Breakfast with Santa

One of our greatest blessings from open adoption is gaining a new family. When we adopted Max, we joke and say we adopted Jordan (his birthmom) and about 26 others. They are all a terrific family and we are truly blessed!With family comes Christmas traditions. Now one of our favorite Christmas traditions is breakfast with Santa at Papa Jake's and Grandma Jeannie's house.

See, Papa Jake and Grandma Jeannie are good friends with the REAL Santa. On a Sunday morning in December they invite him to their home with breakfast with the grandkids (and all of us adoring parents get to hang out too).

The kids eagerly await the arrival of Santa.Santa reads them a story and hands out gifts.He sits with each child and listens to their Christmas wishes.Sam asked Santa for an iPhone 4S (this was news to me!) so they were having a conversation about it.I don't think it was looking good for Sam. (Thanks Santa!)

Then Grandma Jeannie leads the kids in singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.Next all the kids head over to the table to eat a delicious breakfast, complete with hot cocoa. Yum!

We are truly blessed and thankful for this family and this great Christmas tradition!
Cheers!
Christy

Breakfast with Santa

Last Sunday we got to go to breakfast with Santa. See, Max's birth-great-grandparents are good friends with Santa. Every year they invite him over for breakfast and, lucky us, we get to hang out with Papa Jake, Grandma Jeannie and Santa too!
Santa reads them a story, gives them presents and then eats breakfast with them. Such an honor at such a busy time of year!
New favorite picture below! I imagine Max thinking... "So... what? You give me presents and drive a sleigh with reindeer? This world has a lot for me to learn yet!" Santa looked a little different without his coat and big boots. (Nonetheless, completely authentic!) This is his outfit he wears when it is 85 degrees out. This is clearly, a new favorite Christmas tradition for us! Thanks Papa Jake and Grandma Jeannie! Thanks Santa too!

Cheers,
Christy

A visit with the REAL Santa

This last weekend we went to "the party of all Christmas parties!" We had the best time at Grandma Jeannie and Papa Jake's (Max's great-grandparents) house and it just so happens that they are friends with "THE BIG GUY." The one and only, real Santa.

All the kids waited at the door with great anticipation.
Then, Santa came in and read them all a book . Later, they even got signed copies!

Sam got a great gift and his picture taken with Santa.Maddie looked so pretty with Santa.Here's Max's first photo with Santa. Then, we continued onto a tasty breakfast with Santa.Santa even had time to answer important questions like "Where is Mrs. Claus today?" and did you talk to my Elf-on-the-Shelf about yesterday?
Sam seemed a little worried...Santa was not the only one who was the center of attention at the party.There was even a band!But, alas, even the little ones get all tired out so it was time to go home and hope that Santa saw only our best behavior this year. I hope you are enjoying your holidays as much as we are. This year, they are so meaningful! We feel so blessed.

Cheers!
Christy

A good laugh!

Today, for our "Fun Friday" activity we went to the mall to visit Santa. I knew I'd get ripped off and get some cheesey print with the fake background. What I didn't know was how Sam was going to react to Santa. He's almost 3 years old and the past 2 years, he has been terrified of Santa. This year he wasn't terrified but.... well, look at this picture. You decide.
I seriously can't stop laughing at this picture. I LOVE IT! It is so very much like Sam. As you can see, I was holding him there and he clearly did NOT want to participate. Maybe next year he'll like the big guy.

Madeleine loved Santa . She brought her letter and told him how good she was this year. And Santa was great too! He said stuff like, "I see you got a haircut this year." And he picked up their names as I was talking to them. Afterwards, Maddie said, "He really knew my name!" which allowed me to play that Santa card and say, "I told you! Santa knows everything. He sees all the good and bad things you do so you better be good!" I've been playing the Santa card since just after Halloween so I hope it comes to fruition soon.

The decorations in the mall were so nice, I'll leave you with a couple more good shots. Come back to the blog tomorrow because I'm starting my 12 Days of Christmas and I've got a ton of great gifts, recipes, and crafts to share.
Thanks for stopping by!