I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Mine was nice and relaxing, and I thought it would be fun if we all shared a happy holiday memory — whether it was visiting family you haven’t seen in a while, or receiving a gift you weren’t expecting (but loved), or something special that happened.
It was tough being away from family and friends for the first time ever during the holidays, but the four of us managed to make the best of it. And the best thing about my holiday was experiencing our first ever white Christmas! :freezin The week before Christmas it started snowing, and over the course of a week we had over twelve inches of snow! We absolutely loved it — and so did our dog. It was so much fun watching the girls play in the snow and laughing while Sandie “hopped” through it since the snow came up to her chest and that was the only way for her to get around in it. Having all the snow gave us a very memorable first Christmas in Oregon, and I even think that family and friends in California were a little bit jealous of how much fun we had with all the 
snow. :giggler As of this weekend, it’s pretty much melted away, but it was fun and lovely while it lasted!
Do you remember a few weeks ago me asking about the game units that are out on the market right now (XBox, Wii, Playstation 3) and asking for your opinions on each? Well, we ended up getting the girls a Wii for Christmas, and the whole family has had a great time playing all the games. We got the Wii Sport, Mario Cart, and Dance, Dance Revolution. Christmas day we all spent playing the various 
games, (tennis, golf, baseball, DDR, etc.) and the next morning we couldn’t believe how SORE we all were from all the excercise we didn’t know we were getting! 
The DDR was a blast, though my girls left me in the dust because they are WAY more coordinated than I am! 
But I am getting better with each game we play, and boy is it ever a work-out!
I have two questions for you today:
1) For those of you who have a Wii, are there any fun games that you would recommend?
2) What is your favorite or special holiday memory?
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 25 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 45 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
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Sounds like a wonderful holiday, and I’m glad you all enjoyed a white Christmas. I wouldn’t have minded mine on a beach, but oh well. It’s winter.
I would love to get the Wii. Maybe one of these days. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Btw, I read Alannah’s story “Reaction Time” over the holidays, and LOVED it! I blogged about it if anyone’s interested. GREAT first story. I highly recommend it.
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I’m glad you had such a wonderful Christmas. Mine was very pleasant too. :) On the Wii, I would try the bowling game, it’s a blast! And the Wii fit too, especially if you’re looking for a fun way to exercise without it feeling like exercise. :)
Favorite holiday memory would be the only white Christmas I can ever remember. I was very young, and I woke up to a winter wonderland outside. There was no feeling like it. Unfortunately we’ve never had another white Christmas, so that memory is very special.
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It was weird NOT having a white Christmas as we spent the week in Disney and finally got home yesterday. I am NEVER going on vacation with 16 other people again.
I am looking to get a Wii later this spring when I finally have the credit card bill paid off from this last couple of months. I didn’t know how much we had spent between college and vaca until I got home and saw the bill and computed how much we had spent that wasn’t on the bill.
I have been trying to read while we were gone. I got What a Scoundrel Wants done and have been working on Marta Acosta’s books next. I do love my ereader except for the fact the light sucks battery power. I might return it and get the older one and the lighted book cover like I did hubby who really likes it. I did love having it on the train. So much easier than carrying a bunch of books. Which I brought a couple with me anyway and never looked at them.
Now to get unpacked and packed for the plane to CA on Thursday…. :yikes:
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It sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, Janelle and you had your very first white one! That’s great!
For the first time in quite a few years we didn’t have snow at Christmas here in Denver. The mountains however have been getting hammered which is good for the ski areas. My favorite Christmas memory is always watching Lilly open her gifts. She is so enthusiastic and loves everything she gets. And then she always says, This is the best Christmas ever. :-))
Have a terrific day all,
Cher
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Ev, I got the new Sony ereader and I just attach my book light to it to save the battery. I love it so far, but it is very new to me.
This year my brother, sister, nieces and I were all home for the weekend. It was the first time we had all been together around Christmas in years. I loved watching my nieces open their gifts and how excited they were with what we got them. We also got to spend lots of time with the rest of the family, which since we are all over the country now, was a real treat. No snow for us this year, but I was happy since I had to spend so much time on the road.
I too read Alannah’s new story and loved it(will blog about it later today or tomorrow)! It was my first ebook purchase for my new ereader.
