On Sunday, we exchanged gifts in the morning before church. This years' gifts were all about thoughtfulness and practicalness. I got my mom a small herb growing kit and tickets this Thursday for the Lion King musical. She had tried and failed in growing herbs seedlings that she had bought from a nursery, so I knew she would like it. And everytime we saw the LK commercial on TV, she'd always said she wanted to see it some day. She got me a really cool cookbook for when I move out. It's totally illustrated from step to step and organized by the amount of time it takes to make. It's got all kinds of foods, salads, dishes, desserts. Inside the cookbook was also a gift certificate for BestBuy! Haha.. so I guess I will be going there at least a few more times..

My brother got me 2 playstation games, Gran Turismo 2, and Final Fantasy VII. I guess he got them from Electronic Boutique, cuz they were used.. But that doesn't matter.. most of the games we have are used. GT2 has multiplayer mode so he and I should be able to play together on (the real) Christmas Day. I got my brother a giant box of Jelly Belly's. 12-15 beans per flavor, with a total of 40 different flavors. We spent almost an hour after church sampling all the different flavors, and combo's. Jalepeno is really *really* spicy. I will never understand how they do it.. like the popcorn one, or the cherry champagne, how when you bite down to actually taste the bubbles like it's real champagne!

I bought my dad some relaxation CDs, to go with a cd/alarm clock he got from his co-workers as a farewell gift. I also got him a pair of slippers for home use in his new home in NV.

My mom gave my dad a Mont Blanc pen, one of those really nice ones. My brother got a new Seiko watch from my mom. My brother got my dad the mastercraft ScrewOut drill bits, the kind you use if the screw head has been stripped. And he got my mom a coffee/herb grinder. And my mom also got my dad some planes (wood planing, not an aircraft!) special for making violins.

It was kinda sad we had to do it all 10 days before Christmas day, but that's how it had to be. I think it marks an important stage in our family. Soon we'll part and go our separate ways..