Merry Christmas to us!

Christmas was especially fun this year because it was the first year that Tate really "got it". And, boy, was he excited. We started out the season with a new tradition. Our family had a visitor, an elf named Zeke, who stayed with us from the beginning of December through Christmas eve. Zeke watched the kids (and the adults) to make sure we were behaving, and listening closely to find out what we wanted Santa to bring for us. Each night, Zeke would travel back to the North Pole to give Santa the update and when he returned he would find a new place to hide in the house. Tate loved to find Zeke's new spot in the house every morning. And, given the fact that he continues to ask "Where's Zeke?", I think it is safe to say he is excited for him to come back next year. When I was growing up, my friend Texie had an elf during the holiday season and I was always so jealous . . .

Tate must have impressed Zeke because he got the one thing he asked for from Santa -- a BIG race track. In the raw video footage, the time counter is over 10 minutes before we can distract Tate from the race track to show him that there were other presents for him. And to think, Santa could have saved some big bucks by just bringing only the race track.

After the gift unwrapping marathon, we had some friends come over. The kids played with the toys and the adults ate too much. All in all, a great Christmas. We hope yours was great, too!