Last night we went to Kenmore City’s annual Christmas tree lighting down at the city hall.  We weren’t quite sure what to expect since this is only the second annual Christmas tree lighting.  We pretty much suspected that Kemore City would send a custodian out to plug the lights in while someone else held a boom box over their head playing a Christmas song or two.  It was much more organized than that, however.

Instead there were fun crafts to do, carolers and even a visit from the big man himself!  Santa arrived by firetruck and the picture below was taken when Jude went into panic mode.  We were standing on a balcony and his man, Santa, was down by the tree.  He turned around to beg and plead for us to go see Santa.  You can see the worry on the face, that this opportunity would be denied him, so as soon as the tree lighting was over, Bradley hot-footed it into the line to wait to take our FREE picture with Santa!

The kids and I spent a good solid 20 minutes or so doing crafts and coloring, and by then I started to worry that we were making Bradley anxious that we wouldn’t make it in by the time he reached the front of the line, so we headed into line.  This was when I noticed two things: 1. The kids were really dressed up for this picture while my own kids, literally, had stains and spills over pretty much all of their clothing, their faces were dirty from hot cocoa and cookies and their hair was a disaster.  2. The line was moving slow.  REALLY slow.  We stood in it for an hour and a half.  With dirty kids.  For a picture of my dirty kids with Santa.  So I sulked through the line.  I was not showing my best Christmas spirit AT ALL.  Fortunately Bradley was there, and he seemed to be full of jingle bell spirit and he took over, entertaining the troops.  When we finally reached Santa i was shocked into happiness.  There he was: the very same Santa we met back in July at Fred Meyer!  The same one that Jude recognized as Santa, even without his red suit, the same on that checked in with Jude during the summer, asking him if he was good, sharing a picture of himself in his work uniform – that was the Santa.  The REAL SANTA WAS IN KENMORE LAST NIGHT PEOPLE.  Our kids were expecting one of his helpers, but upon realizing who this was, they straightened right up and approached Santa, just as they should.  The hour and a half was totally justified, suddenly.  I apologized to my family, and the Christmas spirit returned.


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