Santi Clause

There isn't much time now until Christmas! It feels great to have our cards sent out and our gifts wrapped and given to loved ones. Last night we went to the English branch Christmas Party to celebrate with our church and eat lots of good food. People in our branch really know how to cook! Sister Loveland brought her famously delicious bread rolls and Sister Odell baked a four-layer Schwarzwalderkirschetorte (spell checker just asked me if I meant Schwarzenegger, haha), which is German for Black Forest cherry cake. It was covered in chocolate frosting, sweet cherries with glaze, and had a perpetual tilt that made everyone wonder at what point it would eventually collapse. But it was gone so fast it never got the chance :)
 Each table was given a day for the "Twelve Days of Christmas" and we competed for the loudest verse. We were "Four goose a-laying" and shouted it with pride when it came around to us. 
Our little baby cakes got plenty of love and plenty of people willing to hold him while we ate. He already has a fan club with the branch:) It's amazing how small he looks when I see him with others. So little. When I see that I want to hold him so close to me and never let him go, but I hold it in and just hug all the tighter when I get him back. He was awake for the entire evening, except for the loud singing/shouting competition with the days of Christmas. How he managed to be asleep for the loudest part of the evening I'll never know. 

P J getting some lovin'

 Good ol' St. Nicholas made an appearance. He hasn't forgotten us all the way down here:) When  PJ woke up we introduced him to Santa Clause for the first time. I was curious to see how he would react. I'd seen enough babies get totally freaked out by the curly beard. Santa Clause is a BIG guy when your 13 pounds and staring up at him! Our baby boy must be so used to being shared with others that he just looked at him, settled comfortably into the fluffy red suit and looked at mommy.I'm glad he woke up so we could get a photo of his first time on Santa's lap.

Pablo and I celebrating at Pablo's work Christmas party

 

We left PJ home with a babysitter this past week to celebrate Christmas with Pablo's job. We had a great time, but were so excited to go home and see our little baby cakes! There he was sleeping like a charm, all perfect and snug. We watched him sleep awhile, commenting on his little nose and peaceful breathing. Then we did the thing no parent should ever do. We woke him up. Two hours later we were laughing with each other as we took turns bouncing the babes, trying to get him to sleep again! Why did we do this to ourselves?! haha. Good time, good times and lesson learned :)