Mom you are Santa!

                         

Sydnie's first Christmas with her Grandpa "Santa" praying over

her cradle. She will always believe!!

 

Well.....it's over. Connor is totally on to me and knows that I am Santa. Last year I made a believer out of him, by leaving a muddy boot print trail from the fire place all the way to the living room. I got the soles of John's boots wet and dipped them in potting soil, I proceeded to trash my tile floor to "prove" that Santa was real. I reminded Connor of the evidence. He said "Oh yeah, that was you, I'm sure you used one of dad's boots" Dang.. he didn't let me down easily he just threw a one two punch strait in the gut. But what am I to expect? the poor kid is going to get clobbered on the play ground if he keeps telling the guys that Santa comes down a gas fireplace chimney because he is "Magic". So here I am 3 down and one to go. Syd is 6, how long will she believe? Will the magic be gone when she has the same realization? Or does the focus just change? I'm mixed. Part of me thinks that the preparations would be much less stressful when everyone knows that we are just exchanging gifts from each other. But the other part of me is sad that that magic on Christmas morning is kind of gone... or is it? Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. How often are we remembering that when we are racing to get the 50% off the latest gadget with an extra 15% off if you show up at 3am? My dream...would be to donate all of our Christmas budget to someone in great need. That would keep the focus on the Savior. Reality....I helped to create the consumer crazy monster that fills the living room floor with mostly crap that goes into the trash and then off to the land of lost toys.. Really i think its about balance. Even though Connor has totally dissed Santa, he remembered last year when Grandpa Don dressed up like "Santa" and we all delivered Christmas to refugee families. I was so over come with true joy when he reminded me of his memory. He was feeling that spirit of the Savior this year as we offered Christmas to other families. So even though my Christmas monster reared its ugly head, I realized that the magic of Santa was really being paralleled with the belief of the gift of our Savior. Connor could not tell you what he got from Santa last year, but he can tell you what his "Santa" (grandpa) gave to others last year. This year "Santa" had open heart surgery. John's dad has been a professional Santa for years. He has been hired to work in malls throughout the country. Our Santa has given so much joy and magic to both adult's and children. We are most grateful this christmas to have a healthy recovering Santa. His heart needed repair because it has spent a life time giving pure joy to everyone. Now with renewed energy and the generous donation of a wonderful pig valve, our grandpa will continue to offer his gift of love and hope for many more years.  This has been my greatest gift this Christmas. I will enjoy what few years Sydnie has left believing and then I don't know. I'm sure it's a natural evolution that prepares us for things to come... (grand kids?) Nah.. not yet.....I'm grateful to have the knowledge of the sacrifice of Jesus. I'm grateful for the magic of Santa, and the magic of the Savior. Most of all, I'm grateful for my family. I am a blessed woman to be surrounded by such fabulous spirits!!  

And to all of you... blessings and light for this new year.