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Good morning jungle friends,
Hey Janelle, it sounds like you all had a really wonderful time. I remember when I experienced snow for the first time. I was 11 years old. My initiation was not pretty either. It was during the blizzard of ’85 in November. I had just flown in from Jamaica; needless to say I was not dressed appropriately for that kind of weather. I was wearing a red velvet skirt and jacket, a long sleeved white blouse with frills of course, white tights and black patent leather shoes…can you tell it was the 80s? I was shivering so much, and I think my system went into shock or something. No wonder, I am not big on really cold weather right now. My aunt met us at the airport and luckily she brought some coats, scarves, hats and gloves with her. I remember my gloves the most because it was one of those that changed with the temperature. I had a space ship and stars and stuff on mine. The gloves were black and the tops were white. When I put my hand in the cold air, the design changed to different colours.
I heard that the Wii was a lot of fun, but I still haven’t gotten on the wagon yet. I hope to see you guys later.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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I would love the Wii Fit (I don’t even have a Wii).
Are we talking this year….I am not sure…have to think on that!
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Janelle I just got a Wii too!! I love it, my family did the boxing all day and we couldn’t believe how much our arms hurt. I also got the Wii Fit which I love..the fit is the real reason I wanted the Wii. It basically like going to the gym with out ever having to go!! You create your our workout routine and as you do it and perfect each exercise the routine gets harder. But the great part is you do things like skiing, snowboarding, yoga, boxing its great!
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My favorite memory was my youngest niece’s reaction when she opened one of the books I got her and my mom read out the card that told her it was good for a trip to the zoo and a movie with me. Her reaction cracked everyone up because it was super-excited but not really surprised since I had made each of my nieces and nephews tell me what kind of outing they wanted to go on with me instead of buying them toys.
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how about having youngest (who has had only 3 xmases) tell me, “This is the BEST Christmas EVA” (he has artic issues and sounds like he is either from NJ or the Bronx….none of us are from there).
:freezin
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Our family went with the Wii also. Our family had a blast with world tour guitar hero. Talk about coordination. I thought that I had some, but this game proved me wrong. Even though I stink, I want to play some more. Sounds like S & M. :happy2: I also heard that Wii play is a lot of fun. My daughter said that cow racing is a blast.
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It sounds like a wonderful Christmas for you & the family Janelle. It may be the only white Christmas you get!! All that snow is unusual for the Portland area!! My daughter said they didn’t get nearly as much in Eugene.
I don’t have any video games so I am no help at all to you. Glad you & the family are having so much fun with your Wii.
Best Christmas memory, that is hard as there are a lot of Christmas days in my life!! :giggler The Christmas I spent in Colorado was without snow, that was a disappointment but getting to spend it with my two youngest grandchildren more than made up for it. We had buffalo prime rib for dinner that was outstanding. My daughter is a fantastic cook.
It is always fun to think back over Christmas memories. Thanks. :flower4you:
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My daughter and soon to be son in law has the wii fit and love it I sure could use it, it would be nice to do something that is fun to lose weight. I have tried that old fashion way and it doesn’t come off as fast, so I am all for something that will work. Plus I hear it is so much fun. My only problem with getting it is that it is just me and hubby at home so it might seem stupid. But we are still kids at heart right???
Glad you enjoyed all the snow.
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Janelle–congrats on having your first white Christmas! I’m sure it was just beautiful!
We have a Wii and some of the most fun moments of this holiday season were watching the family–young and old–playing it! I loved seeing my Dad and his wife “bowling” and the tennis foursome that went on in my rec-room on Christmas night was just hilarious.
As for faves–definitely Mario Kart. Love that one. And my youngest just got a new Lego game for the Wii–Lego Batman. They’re so fun and funny!
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Janelle – welcome to the world of wii. We got one for our kids last Christmas and what fun. You have to be careful having too much fun though or you can find out like we did that you can’t move your arms very far the next morning. :wallbanger Our favorite games are Guitar Hero World Tour, the complete band, so we can all play at the same time, Cookin’ Mama is a good time, and of course my teenage daughter likes the Sims games while my eight year old son LOVES the Lego games. All of them. Batman. Indiana Jones. Star Wars.
