Days with the Dorans

It was a Christmas Miracle! It looked a little different but we were able to do our annual trip to Santa's Cabin and for a little while everything was right in the world! Thank you, Nana and Papa!

 I love this place!! I actually took videos and need to splice everything together to send Mr. and Mrs. C. as I know they've liked my stuff in the past and linked it to their site. It was another great trip and going there feels like seeing old friends! Everyone had fun and we enjoyed catching up. Santa of course knew all about the kids (and we got a kick when he asked Joey about his new girlfriend, Abby). I did get that on tape... I'll edit that and post it here someday I hope. There were lots of new additions to the cabin including this Santa (that the real Santa was telling us about) and Sean found a cool Penguin to hang with during his time there. Here are some pics of the kids and families. And I had to add a little throw-back! After our visit, we headed to the Lodge (which is a tradition) for wine with a side of dinner! It was a great day! I love my family!!!

We LOVE our tradition of seeing Santa and Mrs. C. at their cabin. They were excited to see us too and asked us all about the Lion King Jr and other things that have been going on in our lives. Z was the first Doran to have a chat with the big man! He asked for a chromebook. Zach told me he was doing me a favor since he'll need one for school next year (good point). Sean was up next and he asked for... a ROBOT! What cracks me up about this is I really can't remember a Christmas where the kid DIDN'T ask for a robot and I wouldn't say he's particularly into robots. Usually he asks for a certain color of robot. This year he added a "Lego" before robot so we'll see what Santa can do. He's come through with the various color robots Sean has asked for over the year so I'm sure he'll come through again! Ali enjoyed her time with Santa and shared with him a list of things she's asking for. She'll be a teenager soon so I'm sur...

 We were excited that Joe could join us in the flesh this year for our visit to Santa (last year we took a picture of his head on a stick since he was busy doing the musical). He was awesome with Santa as were all the kids. We've come to Santa's Cabin so long now we talk like old friends and I love hearing the stories of his family, his other visitors and just spending time in the cabin! Of course the Littles played while the Bigs were talking to Santa, which was cool. Nana and Papa always take us to see Santa and Mrs. Claus which has become such a fun tradition. I know a lot of people want to visit him, but it's hard to get in to see him with his busy schedule. I love that Mrs. Claus calls to make an appointment to make sure we can see them! After our visit, we headed to the Lodge for a fun family dinner! This was a great way to start out the holiday season. Hopefully Santa will visit our house on Christmas Eve and the kids will get the presen...

There is something so magical about our visits to see Santa and Mrs. C. in their cabin! Unfortunately, this year Joey couldn't come with us due to his "Fiddler on the Roof" musical at school.  We brought "Joey" with us because it felt strange taking family pics without him!  The kids had a great time and all enjoyed talking with Santa and letting him know their wishes for Christmas.  Of course there were more pictures (and video) that I put together HERE to remember (If you click on the link I apologize for not capitalizing Fiddler on the Roof~ too lazy to fix).  This was our 5th year visiting Santa and I'm already looking forward to next year (when hopefully the REAL Joe will be back with us).  Merry Christmas!