Christmas Photos

This photo was put on our Christmas cards this year. Here's a little history behind this picture. A couple Sundays before Christmas, Santa showed up on our doorstep. (Darin has an "in" with Santa.) The girls knew nothing about it, so it was an awfully big surprise to the girls. When a knock came at the door, Darin told the girls to go see who it was; Dakota trailed behind. It was Santa! He rang his jingle bells and said, "Ho, ho, ho!" like Santa does, and Dakota did an about face and ran back into the kitchen to hide behind the counter. I had to go rescue her and carry her back in with Santa. He visited with each of the girls calling them by name and asked them what they wanted for Christmas. Oakley's eyes looked like they were going to "pop". She was so awe-struck that Santa had come to our very own house. (We had just seen "Santa" at the store the day before.) Dakota, by this time, had warmed up to him, so we asked Santa if we could take a picture of him with the girls. And this photo is what we got. I had to laugh, 'cuz they were so not ready for pictures to be taken of them. They hadn't had their hair brushed since that morning. Two of them were in their pajamas. They all had food, dirt, and whatever else on their faces and Dakota had a tattoo stuck on her hand. (I edited that out, as well as, Makenna's t-shirt...it said, "I CAN'T. I'M MORMON" on it.)

A couple weeks later, we took pictures of the girls all dolled up in their Christmas dresses before church. Their hair was all done, faces were clean, clothes were fancy and new, etc. And then came time for us to pick a picture to put on our family Christmas card. We had taken several outdoor shots of us and the girls earlier in November, with the intention of using one of those for the Christmas card, but I didn't like how they turned out. (I looked too "fat" in them.) So, we had to come up with another one. We could've used the one of the girls in their fancy dresses, or a nice fall photo that was taken at the pumpkin patch, or still others that I have saved on my computer. But when it came down to it...the Santa picture won! This is them in real life...au natural...everyday! And this picture really encapsulated the wonder and awe seen in a child's eyes at Christmas time. Too cute!

The girls met this same Santa at another neighborhood party that he dropped in on. The little ones are sure that he is the REAL one, because he came to our house, too. Oakley has been so fun to share Christmas with this year. She understands more. One night, shortly after meeting Santa, there was another knock at the door. I was upstairs with Dakota and had not heard it. Oakley apparently tried to answer it, but couldn't get the door open. When she asked who it was, she heard, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" Next thing I knew, she was running up the stairs full speed, yelling to me, "Mom! Mom! Santa's hear and I heard him say Ho, ho, ho!" Her eyes were huge once again. I had no idea what she was talking about. I validated her as much as I could, but then dropped it. She just kept talking about Santa being here. It wasn't until a couple of days later, that I put it all together. Apparently, Darin had come home and for some reason tried to come in the front door instead of the garage like always. The door was locked, so he knocked. Oakley being the only one to hear it, tried to answer it, but couldn't get the door open. When she asked who it was, she heard, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" (That was Darin.) She didn't stick around long enough to know it was just Dad. She bolted from the door immediately to come tell me Santa was here. I wish I had had a video camera filming her expression. It was precious! The true innocence of BELIEF! Hence the phrase "We Believe" on our Christmas card.

Here are the cute pics of the girls in their new Christmas Dresses. I'm still working on some of the coloring. (The photos turned out too dark; Darin's flash ran out of batteries. So, I've been trying to lighten them up, etc. I also swapped Oakley's head off from another photo to put on the group photo. Would you have ever known?)