"Oh HOOOOLY NIGHT!"

We kicked off Christmas by getting a tree last Friday and then celebrated our choice by having hamburgers at The Old Timer. It was packed and they had just finished decorating so it seemed like a nice place for a post-tree-picking dinner. The piano player was playing Christmas songs and Katie stood on the seat of our booth and belted out the tunes. She didn't know many of the words but sang "Oh Holy Night" like an old pro. We decorated the tree on Saturday. Katie was not that interested at first. She did her States puzzle as we started with the lights. She wanted every ornament up REAL HIGH once she decided to help. On Sunday, we went to the Rotary Club's pancake breakfast with Grampa. Katie spent her time between bites of pancakes scoping out the room to make sure Santa was in her sights and preferably far away from her. We went to the Elks in the afternoon for their annual party. This is about as close as we got to Santa. Santa sent his best helper, Uncle Kevin, in one of his warm, red suits to help distribute gifts. I don't think Katie realized the Santa's best helper was related to us. It didn't matter. She was still not going near him. When I told her that Santa was going to give her a gift she kept waving her hands around and saying "YOU go get it!" I told her that she didn't have to sit on his lap but if she wanted the gift, she needed to go and thank Santa. When they called her name, we went up together and she said "thank you Santa" in a soft voice. As we were walking away, Katie swung her head around and yelled "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" to Santa. Now she keeps telling everyone that Santa is a good guy who gave her a snowman present.