Breakfast with Santa

We were invited by some friends to attend their church's Breakfast with Santa this morning. The kids were supposed to wear their pajamas and come have pancakes and see Santa Claus. It was a good chance for us to see our friends too. Their son, Jake, had heart surgery before Justin and they gave us all the good tips for Justin's surgery. Jake also had another surgery this summer, and it looks like he has another one in his future. But today was a day for food, fun, and friends.


For the past couple of weeks we have started eating away from home without taking anything for Justin. This is a huge thing for Justin, since for so long he needed something smooth, like applesauce, to help the food go down. Now he is eating just about everything without any problem. Which is good, since I left the house early to get a couple of Christmas presents, and Randy walked out without even a bib for Justin! And while he dribbled a bit of juice, he did great! Santa makes good pancakes!

Here are our friends, Amy, Jake, and Grace.

Travis did NOT want to sit on Santa's lap, and Justin screamed bloody murder when Santa tried to hold him on his lap. So this is the kids on my lap, and me on Santa's lap. I promise, he's under there somewhere! The funny thing about this is that when we came up, Santa said to Travis, "I bet I know your Daddy's name..." I kind of chuckled to myself, knowing that we didn't go to this church, and it was highly unlikely that he DID know Travis' Daddy. Then Santa says, "I bet his name is Randy!" And Travis responds, " NO, his name is DADDY!" Good for Travis, but Santa was still right! He goes on to say how he changed his Daddy's diapers, and how he knew Travis' grandfather. I had to ask Randy about that one, and it turns out that Santa was Randy's dad's old business partner! Too funny!




Then Travis told Santa (once he was assured that he wouldn't have to sit on his lap) what he wanted for Christmas. Travis has been distraught because he forgot to tell Santa earlier that he also wanted a fire truck with a long ladder. That is what he is describing, how big the ladder needs to be.






And then it was on to the activities. They did a great job of fun things for the kids. First they made treat bags for themselves with Christmas stamps and stickers. Then they heard the story of "The Night Before Christmas". Then we made ornaments, dropping different colors of paint into clear glass balls and swirling the paint around. Then we put the ball upside down in a styrofoam cup for it to drip out and dry.

Then we made some reindeer food, and added magic dust that would guide Santa's reindeer to our house for Christmas. It was oatmeal with colored sugar that we shook together in a bag and then we have to put it in the yard on Christmas Eve for the reindeer to eat.

We were also supposed to bring a gift for a needy child which would be wrapped and donated, but we didn't know that so we skipped that room. Travis was very bothered and he mentioned it several times. We'll remember for next year!

Last it was on to the Manger room where the kids got sticker pages of manger scenes to put on construction paper.

Justin found an orange dot on the floor which he tried to pick up.

Oops! Missed it!

Where did it go??

Drats, missed it again!

So then he gave up and crawled under the table to play with the nativity set box. Much bigger and easier to grab.

Then the kids found the large triceratops dinosaur and started playing with that. Travis took a little ride and of course Justin enjoyed it too.

And here are all the guys who had heart surgery: Ty had his as a adult, and Jake has had 2 surgeries already, and Justin had his last September. It was a little too cold for showing off scars, but maybe another day!

And hiding under Justin is Grace, Ty and Amy's daughter. The pediatrician heard a heart murmur at her last appointment, which normally wouldn't even be given a second thought, but with their family history and Jake's problems, she has an appointment with the cardiologist. Please pray for their family.