ST. GEORGE, Utah — A Christmas tradition not to be forgotten for a family of seven in St. George.
Every year, mom and dad issue a challenge. The kids’ orders? Make it through a series of booby traps before opening presents, without waking up their parents. Well, they fail every year, but that’s not the point.
It’s now a 10-year tradition the family has come to love.
From balance beams with bubble wrap, to a 12-story plastic cup wall, to a Nerf ball trap, a tower of 25 Whoopee cushions, croquet balls rolling into a gong, to 150 jingle bells being released — all in the name of making memories.
“It’s the best 20 minutes of the year for us. We sit up in bed and watch on the cameras, and we just laugh for 20 minutes. It’s awesome,” Brandon Comstock said to KSL.
Brandon said he starts thinking about ideas in July.
“It’s 100% original stuff. We just kind of come up with it as it goes.”
Then, when the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve, that’s when he and his wife go to work — serious work.
“We started when they went to bed about 8:30, getting things finished up, and we finished about 4:15 that morning. And then they wake up at 5 a.m., so we got about a half an hour of sleep,” Carly Comstock said, adding that it’s still all worth it.
“We felt like Christmas was too much about the stuff, and we wanted to make Christmas about the experience and the family and the traditions, and so we started doing this to help kind of switch the focus,” Brandon said.
“He’s the teacher,” Carly said. “It’s not like we have unlimited funds for Christmas, so our kids get one from Santa and one gift from us. And the traps is their big gift.”
As for the kids, it’s definitely the highlight of the year.
Brandon said he’s already got some ideas for next year.
If you want to see video of the last three years of Christmas traps, check out the following links:
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