We spent Christmas '09 in Sedona, Arizona with my mom and dad--it was fun to get away to such a beautiful place for a few days, and we managed to bring Christmas along with us! We brought a little fake tree that we decorated when we got to the hotel room, and made sure to have Parker put out milk and cookies for Santa before bedtime on Christmas Eve. We also ran out onto the balcony in the cold, cold darkness to look up into the Sedona sky in search of Santa's sleigh--as soon as we looked up, I saw a shooting star, which I figure must be a sure sign that he was on his way. Parker finally fell asleep around midnight, which meant that Jared could finally get up and put the presents under the tree and in Parker's stocking! I woke up excitedly around 6:30 on Christmas morning, and kept staring at Parker, who was sleeping so soundly, until we finally woke him up and coaxed him into checking to see if Santa had come in the night! It was a fun Christmas this year, since we had been talking up all of the fun Santa things in the last couple of months--Parker is finally old enough to have made it through Christmas without being totally oblivious to all of the excitement. We were happy to be able to spend Christmas with family this year (we were in Mexico the last two Christmases), and are so thankful to both my mom and dad for helping us have such a wonderful holiday! It was a really special time (Sarah Palin book and all...).
