Neighborhood shindig

In moving to Happy Valley and living on a cul-de-sac filled with children, Rick and I were hoping to meet our neighbors and finally have a feel of living in a community- something we didn't have on our little street in Gresham. We had no idea we would be meeting many of our neighbors at one time, a short week after moving in! It was a bit overwhelming and I don't think I will remember all the names to faces, but it was so much fun. There were A TON of kids there, ranging in age from 14 mos (Cooper) to teenage, and many, many others in between. It bordered on chaotic at times with the kids running between the playroom upstairs and the playroom downstairs, but Riley and Tyson seemed to really enjoy it! Rick and I spent the time chatting with everyone and making sure Cooper didn't get trampled! Not only did we meet neighbors- SANTA was there!! Mark and Suzanne, the couple who host the party, have a friend who comes each year as Santa and hands out gifts to all the kids. Parents bring a small wrapped gift for each of their children with their name written in big, black letters and Santa passes them out. The kids LOVED it!

A shot of the kids surrounding Santa, waiting for their turn to sit on his lap!

Cooper's name was called first of our three kids, he did really well!

Riley helped him open his new little camera- she is such a great little helper!

Then it was her turn... she didn't want to leave Santa's lap. She's at such a fun age! Luckily, Santa got the letter we wrote and Riley received a baby My Little Pony. Although she was a little bummed later that night when she realized the baby pony didn't come with a bottle, something her letter specifically mentioned. :)

After her turn, Riley decided she need to be Santa's little helper and pass out the candy canes! She is her mother's daughter... poor girl. I wonder how long it will be before her brothers start saying things to her like "Okay, mom!" when she tries to tell them not to do something...

Finally, Tyson's turn- he took it very seriously, telling Santa he wanted a scary monster. At least the kids are consistent, that's what his letter to Santa asked for!
(He got a Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear "fishlight" (flashlight) instead. He didn't seem to mind.)

Earlier, Tyson was begging for a candy cane. I told him he needed to finish his pizza first... about 3 minutes later he return with a mouthful of pizza, saying he'd finished and wanted his candy cane now! I tell this story because in the pictures, you can see all of the pizza grease and sauce around his mouth... next time I'll pay attention to that and maybe clean him up a bit! :)

Cooper decided once was enough on Santa's lap!

So he sat with mommy instead!