Santa and the snow...

Last week we took Gracie to the mall to Santa Claus. She was SOOO excited. She was dancing all the way in from the parking lot. Of course there was a line but, in all fairness, it wasn't that long. We only had to wait for maybe 15 minutes. She loved looking at the little North Pole City they had set up, but kept saying "It's my turn? I get to sit on Santa's lap?" Monti and I "patiently" continued to tell her it was almost time. Finally the big moment arrived and I was certain that she'd change her mind and freak out. I am pleased to say that I was wrong. She was a little timid, but walked right up to him, climbed up and said "Cheese" for the camera.
And boy is that CHEESY! You can see that she's not quite comfortable enough to snuggle down in. But she loved it. For months she's been telling everyone who would listen that she wants, "Boody and Buzz Lighthere" for Christmas from Santa. So it kinda threw Monti and I for a loop when Santa asked her what she wanted and she replied, "a puzzle". WOW!! Information that the elves might have found useful a couple of weeks ago. :)

On Saturday we got to go up to Flagstaff with my sisters and their families and play in the snow! Gracie's first time seeing it. (Unless you count the mound of crusty black crap they'd scraped off the road when we went to the Polar Express last year.) She was so excited to build a snow man and it was all we heard about on the way up. When we spotted the first little patches of snow she started saying, "Stop daddy! Stop! We build a snow man! Stop!" We finally got to the hill where we always go and after the trek in through knee deep snow (waist deep on her) her first order of business was to...eat it of course!

Her hat was not very cooperative. It kept falling down over her eyes. But she was glad to have it on. It was a chilly 32 degrees while we were there and it started to snow. AWESOME!!

She finally got to build her snow man and quickly named him Frosty. Original huh? She kept hugging him and telling him how much she loved him. When it came time to go, through chattering teeth and a tear stained face she cried, "I take him home with me!! I don't want to leave my snow man!" I finally talked her into the fact that he'd be much happier there in the snow than if we took him home to melt. But as we were loading into the car she had to watch some jerky teenagers kick him over. She was in hysterics and said, "Mommy, they're hurting him!! Stop them!! Please mommy!" It broke my heart.

After the snowman, we made snow angels. She does a pretty good job. But then, in my opinion it's pretty easy for someone who's an angel to make one!! Ok, maybe her halo is a little askew sometimes, but we sure are glad to have her in our lives. What a sweet blessing!

Then it was sledding with Auntie Vicki and we headed out. She was freezing and her daddy was getting an ulcer over the idea of driving home in a snowstorm. So, we tearfully waved goodbye to Frosty and headed home. It was ALOT of fun. She's already talking about "next time" we go. I'm pretty excited about it too!!