Christmas Memories

Evelyn knew Santa visited long before Christmas came. She saw his bags in Mommy's closet. She knew she wasn't allowed to touch the wrapped gifts, or Santa (Heigh-Ho-Ho) would take them back. So you can imagine her consternation when on Christmas morning she found the bags were missing!

She signed "Where" and asked repetitively "Ere dey go??" So we brought her into the front room where the tree was all lit up and this was her reaction:

After breakfast it's traditional for my family to dance to Mannheim Steamroller's Joy to the World. My mother used to wake us up on Christmas morning to this particular song blasting out the windows. I think anytime members of my family (Or my mom's immediate neighbors) hear this song, it's instantly Christmas morning. Here's Evelyn and Michael dancing:

Evelyn was at the perfect stage for present opening. She was young enough to still be thrilled with only the boxes and wrappings, but old enough to appreciate the real toys too.

We got Evelyn a "Heigh-Ho" and she immediately started singing the song when she saw it.

Then she very properly introduced Grumpy to her new baby-doll. "Heigh-ho? Baby. Baby? Heigh-ho!"

Over all, it was a perfect Christmas. Though Evelyn didn't quite get it all--when she went in Mommy's closet later in the afternoon, she still asked "Ere dey go?"