Santa!

This weekend we continued our Santa tradition and visited the man in red! Plus his lovely wife, Mrs. Claus. It was a special, traumatic, and memorable experience! But mostly special. At least for me as a mama. And for our big boys. =)

The Santa tradition for us is a simple one. We like going somewhere close without crowds and taking the pictures ourselves. Free is always good! So is fast and easy! Now that we're back in the hometown we think we've found our Santa and therefore our tradition. Yay!!

Our local bank hosts Santa and Mrs. Claus every December and this was our first year to take the boys. (Last year Terrell and I were out of town so my parents took them for us and had such a good experience we decided this would be our new tradition.) We got there super early and even watched Santa and Mrs. Claus drive up and park right beside us. Can you say star struck?! It was really cool. Especially for the big boys. I mean this Santa is the real deal. I love him. So of course my big boys got to see him and give him hugs and walk inside with him and Mrs. Claus. It was the sweetest thing. 

We let the big boys get situated before putting baby brother up in Mrs. Claus's lap... something Layton Selph wanted no part of. 

Oh memories. =)

Then we tried a different approach hoping Layton would be less intimidated and frightened for his safety if he stood in front of Santa and Mrs. Claus and held his big brothers' hands... but as you can see that didn't go over so well either. Ha! 

Bless his heart. I think I was laughing the whole time. The whole experience with Layton was priceless... And really took me back to Austin's 2nd Christmas and his huge meltdown over sitting with Santa. And look at Garrison's face! Hahaha!

After removing Layton and comforting my poor traumatized baby, the big boys told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. It was the sweetest sight. And of course they mentioned things we'd never heard of like a toy trampoline, a stuffed animal rhinoceros, and a stuffed animal crocodile. Of course. 

I love Austin's star struck look and Garrison smiling back at whatever's being said. 

And this picture is just so special. It captures the the wonder and magic of Christmas perfectly. And as Christians, we know the GIFT of Christmas Himself. What joy, what hope, what wonder. 

After our visit with Santa we got to go and partake of cookies and milk! Another big perk to our new tradition. =)

We finally made our way outside to eat our cookies so we wouldn't leave a huge mess... and let's just say that a cookie really amends any trauma one might have suffered. All was right in the world again for Layton Thomas. Ha!

It was a fun morning and another sweet and hilarious Christmas memory.  And big, BIG thanks to my parents for the boys shirts and vests!! They were handsome as can be!

Here's a quick look back...

Santa 2010...

Santa 2012...

Santa 2013...

Santa 2014...

Happy Monday! =)