Merry Christmas!

The boys were up early and happy to see that Santa did, indeed, know exactly where we were on Christmas day (at Meemaw's house.) As you can see, Santa's sleigh was weighed down heavily by the numerous wonderful gifts that the boys received.




Both boys loved all of their gifts and excited played with as many as they could during the morning before we headed out to Aunt Ginny & Uncle Erle's house to celebrate Christmas with most of our extended Halbert family, 23 or so of us, including all the little ones! Jack enjoyed playing his new Nintendo DSi against his cousins Amy and Laura, who both had their own DS handhelds with them, along with Laura's husband, Ross! It was a DS fest! It was a fun day all around. Jack kept talking excitedly about all of his "cousins". You'll have to take our word for it, though, since not a single picture was taken that afternoon (SHAME ON ME!)

We saw a lot of THIS for a few days after Jack got his DSi, complete with his favorite game: Super Mario Brothers (after playing it on Christmas day with Amy & Laura.)


Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Santa is talking...

Christmas is coming and the countdown has begun. Jack checks our advent calendar daily for a little 'gift' each day (I was informed that today's gift of an ornament was BORING.) We are excited to spend the holidays with family and Jack is, of course, excited for what Santa will be bringing.

Yesterday was our day to go and see the man in the big red suit. Jack asked for a sticky note that was 'tall'. I gave him a list-style Post-It note and he began writing:

a guitar
a DSI
picks for the guitar
DSI games

He then came to me and said that maybe he should think of some more things, as his paper wasn't full yet. I told him that his heart was, indeed, full and that maybe he should allow Santa to bring other gifts to some of the other children that don't have as much as he does. He seemed ok with that idea. Off to the mall we went, where Jack shared his list of 'wants' and informed Santa of where we will be on Christmas Eve, so he'll be able to find us. It was sweet to see his innocence for the holiday is still in tact.

The boys after their visit...and Tyler with his 'bravery' reward.

Today Jack received a special video message from Santa himself! He was glued to the monitor, and nodded and responded right along with Santa. He was very surprised that Santa would talk to him directly and I think he was just thrilled with the personal message. Here's that message...

Santa video

My heart welled up as I watched him understand how special this message was and really believe that Santa knew what a good boy he'd been this year and how well he'd tried in school. 7 is truly a magical age and this is a magical time of year.