Visit With Santa

Lin-Ley was looking forward to seeing Santa. I was expecting Tru to be upset - but just the opposite. He sat very still in Santa's lap and just stared at him. After Santa and Lin-Ley had a chat (when she told him she wanted a teddy bear for Christmas - news to me!) she got down and we were preparing to leave. I put out my hands to pick up Tru and he pushed them away. Although he never smiled or seemed overly excited he did not want to leave Santa. I had to forcible remove him.

Before seeing Santa there were other activities to keep the kids busy. Lin-Ley did not bring a letter for Santa so she was able to send a Christmas wish to Santa at this mail box that blew out snow when it was opened.

Lin-Ley was anxious after pushing the big red button on the Naughty or Nice meter. After some back-and-forth the needle finally landed on Nice. She just looked back at me and grinned.

Tru pushed the big red button too. He did not really care where the needle landed. He just wanted to push the button again.

After about 1 1/2 hours at Santatastic we moved on. Today was Tru's first haircut. As expected he screamed through it. Unfortunately I could not snap any photos because I held him during the big event. He hated every moment it. But oh does he look cute! When we left he had the wet, freshly combed, little man look. So cute. Lin-Ley said his hair looked "shapely and handsome".

Lin-Ley and Tru were both very patient waiting to see Santa. Tru made it through his first hair cut while Lin-Ley waited patiently. All of this good behavior deserved a McDonald's lunch and a ride on the carousel.

Lin-Ley was very excited to host Tru's first carousel ride. She chose a sled for us all rather than individual horses.

Of course I could not get both of them to look at the camera at the same time but I took several photos trying to capture Tru's new haircut.

Look at me!

Look at this beautiful, personalized gingerbread house. Diane and Ted sent this to us. I could not bear to remove the plastic. Thanks Aunt Diane and Uncle Ted! Lin-Ley called to thank them. She asked Diane how she made it. She can not wait to eat it and has announced that we will eat it on Christmas Eve.

Lin-Ley helped decorate our little tree. The theme this year is Peace and Hope. It looks like we need to do a better job of mixing up our red, white and blue bulbs.

Lin-Ley is concerned that there is not a star at the top of the tree. However, she is more concerned that there are not more presents!

And finally:

Dallas recently sent Lin-Ley some stickers (after I sent them to him first). She loves to decorate everything with stickers. She had her eye on my Christmas stamps one day and luckily I got to them first.

So today I saw Tru scooting around in the living room and noticed something on his back. Well, today Lin-Ley decorated her brother!