I don’t have a favorite memory this year. It was a tough year, we lost my father in law so I was just happy that we all made it through.
I hope everyone has the best new year!
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My favorite 2008 holiday memory is seeing the joy and happiness on our
grandchildren’s faces as they opened their gifts. And then hearing that
the six-year-old told his mom that what Grandma had done for them
(all the gifts and the good food) was “awesome!”
Pat Cochran
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Hi Janelle… I got a Wii few weeks before Xmas… You can download games on the Wii system if you have a wireless router in the house. I buy the Nintendo wii point card at Walmart or Target instead of using the credit card number, and I have downloaded classic NES games such as Super Mario Brothers 2 & 3… got to love the classic games. I also bought the Mario Party game that is fun. But i do love the bowling and tennis game. I want to get a Wii fit if I can find one. They are so hard to find since the holidays came and went.
My favorite holiday memory is spending Xmas with my Grandparents. I miss having them around.
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:freezin We have had such cold weather here in Northwest, Indiana. Could somebody send us some warm weather?
Sorry but I don’t have Wii yet. Sure does sound like a cool system! Maybe someday, one of these light years we will get it.
My favorite holiday memory is when my brother tried to show me how to jump on sled as a kid in our back yard. He grabbed the sled at the back, started running, jumped on the sled on his stomach, sending the sled tipping forward into the snow, and he flew face first into the snow and then tumbled over. I was laughing my head off so hard that tears were streaming down my face and freezing to my cheeks from the cold winter air. My brother wasn’t laughing though but my father was because he caught it all on our old movie camera. So we love to pull this out at Christmas and watch my brother’s big flop!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Hi Janelle,
My son has the Wii and he has the Mario one’s.
Glad you enjoyed your first white Christmas
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Hi Janelle,
My girls have a had the Wii for about 3 years. One is a Senior in high school and the oldest is in college. they both love Guitar Hero. They got Legends of Rock this past summer and they got World Tour for Christmas.
My youngest loves them both she said that World Tour was a bit easier than Legends of Rock .
We all were in Sam’s club a few months ago and my youngest daughter was playing Guitar Hero on the display in the store and drew a crowd.
There was a couple in their 40′s watching and told her that their kids had guitar hero and they played after the kids went to sleep and after they had a couple of drinks.
They said it was fun that way. :tinitime:
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I really enjoy the Wii Fit. The DD and her BF love Guitar Hero and all the Wii sports (They’re both college athletes) Though she can’t play so much now due to the current round of eye surgeries.
Favorite Christmas memory? I have so many, luckily. One that sticks out is the first Christmas my DH and I spent away from home when he was in the Army. Rather than putting all the presents under to the tree labeled ‘To G from me’ and vice versa, we came up with tags that had to do with the gift and we had to guess what the gift was from the “clue.” As an example, I gave him a book about the Orient Express and the tag was from Agatha Christie. Twenty plus years later, we’re still doing it, as is the DD, who plans to carry the tradition over to her own home when she marries the BF.
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We got the Wii Last year we have many of the games my husband likes the Lego ones we have them all we have American Idol, Mario Cart, super Mario party 8, I love the Wii Fit I just got the Jillian Micheals workout, My kids got outdoor challenge which is a fun one. we also have a dance one that is fun.
we had a nice Christmas Santa brought the kids lots including a drum set and electric guitar oh santa what were you thinking lol
One of our traditions that we have done for many years is go out Christmas eve and look at christmas lights.
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I also forgot to mention incase you don’t know we didn’t till some kid showed us you can take you photo card out of your camera and put it the wii and look at you pictures.
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My daughter has a Wii and she and her friends (ages 7-14) love the Wii Cheer, Cooking Momma, and The Carnival Games. The Wii Cheer is so fun I even play it with her.
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X5 :The most fun Wii game is Mario Party 8!!! It’s fun for kids and adults. Actually at my house the adults take over the Wii so we can play. We have Mario Party parties! We’re getting my daughter Rock Band for her birthday. My sister-in-law has it for the XBOX 360 and it is so fun! Hope you have a great time with it!
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I love photo cards, they are more special than those ordinary greeting cards that is just full of text.`~”