Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas this year. It was great to see how easily excited Kiley got over her Christmas presents. Santa made an early delivery to our house since Ryan had to work Christmas Day. Santa stopped by our house while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's (my parents) house for Christmas Eve. The look on Kiley's face when we walked into the house was priceless! She loved all of her "ho-ho" presents. Ryan and Kiley had a visit with Santa himself near the Christmas Village store in downtown Auburn the weekend before Christmas. I had planned to take her to see him earlier, but everytime we got near Santa at the mall, Kiley would cling to me and wouldn't let go. She was even afraid of the inflatable Santa in the front yard! So, I decided that this was the year we wouldn't visit Santa to have her picture taken. Unfortunately, I wasn't with Ryan and Kiley to see this whole scene unfold. According to Ryan, Kiley chatted Santa up, like they'd been friends forever! I wish I could have been there to see it! Hopefully, she won't be scared of Santa next year. On Christmas Day, Kiley and I played with all of the new toys she got until it was time to have dinner with Ryan in Rocklin. A local catering company generously donated an entire prime rib dinner to the firefighters on-shift Christmas Day and their families. We barely made a dent into the meal when everyone was finished! It sure was good, though! To top off our Christmas evening, Kiley and I enjoyed looking at all the pretty Christmas lights on our way home. I loved hearing her "ooohs" and ahhs" from the back seat. :o)