Wii, Winter Wonderland and After Christmas Shopping (not in that order)

Yes, for the first time in our lives, we did the post Christmas day early morning shopping!!  If it was not for the insentience that we actually go, we would have slept in to at least 8 am.  Instead, at 5 am the alarm was sounding.  Finally at 7:17 am, we left.  What, did you actually think we would have left that early and on time?  First we hit Kohl's like a marine infantry unit taking a beachhead.  Well more like a retired group from the VFW meandering into a store.  We walked away from there with some incredible 80% off items.  I even found a Chaps full suit marked down from $300 to only $60! And it was the right size!  I just appreciate the little things that God brings our way.  Tammy found several shirts at a great price and Sarah nabbed a bunch of shirts too.  We threw our new catch into the trunk and headed off to re-energize with some fresh Caribou coffee.  If you have not made it far enough north (like Charlotte NC), then you have lived a deprived life without Caribou coffee.  Starbucks is nothing compared to Caribou.  So this means you all MUST come to Chicago to enjoy some great coffee with us. And it tastes better when it is -7 degrees out too!

We next went to Hergerbergers (owned by Carsons), which is similar to Dillard's.  You know, one of the places we would not think about buying clothes unless there were some great sales, like today.  We scored some great deals along with our $10 off coupon and headed to the register.  When it was all rang up, the hit list totaled $109 (with a savings of $179).  We wanted to use the remainder of a Visa gift card with a balance of $32 on it.  When it was used, the receipt spit out of the register.  We told the cashier about the balance and we all agreed that if there was not enough of a balance, the machine would reject the sale or ask for the remainder of the balance.  The cashier even asked a manager and they both said the same thing about it printing the receipt.  So we thought that Tammy's mom actually gave her a card with more than she thought.  When we called for the card balance, it said that it had a balance of $32.  I do not know how it all went through, other than a gift from God.  We tried to correct it and they said it went through and have a nice day.  So we were blessed with $279 dollars (at full price) of sales items for FREE!  We have never had anything like this happen to us before!

Next we headed to Target to grab some highly discounted Christmas items! 

When we made it home, it was time for a favorite Winter event: Snow Sledding!  We bundled up, grabbed our sleds and headed for the hill.  I forgot how fun it was zip down the hill.  But then I also forgot how much work it is to walk back up the hill!  We all had a blast and headed home for some dinner.  Afterwords, we even got Joan (Tammy's mom), Danette (Tammy's sister)  and Tammy to play Nintendo Wii for the first time!  What a hilarious time watching them try bowling and golf!  

We are thankful for the time to relax and have fun with family at Christmas time.  Although, we are heavily leaning towards trying a more tropical Christmas in Florida next year.  We will see . .