Ornament Swap 2011

I realized today that I hadn't posted the results from our annual Christmas ornament swap competition. If you are just now jumping on board the blog you'll need to go here and find out what all they hype is about. For those of you that read regularly, you'll remember that I got mutilated in last years swap which meant I had to bring my "A" game this time around.

This past October our family took a trip to Chattanooga and in lieu of a regular old hotel room we stayed in a genuine train car that had been turned into a guest room. This may by far have been one of the highlights of our boys lives.

Britten searched the internet until he found a replica of the train car we stayed in and this is the ornament he gave me this year.

We were actually in the caboose just like this one. I know, I know...he's a keeper. But, I knew that way before he got me such a thoughtful ornament.

Now moving right along to this years winning ornament....

As long as I have known Britten he's always dreamed of going snowboarding. We moved to North Carolina two weeks after we were married for him to attend seminary and always planned to go then but, his student status coupled with my whopping teacher salary left no room in the budget for snowboarding. This is as close as we ever came.

Nope, that's not a mountain. It's a golf course across the street from our town house and we used inflatable intertubes. Lame? Yes, but we were poor seminary students so what more could you expect?

This past year Britten officiated a wedding for some sweet friends of ours whose parents have a home in Breckenridge, Colorado. As a "thank you" for being part of their special (and absolutely breathtaking) day, they invited him to go snowboarding and just like that, Britten's dream of jetting down the slopes with the wind in his hair all came true.

I found a girl on Etsy who could make one of a kind polymer clay snow board ornaments and had her make this for my sweetie.

Britten was genuinely shocked and excited when he opened it. He's decided it's his favorite ornament of all time...and I'd say that last comment sealed the victory for me.