The Ward Christmas Party

Can you ever have too much Santa? I think we may have been on the verge. The problem with this past season was that it was feast or famine when it came to Santa. We were either seeing him multiple times a day or more than a week would go by with no sighting. The ward Christmas party happened to be the evening after we cruised with Santa and the Traugers. We went straight from seeing and spending quality time with Santa to seeing him again. Here we happened upon some issues (more on that later).
It was a nice enough party - certainly better than last year's party. I did not enjoy the ward party last year but I don't really want to go into that negative place. This year the food was good and the flow of the party was nice too. We even had Santa come to the party this year (he was missing last year).
After a turkey dinner, the children sang to us a couple of songs. They were cute and did a fine job. Jasmine sung her heart out and that was nice to see.Next, Lorne read the story of Twas the Night Before Christmas. He did a great job. I wish I had had my video camera but the kids were into it and his reading and voice inflection were quite nice.At the end of the story when Santa shouts, "Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!" Santa walked in and shouted that line himself. It was Santa's grand entrance. All the kids scurried over. I think Jasmine was first in line. She was very good on his lap and did her thing. Even Ava seemed OK with the Big Man. The problem came later when Jasmine asked us poitn blank, "Mommy, was that really Santa? I don't think it was." She went on to tell us that she noticed his beard was shorter and that this Santa was taller and he seemed different than the Santa she had seen earlier. I don't remember how we addressed these concerns but we somehow managed to distract her and keep the belief alive - for now. I fear that her belief will not last long with how observant she is. I suppose it's OK but I love the innocent belief that kids have of Santa - it makes Christmas magical.All in all - it was a nice party but we must work on making the decor a bit better next year - it was a bit on the dull side.