Santa at the Mayfield-Ingle house has never gotten old, and with every passing year the girls have gotten more and more comfortable talking to him. This evening sets the tone for the month and lets us know that the holiday season is in full gear. Callie was happy to talk to Santa, but didn't give him anything to work with, noting that she wanted to be surprised.
Another reason the evening is always fun is that we get the chance to see so many of our friends and their kids. It is amazing to think that these guys have been together since they were only a couple of years old. And they all look pretty dapper here as well.
The older they get the more they are willing to engage with Santa. More to the point, they tend to have a ton more questions for the guy. And to give credit where credit is due, this Santa is on top of it all. He has an answer for everything they throw his way. And they really do throw a lot his way.
Callie and Reese were willing to pose for a picture or two in front of the tree. They still aren't willing to do a family Santa picture, but perhaps next year Reese will come around to the idea. We will get to work on her to see if we can make it happen.
Next on the list was getting our own tree. We went to our usual place on an unseasonably warm day and managed to find a few good trees we thought could work. It actually didn't take that long to make a final decision, and before we knew it the selection had been made.
This is a full-service kind of place, so they bagged the tree and put it on our roof in a matter of minutes. This is just the right speed for Callie and Reese, who were eager to get the tree home and start the next phase of decorating.
The annual unpacking of the Christmas tree ornaments never gets old. And with the addition of new ornaments from our trips we get the chance to relive fun moments from the previous year. This time it meant telling stories about Yosemite and Callie's birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge. Of course, while all of this is happening John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas plays in the background.
After ten years of putting up Christmas trees together we were probably due for our first catastrophe. This one happened on Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church. We all heard a big bang and came downstairs to find this. Fortunately we only lost a few ornaments and were actually able to repair some that had broken. It is important to mention that the ones completely lost were some of the Christmas balls purchased by Sarah for our very first Christmas together - the very same Christmas balls that John rated a 4/10 when Sarah asked his opinion.
For the very first time we had the opportunity to witness the Christmas concert put on by Central Christian Childcare. What an incredible experience to say the least. The first group to "sing" were the two-year-olds, and we were fully entertained by two of the kids who spent their time on stage pulling their Santa hats completely over their faces. It was hilarious and had the entire audience in stitches.
Reese had been preparing for this concert with her class for weeks and she had been singing the songs at home and in the car that entire time as well. When her class hit the stage it was clear that they were the oldest class and were a bit more prepared to put on a show. As an added bonus of the evening, Reese's drawing of baby Jesus in the manger ended up being the cover of the program. Reese thought she was pretty special.
After the concert the school had a dessert reception in the assembly room of the church, and we had a chance to meet many of the parents of the kids Reese talks about so much. They are a great group. A little crazy, but a great group overall. We were all definitely in the Christmas spirit.
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