Santa Fly-in

I just downloaded 700+ pictures from my camera that I am slowly making my way through. It is going to take awhile but I want to get some editing done before Christmas hits and I have another 700 pictures to sort.

December 8th Santa flew in to the Danville airport for his 2nd annual fly-in.  When I say airport I hope you know I mean a hangar for Cessna airplanes.

(This is what happened when I told Jack to stand NEXT to Lilly for a picture.)

Last year was the first year for the Santa fly-in.  There were less than 50 kids and it was really magical.  This year there were more than 100 kids with all their family members which made for a very crowded hangar.  Last year we were able to watch Santa land in his plane and bring all the toys out of the plane. This year Santa drove around from the back of the building, so we must have "missed" the landing,  He also must have dropped off the 4 giant sacks of presents that wouldn't fit on the plane earlier that morning.

Before Santa arrived the kids enjoyed cookies and checked out the planes.

The kids were thrilled and noticed no difference this year.  They were jumping up and down, cheering for Santa as he pulled around the corner.

Jack was the first child Mr. and Mrs. Claus spoke to after exiting the plane.  He was very nervous about going to say hello.

Out of 100 kids Jack was number 98 to get a present and Lilly was number 99.  That is a long time to sit and watch 97 other kids open presents, especially for a 6 and 3 year old.

Waiting.

Jack was too interested in cookies and planes to really notice that 97 other children were opening presents before him.

Poor Lilly sat there quietly, I think she was wondering if Santa forgot.  Then when she saw the other presents her friends received she got a case of "comparison-itis."

Even if Santa brought you and your brother blu-ray combo packs of your favorite movies with coordinating toys, it might be disappointing after you saw other children open different presents.  Maybe your pregnant hormonal mother wouldn't react properly.  Maybe if everyone had remained calm they would have realized what a hard day it was for everyone involved and that it was exhausting to watch 100 children open presents from Santa.  However maybe it opened our eyes to a valuable analogy.  Maybe that's why we should never compare ourselves, if we are too busy comparing our lives with someone else we forget to see the gifts we have in our hands that God has already given us. Maybe everyone walked away having learned a valuable lesson.