The Seasonal Visitor.

If you ask the kids here they may tell you he came on a camel and not by reindeer. No matter his mode of transportation, he DID come. As they call him around camp, "The Seasonal Visitor" ie: Santa came into town to see the expat kiddos before Christmas.
It was magical in every way. Seriously had to hold back the tears at one point. Santa knew the boys by name and a few personal things about them and then gave them a pre-Christmas present.

Carter was so excited to meet him. SC took the time to sing the ABC's with Carter because he knew that is what he's been working hard to learn. Carter loved it!

Owen was a little hesitant but still sat on his lap. No tears and no real smiles. He did like the present in the end.

I believe I was more excited about this visitor than the boys were. Such preparation was made for his visit and I was astonished by the effort made from those around us for it. It was a night I won't forget and am grateful that our first Christmas out of the States still included Santa.

*It's so fun to have little ones excited about Santa. I can't get enough of it. Although I'm a little sad we won't be able to use this line anymore, "don't do that... you better be good... are you being nice?... if not Santa won't come." lol
The night before Christmas Owen was having a tantrum before bath and Carter kept telling him to be good so Santa would come. It got to a point where Carter began to cry because Owen wasn't being good. He was devastated and thought Santa would skip our house all together because of Owen. We had to separate the two, one in each shower until Owen calmed down (he was really tired) and then explain to Carter that Santa would still come after all. He was taking everything very seriously this year. Cute, endearing and the start of new holiday traditions and excitement for our family.