2 Christmas Eve 2007

Christmas Eve morning we took the girls to the Mall to see Santa Clause. Yes, it was totally last min! It turned out to be a good thing, though. We went first thing in the morning and the mall was almost empty. There wasn't anyone in line, so we got to walk right up to the big guy...who was asleep & his hat was falling off. He was a mellow Santa & didn't say much - not that our girls would have been intimidated. We plopped the girls on his lap, got this scrapbook shot, & went home. Mission accomplished.

Christmas Eve evening was spent at Nate's parent's home. We ate our traditional Papa Murphy's pizza & played the card game 'Can Field'.

The teenage cousins couldn't get enough of Kylie's "baby bird" grins. I think they took about 1,000 photos of her.

Nate's older brother, Layne, slipped this sweatshirt on Allie while we weren't watching. He had it made especially for her. The front simply says "BUSINESS". The back boasts "NO DEAL TOO BIG TOO SEAL". We know that Layne didn't have any help on this one; just check the spelling.

A week before, I picked up this little dinosaur pinata for the kids. Allie was so excited to get the candy, bouncy balls, & toy necklaces she helped pick to stuff it with, but when it came time to begin the festivities, Allie (youngest competitor designated to go first) refused to hit poor dino. We'd been explaining all week about breaking him open to get the goodies, but when came down to it, she just couldn't do it. She just laid down her weapon of war & backed away. We had to calm her as tears flowed when the cousins took their turns. I just prayed for a quick ending, but that wasn't to come. Not only was dino a strong guy, but Nate & Layne wraped him in DUCT TAPE (to keep the innards from popping out)! The little kids weren't having any luck, so we let the teenagers take turns...still no sign of damage. Nate even had a go, but the stick broke & the end hit his brother Paul in the foot. Finally, uncle Layne got out his pocket knife, which upset poor Allie further. The worst came when the head finally gave way & went flying across the garage. Allie wailed! There was no stopping the tears now. Aunt Julie scooped her up to give her some therapy.

Finally dino gave way & the treats spilled on the floor. Allie wipe her tears & ran to get her share of the good. Whooh! For days she recited what had happened to the "pin-in-ah-ta," always ending with "get another one...at the grocery store." Well, we will see about that.

Note to self: Smarties are NOT good fill for a pinata. Too delicate. Next time we'll go for batter resistant treats, like tootsie rolls.