Last Christmas was beyond difficult.  My dad was placed on hospice the week before Christmas and he died on December 30th.  To say it was an emotional few weeks doesn’t even begin to do it justice.

But, still, it was still December and the girls were five and three, so I couldn’t exactly bury my head in the sand and forget about Christmas.  And, honestly, I didn’t want to.  In the midst of all the sadness, I craved the joy of the true spirit of the season.  I found comfort in the girls and their excitement.

Before my dad got so sick, I had made reservations in San Destin for Steve, the girls & I to spend the night at Baytowne Wharf.  And, I scheduled something magical for the girls.  The San Destin resort was sponsoring a Santa tuck-in (and, umm, yes, that is Abigail in the ad for this year ).  Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to except, but I thought the girls might get a kick out of it. 

By the time the day came for the trip, I wasn’t sure if we would be able to go or if I was even emotionally up for it.  Thanks to my amazing sister who made a trip down here to help my parents and convinced me that it would be okay to leave, we were able to go and it was absolutely beyond my wildest dreams.

See, when I made the Santa tuck-in reservations, I thought it was just going to be one of Santa’s “helpers” playing the role of Santa.  I didn’t realize it was going to be the REAL Santa. We kept the visit a secret from the girls and you can see Abigail’s surprise when the door opened and there was Santa.  What you can’t see is the look of surprise on my face when the door opened and I saw this:

He came in the door and swept us all up with his rich laughter and won the girls’ hearts with presents just for them.  He read them a story and answered a laundry list of questions (mostly for Gracie who was a bit skeptical about Santa last year…after this visit, all of her skepticism disappeared and has yet to return)

He even let Abigail touch his beard (repeatedly).  She was completely fascinated by it!

Then, he tucked each of them in, promised them both that he’d be back on Christmas Eve, and headed back to the North Pole.

I guess somehow Santa was able to take a break from his very, very busy holiday season and share a little joy with two little girls who’d had a pretty rough few months and give a little Christmas magic to their mama.