TodaysMama and GameStop Giveaway

My boys are such HUGE GameStop fans that I couldn't pass up this opportunity to try my luck at winning such an awesome giveaway. So here goes:

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to:http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? 

I want my family to have a meaningful and memorable Christmas with a focus on remembering Christ's birth, life, and atonement and celebrating with a spirit of charity and giving.

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?

Christmas Eve we read scriptures about Christ's birth and the kids dress up as shepherds and wise men and act out the nativity. They get to open one present (new pajamas) and leave cookies out for Santa then all the kids sleep in sleeping bags in one kids' bedroom and they can stay up talking as late as they want/need to (usually the kids have a really hard time falling asleep because of all the excitement of anticipation). Christmas morning, who ever wakes up first has to wake up everyone else and we all go into where the tree is together and Dad oversees the distribution of presents. Santa's gift is usually the first to be opened and we always save stockings for last. After the kids have had a chance to play with their new toys and we've eaten breakfast we load everyone in the van and go to the Grandparents' house to visit and open more presents. We have Christmas dinner with Nana & Pop-pop.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

That's easy, a couple of weeks with my honey here would be amazing!

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? 

We have a tradition of taking the kids to see the temple lights the first Monday night of December. It always starts the season off with a special feeling. We like to sing Christmas songs and go caroling, participate in church and school festivities, bake gingerbread cookies, and make crafts to give as gifts. 

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

My parents were never into playing games but my brothers and sister and I would play all kinds of board games, Atari, and Nintendo. My favorites were Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Mario, and the year we got the Nintendo 64 for Christmas from my Aunt Rosemary was totally memorable. We actually probably play more games now as adults, every time we get together there is a game of Donuts, Apples to Apples, or Settlers of Catan going. 

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

Having all the kids sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve was a tradition from my childhood. I think it was a way to keep individual kids from sneaking out to spy on Santa because all the other kids would keep each other in check. But it was also really fun to stay up talking about what we hoped to get or telling Christmas stories. It was fun bonding. 

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?

I would love to go to Denver to surprise my sister for Christmas and to let the kids have a white Christmas (its completely unlikely to have it snow in Phoenix on Christmas morning- in fact I don't know that its ever happened). 

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

My boys would FREAK OUT if they found this under the tree: 

We're thinking this looks pretty cool:

And Shule really wants this:

So wish me luck! And if you'd like a chance to win some fabulous prizes check out the link above for TodaysMama.

The deadline to post your meme and comment is Friday, December 10th (same deadline applies for extra entry methods).