bad santa

I can't help it. Every time (okay, so that's both times) I wait in line for the kids to see Santa, I think about that movie and hope that our Santa isn't a complete obnoxious, horrible lush with a soft spot for a kid named Thurman Murman.

Luckily, the Santa we went to see at Thanksgiving Point was, well, amazing! Like real Santa. Real beard. Of course, to get this kind of experience for 2 bucks, you have to wait in a Disney-style superline for oh, an hour or so. Yes, an hour or so with three boys under 4 and a baby in a hot sweaty room with mean grandpa elves who won't let the kids touch anything and want you to squish "really close together" for some unknown reason.

Panoramic shot of the Disney-like line to see Santa. I wish
there was sound so you could hear the screams.

There are kids everywhere (it is Utah county, you know) which equates to about one meltdown per minute from various quadrants. And apparently people use this as their opportunity to take family Christmas card photos (can you take one more? one more? Lady! You have 6 kids! They are not all going to smile at the same time! Give it up!).

The adorable Hawkins family...
Amy, Dustin, Greyson and Henry.

It was fun to go with Amy and Dusty. We definitely don't get to see enough of them and the boys. Next year, hopefully, we'll be able to join them for the hayride after but this year, we were just pretty happy to make it home with a marginal digital photo, a funny story and our sense of humor intact!

Amy with Sloane & Hen.

Actual tiny reindeer. They were
about as real as the Santa...
he was awesome!

Neither Tagg or Sloane were scared of Santa. Whew!
Tagg's Christmas wish? Cars, of course.

the purple christmas tree

It was nap time...hence
the crabby face. Tagg perked up
when Santa coughed up the candy cane.

We went to help my mom and dad get their Christmas Tree on Saturday. Scott had seen this local tree farmer advertising on Channel 2 the other day. They had reindeer, a Santa, a hot tub and they flocked the morning stunt boy like a Christmas tree so we figured that would be a good place to try out. It was, as billed, AND the big giant tree my parents got was only 55 bucks! I call that a screaming deal for a real tree!

While we were there, we found...a purple Christmas tree. I don't know why, but it spoke to me and we ended up bringing home this flamboyant purple-flocked Charlie Brown tree. It's all of about 4 and a half feet high. I think it's cool! It totally fits with all the vintage ornaments I have from my childhood...these shiny, jewel-tone balls with santas and reindeers. And vintage ornaments seem to be all the rage this year. I found a bunch to match for 70% off...woot-woot! I never bargain shop for Christmas stuff! See, that's why I love the Purple Christmas Tree!