Roseanna

Earlier in the week, Santa Claus made a special visit to our town (again) to see all of the good little girls and boys. Prior to going to see him, I talked to Elaina about what Santa was going to look like, sound like and that it was okay for her to talk to him without being shy.

Once we got there, Elaina was much more excited about the treats from the cookie table and didn't realize how soon our turn with Santa was coming. She told Lincoln that he could go first. Polite isn't she? And so, Lincoln did. While he wasn't terribly impressed, he never turned his head to see exactly who was holding him. He would be okay as long as he kept looking the other way. Lincoln, my man of few words, really didn't ask Santa for anything more than when he could go back to his mom, which he made clear by his repeated "Ehhhh!" plea in a desperate tone. While I was decending my son onto Santa's lap, I had a brief request of my own for Santa Claus to fulfill. I pulled a little "magic" from the lining of my jacket, straight into Santa's furry, red suit. Since it was more than obvious that Elaina wasn't going to have anything to do with coming within 5 feet of Santa, I asked that he give her a magic elf, straight from the North Pole. Can you believe how lucky Elaina was to have her very own elf come and live with her?
In all actuality, Aunt Kate and Uncle Greg were the original "gifters" of the elf and I decided that the best time to help create some Christmas magic for Elaina would be straight from the big guy himself. Of course then, it was my turn to harp on how lucky she was because none of the other kids got elves from Santa and that she already came named "Roseanna" because Rose is her middle name and Santa already knew that. (Fact: the elf really did come pre-named and ironically-to me anyhow- my grandma's name was Anna Rose; fitting that "Roseanna" would come to be a part of our family:->)So more about the elf later, here are pictures of everything I have ever wanted for Christmas. Signed, sealed, paid for and delivered! I couldn't decide which picture was my favorite, so you get them all.
**While I'm at it: You can double click on any of these pictures to make them larger and just tell me if it's just in my head, or is the resemblance between Eric and our kids unbelievable? Hello miracle and thank you God. Beautiful pairing you've done here.