Seeing Santa 2007

Sunday we journeyed on out to the Gaylord Texan for our annual visit with Santa (yes, a tad bit late, but better late than never, right?). We went last year and really had a fun time, without the large crowds of a mall, seeing Santa and many other fun sights! Here's a little recap from this year's trip:

We opted for the family photo with Santa because if we hadn't, there would be NO photo! And, as you can see, even though we all snuggled up to Santa, Garrett STILL was unsure it was a good idea. Bless his little heart!

But lo and behold, after our family photo and about 3 feet between him and the big guy, Garrett warmed up and expressively gave Santa his wish list: plastic cars and a camera.

The train displays at the Gaylord are amazing! And, since Garrett is VERY much into trains this year, it was hit! This is one of my favorite photos of my boys....I just love pictures that capture their shared moments of discovering things together!

"Just takin' a wittle bweak"....I think we sat on every bench that Garrett saw. The boy loves him some benches!

And, last but not least, this was my attempt to capture a photo similar to the one we took of Garrett last year in an effort to show his growth....the one on top is 2006 and the bottom is 2007.

Markle

Last Saturday afternoon, our door bell rang with a package straight from the North Pole. Apparently, some very special people called Santa for us and told him that our house needed an extra set of eyes to watch Garrett and report daily back to Santa. So, inside our package came our very own elf and book. We read the book and immediately followed the instructions:

1. Name your elf. Garrett chose "Markle". Hmm.

2. Only Mommies and Daddies can touch the elf. If kids touch Markle, he will lose his special powers to report back to Santa all of the good (and bad) choices that the children make. And therefore, causing Santa not to know whether or not he should bring us treats.

3. Each morning, look for Markle in a new spot. Every night after Garrett goes to sleep, Markle flies back to the North Pole, reporting to Santa Garrett's behavior for that day, and then flies back to our house, landing in a new, prime watching spot. And, for your entertainment purposes, here are just a few places we've spotted Markle this season:

It has been really fun to start a new tradition in our home this year! We would highly recommend that if your home is without an elf this year, get one for next year!!

Celebrating Christmas: Round One

Last Saturday night we had our first night of celebrating Christmas with Brandon, Jess and Jordyn! They braved the cold weather and traveled to our house for dinner, presents and an attempt at making a gingerbread house. I'm finding it's much easier to tell stories through pictures, so here we go.....

This was one of Garrett's presents from Jess...his very own "buggy" like "the ones at Taw-get stuh"! He loved it so much and immediately took off into the playroom to stock up.

Ms. Jordyn opening her present....check out those pigtails! Could she be any cuter? And, I am so bummed that I did not get a picture of her feet - she had on the spunkiest pair of Ugg-looking boots that perfectly matched her lavender outfit. I oohed and ahhed over them all night!

I call this one "Three Kids in a Candy Shop"..... all three were trying to maneuver a candy-grabber machine from Granny Opal.

And this, my friends, was the saddest attempt ever at decorating a gingerbread house. I, in my naivety, bought one of the kits at a local store that literally read "Includes Everything You Need" on the box. Except mortar to hold the house together, patience for the parents and a sleeping pill to get the kiddos to sleep after eating the candy instead of decorating. And really, because someones counting, the candy wouldn't have stuck to the house even if the rock hard insta-icing would have kept the house stuck together. But it didn't and so no harm done. Other than the fact that the blue candies left G's teeth blue and green all through the next day and into our Christmas card picture session. If you got our card, you'll notice we didn't chose color - just black and white to soften the oh-so-fabulous look of colored toothies.

Any-who, it was so much fun to celebrate in a special way with our first round of family! And, let's hope that next year I will be a better prepared hostess and have our gingerbread house assembled and ready to go!

Where Ya Been, Watcha Been Doin?

No, no. We have not moved. Not been on an exotic vacation. We have not been in hiding. Just busy celebrating Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. In good ole Jill-fashion style blogging, this post will be in picture/caption style in an effort to catch up:

1. Thanksgiving: We had a really great series of Thanksgiving celebrations....3 in all! I think my favorite or most memorable thing from this Thanksgiving was making our "Thankful Tree" with Garrett and adding a leaf each day with what he was thankful for...it was quite comical!

(Garrett was thankful for: Ms. Stephanie, plastic cars, a snowflake, Prestyn, a tree, the mail, the garage and Anthony)

Round One: The Wade's...we missed you soon-to-be Aunt Haley!

Round Two: The Freeman's...we missed you Stephanie!

Round Three: The Mayfield's (I never got a group picture so you get one that represents all of the commotion that typically takes place at Mimi and Poppy's house. That's G opening his 1st gift for Christmas.)

2. After stuffing ourselves at Thanksgiving, Santa brought us a little present early....ear infections and bronchitis. Actually, Daddy brought home the love from work, shared it oh-so-kindly with little man (who, had the most difficult time with it) and somehow, I only managed to be knocked down for a day or two. Because, after all, Momma's can't be sick.

This was the look on G's face EVERY time we wrestled him down to the ground, I mean, kindly asked him to sit, for his breathing treatments. Let's just say this: we here at the Wade household are praising Jesus for healing our little one and sparing us the drama these treatments brought on!

3. Christmas Preparation: We always get so giddy at our house to pull down the deco's, put them up and yet somewhere about 2/3 of the way in, Kenny and I both look at each other in wonderment of WHY, OH WHY, do we do this each year? Which leads to a quick finish with what's in progress and x'ing out whatever hasn't been unpacked. Like the snow villages. Or the manager. Or the outdoor lights. It seems like something gets left out each year.

Decorating the Big Family Tree

Garrett Decorating His Little Tree

Garrett-the-Red-Nose-Reindeer...thanks, Jess, for the fun treat!

And, since I really don't want to over-tire my out-of-practice typing fingers, I will return tomorrow for round one of Christmas celebrations....to be continued!