Merry Merry Part 2

Yesterday was Brooke's class holiday party and book exchange. The children were very excited about giving each other books, it was very cute to witness this excitement. Here is Brooke with Quinn, on the right, and Reilly on the left. Seriously, Brooke and Reilly featured together in one photo is almost too much to take. I mean really, should this much cuteness even be allowed together in the same room???

We spent the afternoon today together as a family. We wanted to go somewhere that felt a little "Christmas-y". Our original plan did not work out, so we decided to be brave and venture out to The Grove in Los Angeles. The Grove is an outdoor shopping area, with a Farmer's Market and lots of food options. We chose to eat Italian food for lunch...it was delish.

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Here is Santa's workshop! The line was VERY, very long. He's a popular guy this time of year, apparently.

Whoa...is that him flying over us as we shop????? Check out the ginormous Christmas tree. It was REAL.

See...ginormous.... The girls were patient each time I instructed them to smile for a photo op.

Brooke let me have a little photography fun...such a willing participant!

Then the family started getting a little too comfortable in Crate and Barrel, so I decided it was time to go home before they found a display bed and tucked themselves in.

You cannot see it in this photo, but Brooke is clutching a little white cocoa mug with a red reindeer on it. She carried it all around the store. I bought it for her, along with a little polar bear ornament that Daddy liked, and the guy that rang us up was so attentive to her and put them in a little box with red tissue paper on the top and put it in the bag and handed it to her. She was very thrilled with this, and told her Daddy all about the box and the tissue paper. We left to go to our car...and she left the bag in the elevator. 45 seconds later the elevator came back to our floor without the bag. We looked for it, but to no avail.

Little silent tears streamed down her cheek as we left the parking garage...each one breaking my heart just a tiny bit more. Here I sit, wondering just how in the world I can work a trip back to a Crate and Barrel before Christmas... Do we ever stop wishing for our children to be happy, and wanting to do whatever it takes to help? Will her tears of sadness forever cause me as much pain as they cause her? Yes, I know...the answer is that forever and ever their hearts, these girls of ours, are bound to ours. And I wouldn't have it any other way.