Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve was cold and snowy! Kate did everything she could to help Santa find his way. She sprinkled a reindeer feed composed of delectable oats and sparkly sequins all over the front lawn (which the birds proved to love the next morning). She also set up a very nice cookie, caramel and
Coke plate because, apparently, Santa prefers Coke to milk.  These things definitely drew in Santa, and his many wonderful presents too.
      

Christmas gets sweeter and sweeter each year. The kids’ expressions and excitement make the morning so much more lively and memorable! That being said, this year Santa surprised the kids with a BoUnCe HoUsE! The parents thought this would be a jaw-dropping, poop pants-ing, unforgettable, who cares about the other presents, amazing surprise. We had the camcorder all queued up to catch their astonishment and…NOTHING. They took one look at the thing, and ran over to the wrapped presents. Huh. Totally not the reaction we had envisioned; it’s just too bad the video camera wasn’t recording the looks on the parents' faces;) The kids blissfully opened their presents, and eventually moved onto the bounce house. They’ve since spent hours on end in it, with endless screams and bounces. And we’ve loved how quickly it blows up and takes down. Maybe they were just so shocked that it took a few minutes to sink in?      

       
     

Another noteworthy part of the morning: Dave had been telling Kate for over a month now that she was going to get coal in her stocking. She didn’t believe that. Dave managed to find some chocolate coal just for her and strategically placed it in the top of her stocking with with the label of “coal” hanging out for her to see. Guess what was the very first thing she saw? Those tormenting letters: C-O-A-L. As her eyes welled with tears, we quickly explained that it was just chocolate coal and that Santa was being a tease. She was relieved, but can you believe he has such a twisted sense of humor?

 

Early morning bedhead:

Needless to say, we had a very, merry Christmas. Our house is once again fully stocked with too many toys and lots of smiles. I feel very blessed to have such a one, hard-working Santa to provide these things for us, as well as two little people in our house to enjoy them. And, of course, we’re very grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the reason we get to celebrate and enjoy this perfect time of year.