Park's Christmas Package

This month got a little crazy.  I needed to shop for and send Brinley her birthday package.  We had to get Parker's Christmas package sent to Utah by October 1st and we needed to shop for and celebrate Tanner's birthday as well.  Once those three events were taken care of and I knew my babies would feel loved, I felt a huge sense of relief!  

For history's sake I wanted to mention a little about getting Parker's package to him.  Apparently Ghana is the most expensive place in the world to ship to currently.  I don't know why and that could be old news or just a rumor, but that's the info we got from the mission home.  There is a fundraiser a family does twice a year to help get packages there more cost effectively.  They actually take extra luggage and fly to Ghana with packages we send in for our missionaries.  So, for $50 we can buy a spot for a gallon Ziploc bag spot.  It can weigh no more than five pounds.  

Not everything pictures here fit.  I had to leave out a few of the items above.

We talked to Parker and asked him what he might like that wasn't too heavy and would fit into a gallon zip lock bag.  He mainly said candy and then he added a nice watch and military sized scriptures to the list.  (His purchased a cheap watch at Walmart before he left and it got lost.  He then purchased another one in Ghana that broke.)  Later he said some pictures would be really nice and that he really appreciated the pictures we sent with him.  

And can I say the picture part made my mama heart so happy?!  Before he left to the MTC, I asked him if he was going to take any of his pictures off of his bulletin board with him.  He said no.  When I mentioned he might like to have a few of family and friends to put up on his wall in his apartment, he rolled his eyes and said something like, "Thanks, but there is no way I'm ever going to do that."  

Well, the night before he left for Provo, I just couldn't let quit thinking about him in Africa without any pictures of his loved ones.  I stayed up extra late uploading pictures of siblings, grandparents, cousins and friends to Walmart.  I picked them up the next morning, placed them in a small dollar store album and hid it deep inside his suitcase with a note.  I was worried if he saw it before he left for Utah, he would take them out.  

I don't think mentioned the album when he was in the MTC, and I forgot all about it.  However, I was really happy in September when he thanked me for slipping the album into his luggage and requested more pictures.  I'm on it Parker Bryce!

And now back to the Christmas package post...

Can I just say it is amazing how much you can shove into a Ziploc bag.  Also, it is kind of a fun challenge to shop for light weight items as well.  We wanted to get some little gifts he could hand out to the children in his area.  We wanted to take care of his companion too.  The organization flying over emphasized to send items to share because often the native missionaries don't get much if anything for Christmas.  When there were extra spots open, Brian and I decided to purchase one more bag.  I'm so glad there was an extra spot because the extra set of scriptures weighed a lot.  Also, his b-day is in November, so here is a little more 5 pounds of love coming his way.

Here are some items we included: CTR rings ($24), scriptures ($20) , Iron man watch ($40), Hot Wheel cars ($10), $30 in candy (Sour Patch Kids, Mentos, Airheads, Skittles, etc) , $30 in beef jerky, plastic princess figurines, stickers, drink mixes, Gushers, fruit roll ups, small peanut butter single serve containers ($2), Yahtzee dice and scorecards ($5), Uno ($6) and a small photo album with about 50 pictures ($7).

Grandpa helped by vacuum sealing the beef jerky into smaller packages.  He also did a couple of chip bags just for fun.  I only had room for one pack of Nacho Cheese Doritos.  I think Park will love those chip crumbs.

We spent about $175 on "gifts" and then about $113 to ship to Utah and then Ghana.  I put gifts in quotations because it really was just such a random assortment of junk food and small gifts to share.  I think he will absolutely love this Christmas.  He loves the people of Ghana already, and he has always shared generously and happily with those around him.  I'm excited to hear his reaction to this package.