Santa

Santa came to town on Thursday night while we were all sleeping. Amazingly we are still able to convince our children that Santa exists, although Marietta is having some very serious doubts about the matter. I'm thinking she hasn't gathered enough proof yet to confirm there is no such thing as Santa, and at the same time there may just be a little fear that if she doesn't believe in Santa she won't get presents anymore. I'm sure this is the last year we've managed to pull off the Santa idea and it's probably easier just to tell her that the kids at school are right ... Santa is just your parents.

Grandma supposedly invited us for supper, so we packed up the presents and took them down to Grandpa and Grandma's last night, where we joined the rest of the family for an evening of fellowship. The kids had a wonderful time and were once again royally spoiled. Rob and I had a chance to sit back and relax, unfortunately this relaxation actually made the evening more difficult. The last couple weeks have been very busy, and right now we like business. Sitting down to relax is not something we're all that used to anymore. And for myself, if I do, I feel guilty ... why am I able to relax? Because there is a little boy missing who normally we would have to run after, untangling cords, helping to move around, etc. And then you begin to think about how he would have enjoyed to be there, and you forget about how happy he already is at his new home. It's a guilty feeling to know that our lives our easier now because James is gone. We decided to stay overnight ... since we now could easily do that ... and staying overnight only took a couple minutes to pack for and one small suitcase, compared to before when each small trip it seemed we had to pack a whole van full. So although it was nice to get out and see family, sit back and enjoy ourselves, it was also a difficult night ... but we survived it, just like we'll survive each difficult day that is still to come.

Rebecca received a Cotton Candy Making Machine, being the sweet tooth she is this present went over very well :)












Marietta loves to "play" paino. Whenever we go to someones house with a panio she likes to sit and tinker at it. Since we have no room for a piano we thought we'd see how long she keeps her interest by giving her a roll-up paino that she can tinker on for a bit.