Santa

Marvin has got exactly 2 evenings home before Christmas and we are trying to get as many Christmas traditions as we can in that time and still make them fun. On the top of our lists was our annual visit to Santa Claus. Other than one year when Michael would not get even close to Santa, we have done it every year. It is fun to see the progression of our family. Adding babies and watching them grow. This year, is no different! Our picture captures each child exactly as they are! We did get a pretty good family picture after what many would call a disaster. However, the one we chose to get printed this year is like freezing reality in time!

When we were looking through the pictures to choose, we laughed out loud at how true it was. You see, Sarah was so excited to see Santa. She got right out of her stroller, took her coat off quickly so she could show Santa her pretty dress and stood there in line pointing out all the cool things around Santa. She even walked on her own to within feet of the man himself. We got the boys settled around Santa and she watched with great interest. The moment Marvin placed her on Santa's knee, she screamed bloody murder! Abby was okay for about 5 seconds, but when she saw Sarah screaming in obvious fear, she started crying in sympathy! Michael was laughing at our attempts to calm and coax smiles. Sam was covering his ears. Josh was completely clueless and stood just where we told him to stand. After 20 seconds or so, we picked the girls up so that we wouldn't cause lifetime trauma. Santa had the idea to put ourselves in the picture and try to get a happy family picture. I thought it turned out really well considering that I was not at all prepared to be on that side of the camera. At least their were no tears!