It's another one of those things you do because the kids love it so much. The first Saturday of every December B.Y.U. has a childrens Christmas Party for the employees to bring their kids and grandkids to. We've been attending since Austin was a old enough to walk, so we've got quite a few years under our belt. Every year it's the same set up- making a craft, writing a letter to Santa, eating donuts, playing games, and waiting to see Santa. I think we've only waited once in the line to see Santa. The line is always ridiculously long. As are all of the other lines. The games are the same every year, the good ol' traditional ones-Fishing Pond, Cake Walk, knocking over a stack of cans with a bean bag, musical chairs, pin the nose on Rudolph, throw the rings on Rudolphs antlers, take a swing at the pinata, and the most anticipated of all- playing in the balloons. They talk about playing in the balloons all year long. For Oakley's fourth birthday we made a balloon room for the kids to play in. Grandpa and Uncle Colt filled up the guest room, which was not finished yet and was empty, with balloons about two feet high. Thank goodness for the air compressor! Without question it was the hit of the party.
Oakley's letter to Santa was most interesting. I'm hoping he's not got his heart set on any of the five things he asked for in his letter because he won't be getting any of them. It kind of makes me sad, but it's also typical Oakley- he wants the impossible. His letter requested the following four items:
1. a puppy (it might happen in the Spring, but not for Christmas)
2. a gun (no explanation needed there)
3. a drum set (see above)
4. musical chairs (when I asked him about this, his response was "We don't have enough chairs to play a really good game of musical chairs, so I want Santa to bring us more.")
Grandma always accompanies us to the party. Scott seems to always have some reason to get out of going, which is fine because I know he would be miserable dealing with all of the crowds and line-waiting. I know what our plans are for the first Saturday in December for many years to come - as long as the kids thing it's worth waiting in line for twenty minutes to get a small cheap toy that will be broken by the end of the week from the Fish Pond.
This picture completely cracks me up! I was trying to get a picture of Asher with his balloon, but he kept putting the balloon right in front of his face. I said, "Asher put your balloon down so I can see your nose." He proceeded to put his nose right in front of the lens, hence the extreme close up!
