Santa Cathy and Santa Bud come to town

Santa Cathy and Santa Bud came to town, riding in a purple sled.

Had some boxes full of gifts and this is what we did:

My mom arrived with the older boys around 1:30.

My dad didn't get off work until 2:15. You'd have

thought we were beating the kids with how much they

whined and moaned about having to wait for him.

It's a rare thing to catch my parents in a picture.

Here they are!

It's even rarer to catch me in a picture, much less posted on this blog.

So for my husband's sake, here is this picture of my dad and I.

The boys had to open their gifts one at a time. The whole taking

turns thing lasted for a few gifts. After that it was a free-for-all.

Lucas got a little extra attention and assistance from

Grandma Cathy. He wasn't quite on the same page with the

whole taking turns thing.

Tanner and JJ both got a set of binoculars that have

a digital camera built in. It takes the picture of whatever

you have in your sights and magnified just as you are seeing it.

JJ got a keyboard. Tanner laughed and said, "It's purple pink!"

JJ had a quick retort, "Pink is the new black!!"

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

We asked him where he learned that and he said from a friend.

Hayden got a microphone, stand, and guitar. So did Lucas.

My mom could have only bought them this and they would have been

quite content. They absolutely loved them!

As an "all the boys" gift, my mom found a miniature arcade basketball

game complete with moving hoop!

I think there was a theme to my mom's shopping this year.

Tinkering, mechanical, fun, loud and obnoxious!

Jesko, my parent's foreign exchange student told this tale

from his shopping experience with my mom:

"I shopped with Cathy for about 5, 6 hours. She's crazy! She buys it all!"

Now I must defend her in saying that she had just gotten her license

back after recovering from her brain surgery, so she really only had one day to shop.

However, she LOVES to shop! And my boys LOVE that she shops.

She told Tanner that she just might not be up to wrapping this year because she tires easily and it just might be too much. She asked him if it was okay if she just used gift bags for all their gifts. His response was clear and concise: "It's okay if you don't wrap, Grandma. Just please don't forget to shop!"

Thank you Santa Cathy and Santa Bud for your eventful visit to our house today.

The boys are in heaven, my living room is scattered with toys, and happiness reigns.

Merry Christmas! Love you both lots!