Early Celebrations

Every year my mom's side of the family gets together to celebrate Christmas.  She comes from a big family so of course over the years the family just keeps growing and growing!  I love getting together with all of my cousins. Now it is so much fun watching all of our own kids grow up and get to experience big family gatherings.  On Saturday my aunt and uncle had us all over to their house. We usually celebrate early so that everybody can come.  We were told in advance that there would be a "surprise guest" sometime during the evening.  Well, you can imagine the shock and surprise when Santa and Rudolph arrived at our family Christmas party!  Here is Connor greeting Santa with a BIG hello hug!

Travis stopped to pose with Rudolph...

 Daryle even rushed in to give Santa a hug.... he asked Santa about the coal he has been getting lately... lol!

 Connor had to check out Rudolph's blinking nose.

 Santa had all the little one's attention.. I think he was asking who was on the good boys and girls list!

 Each child got their own one on one time with Santa.  (Some children got more than the one personal chat.... ahem... you will see in the following pictures who that might have been!)  Santa was talking to Travis about some of the things he has been doing over the year. (I think Santa might be reading my blog from time to time. I wonder where he gets his information?) 

 Holy moly!  Travis has been asking for a remote control helicopter.... Santa is the best!

 Meanwhile on the sidelines Connor and Rudolph were dancing the night away. They were also tossing a small soccer ball back and forth for a while... right by the Christmas tree... nobody got hurt. Phew... I was worried.

 I guess he needed another chat with Santa... maybe to clear a few things up??

 Here are all of the great-grandchildren in the family.  They are all so much fun.  I love watching them all grow up. They really are a sweet bunch. This was the best we could get... trying to get this many little ones to sit still is a challenge.  The two three year olds, the 18 month old and even the two five year olds were a little on the "busy" side if you know what I mean.

 Hmmm... just how much do you need to tell Santa anyway??  Santa looks so understanding.

 Best Buddies

 Even my grandma got in on some Santa time!!

Each family even got a picture with Santa and Rudolph.  It was getting late and I think Connor was all smiled out!

We had a most wonderful time. I didn't get a good picture of Connor with his gift. He got one of those Smart Cycle Racer games.  That is why I am able to type up this post totally uninterrupted. He is in heaven. If you don't know what that is, it is a stationary bike hooked up to learning video type games on the TV. It should wear him out pretty good. He has been peddling away for over an hour now.  I am realizing that I don't have pictures of any of the adults. I would say that one of the best parts was my Aunt Mary Ann coming in from California.  It was nice having her with us to celebrate Christmas!  My boys were really excited to see her. Why, she is "Grammy's Sister" ... they equate that with a really fun person!  They are pretty sharp. 

After all of this excitement I hope they are still excited for Christmas morning too.  We don't want to lose sight of what is really important though ... such as celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We have been patiently lighting the candles on our advent wreath every night for the past four weeks. Finally we get to light all four candles on our wreath.  Wow, Christmas is almost here!