patio. It didn't last very long because Doug (the fatter brown one) backed up and looked like he was going to charge me. Photo shoot over.

They're kinda cute. Their names are Doug and Gene. No idea who named them (it was either Jeremy or Shane).

And here's some video footage to document it all. As you can tell, mom wasn't pleased. And she's adamant that she's not keeping them. They are still at her house. . . .who knows, maybe she'll grow to love them. Shane claims he's finding them a new home. He just has to "run some background checks." My guess--they'll be at the Thueson's for quite a while. Unless someone else wants them. Anyone? Anyone?




You may not want to watch this one in front of inquisitive children who may ask "What are they doing?" (like Jaida just did). They're both boys. Hmmmm....

You can read more about the goats on my brothers blog at http://jeremusings.blogspot.com/2008/12/hey-goat.html if this isn't enough. :)

And what better way to end all the excitement than with some IV antibiotics. My dad had to get knee surgery (a few days before Christmas) due to an infection that started in his mouth (long story). He now has to get IV antibiotics for 2 weeks, twice a day. Luckily he's a doctor and has a son in medical school, so between the two of them, he's able to do it all at home and not in a rehab center. He's using the coat wrack as his IV pole. We've also been known to use chairs, bed posts, and a really long stick (yes, we've done IV's at our house several times, myself being one of the recipients).

Few. It's over.