Chocolate Santas

After leaving my parents house at 10 am in Seattle, the kids and I finally arrived home at 11 pm... it was one long day! Our supposedly direct flight was changed to have one layover (ugh!) which made the day extra tiring. But the kids really were pretty good, we brought plenty to keep them all busy and happy. Knowing Pete would be on the other side kept me going :) Pete met us at the baggage claim at the airport, and as soon as the kids saw him from 100 yards away they all started yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" and ran as fast as their little legs could carry them. Joe was the last to make it to daddy, nearly tripping in his final steps, only to collapse in his arms. That little boy hadn't taken a nap all day and this final run to dad took every ounce of energy he had left. After Pete picked him up his whole body went limp, that pour boy was so exhausted! He would only let Pete hold him until we got to the car, keeping his head on Pete's shoulder and body unmoving. Daddy was a welcome sight to all!

John and Dan were still awake by the time we got home and Pete was so sweet and had left a note and a treat on each of our beds. (Not to mention he had gone grocery shopping for me and spent 4 hours that day deep cleaning the house! I married well :) John and Dan's treat was a chocolate Santa. When Dan opened his card and found the chocolate santa inside, his eyes slowly got bigger and he got a huge smile on his face then started giggling. I'm pretty sure he wasn't listening to a word I said as I read the note, he was so excited about the chocolate. He immediately asked if he could eat it, and I couldn't help but say yes (I wasn't about to wipe that glow off his face!) While exclaiming, "This is SOO GOOD!" in between bites, Dan had it down in about 30 seconds. Then John found his card and chocolate. He set the chocolate down and tried to read the card, got as far as he could, then handed it over to and asked me to finish. A minute later he ran over to Pete to thank him and, holding the santa, said excitedly, "I'm going to save this until Christmas!" And I think he really might. That boy has some serious self control!