Santa's Mom

Does Santa Claus have a proud mother? Well, of course he does!
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Yesterday we had our quarterly Primary activity with 3 work tables for the children.

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At one table they decorated large, Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookies with green icing and assorted colorful trimmings.

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At the other two tables the kids made simple but cute ornaments, with instructions to keep one and give the other to a someone else might need to feel loved.
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At right is one of the ornaments, a wreath made of pipe cleaner, beads, small bells, and a ribbon.

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Below is the angel ornament, made of coffee filters, oddly enough!
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The children had a good time and the event was well attended.

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Our Primary president, Wyndie, had worried that the older boys might find it too "sissy" to make an angel, but they really got into it.

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Especially when the angels were finished and the boys tried to make them "fly" across the cultural hall!
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Here are the kids lined up to have Wyndie put the parts of their angels together with the hot glue gun.

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Luckily we had lots of adult volunteers to help out. Wyndie's husband Eugene and Primary counselors Bridgette and Crystal each manned a table, with a few parents on hand to assist.

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I'm still the Primary secretary and I took pictures while lending a hand here and there as I passed by. And, oh yes, I gave birth to Santa 18 years ago.
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Okay, so it wasn't that Santa, but it was one of his helpers!

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While the children worked, they kept one eye on the empty chair that would soon be filled by the jolly man in red!
After the cookies and ornaments were done, the kids gathered to sing "Silent Night."

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Then they sang a rousing version of "Jingle Bells" to signal Santa that they were excited for him to make an appearance.

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He came into the room with a hearty "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, boys and girls!"

Some of the smaller children ran and threw their arms around Santa's legs in a big hug!

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The children lined up across the room to take their turns sharing Christmas wish lists.

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Santa made his mother proud, speaking warmly and patiently to each child, promising to take their requests back to his Elves.
This Santa's career began unexpectedly. In 2008 Jacob began visiting an older man from church who was terminally ill. The two of them bonded strongly. Jacob began taking gifts and food to the Bradshaws, and Brother Bradshaw began passing on some of his treasures to Jacob. One of them was a Santa suit which had brought him much joy in his life.

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Last Christmas Jacob put the suit on a few times and had fun thrilling small children in our neighborhood.

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When we needed Santa for our Primary activity, it seemed the perfect fit for Jacob to make use of this great gift.

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He was nervous, but he did an amazing job, staying in character and using his best Santa voice.

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And the kids loved him, which is what counted the most.

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Yes, Santa has a mother.

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And yes, she is very proud of him!