St. Nicholas Came!

Last night before bedtime, Grant set his shoe on the fireplace for St. Nicholas to come! We set his shoe down and said a little prayer:

God of joy and cheer,

we thank you for your servant,

the good Saint Nicholas.

In loving the poor,

he showed us your kindness;

in caring for your children,

he showed us your love.

Make us thoughtful

without need of reward so that we, too,

may be good followers of Jesus.

And then I said, "I hope St. Nicholas has seen you being a good boy!!" I guess Grant must have been good enough because after Grant went to sleep, St. Nicholas came! This morning, Grant came out of his room, turned on the Christmas tree, pointed out his favorite ornaments, then saw his surprises! He was very happy!!

Thank you St. Nicholas!

On Santa's Lap

To continue with the tradition that started back when my sister was just a baby, before I was even born, we took Grant to sit on Santa's lap. I started visiting Santa when I was just 8 months old and sat on his lap EVERY year until I left for college (and I think we still did it a few times in college just to please my mom!). Last year, Grant was definitely NOT a fan of Santa. But this year, he has been very interested in Christmas and everything that goes along with it- Santa, Rudolph, Christmas trees, lights, Baby Jesus. You name it, he loves it!! So I was hoping he was armed with his strong Christmas enthusiasm when we got to see Santa. He was nervous at first, just putting his head on Levi's shoulder, turning away from Santa. But once we walked around "Santa's Village" for a few minutes, he really liked what he saw! When we thought he was comfortable enough to sit with Santa, Levi propped him on Santa's leg and Grant just sat back comfortably! He gave Santa a once-over, and then just continued to take in all the sights! We got some pictures (it was a pretty forced smile, but better than nothing!), Grant gave Santa a high-five and talked to him about Rudolph, and then we were done!! I have to say, he was much braver than I was when it was my turn years ago- I think I had tears streaming down my face and an arched back for a good 4 years!!

Checking Santa out!

A reminder of last year's visit with Santa- not too happy there!!