What wonderful pictures of a wonderful day - from start to finish. The Princess and Bruvver are adorable as always and the horse and wagon shots look like they're Currier and Ives prints in modern dress. Love the contrast of the wagons and the plane. The Santa scenes and lunch look good too.

Thanks for sharing your day.

Lee

What Fun! It looks like you've started the season with a Big Bang, including snow! Those will be some fun memories...

What a terrific day! Those are moments the kids will remember and treasure - and good for you for documenting them with pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, man, those are beautiful horses! When DH and I lived in VA (for a short time) we went to a draft horse show. Ohhhhh, beautiful big babies. Loved it! Your pictures are great, Annie! Got a chill from the snow, so I brought my orchids into the house this evening. Wouldn't want those little lovelies to get a touch of cold down here in FL!

I want to go to White Cloud!

Rusty

Oh, Annie...you always have the most fun! These are memories the kidlets are gonna cherish for the rest of their lives! (Oh...and they get cuter every picture BTW!)

Happy holidays!

Linda

Thanks Annie. For a lot of reasons, I needed this post.

Can't wait until I have grandbabies.

Adele

What a wonderful time you all had! And I don't blame bruvver one bit for being afraid, Santa CAN be a little scary!

Alexa

What a great day. Thanks Annie. I love when you share your fun times with the kids.

Ann

Those Belgians are gorgeous!

Love the photos and LOVE the horses! The Princess and Bruvver are darling! Thank you so much for sharing! That soup looks perfect for a cold snowy day!

Annie, TY for sharing, adorable! Please take pic's of Christmas..

Nancy

What a great day Annie and your photos tell the story so well that they will be treasured keepsakes. Santa coming in a plane must have been so exciting!
I remember the anticipation waiting for Santa to arrive in a department store when I was small.

Grandkids are so cute now. You are creating a wonderful store of memories for them. They will think back so fondly about these times when they are older.
Although I don't know much about horses I think they are all beautiful. Especially the big draft horses.

Your beef soup makes me very hungry. I can just imagine how it tastes! Thanks for letting us see your day!

SharonCb

Annie - as always, you can take an ordinary event and turn it into something very special. Thanks for always sharing your family with us.

Feel good post of the day! Thanks for putting a big smile on my face.

AM

Thanks for the pics Annie. The kids look so excited I think I may be getting in the spirit. Today's holiday baking should help too.

Those horses are gorgeous!

That was a truly magical pictorial. Pictures like that actually make me wish I had kids...Christmas is really the only time that thought actually crosses my mind.

White Cloud must be doing better than the rest of Michigan. We couldn't afford a plane. Down here Santa would probably have to ride a bicycle or hitchhike!

Duane

Duane, we are an agricultural area and we never had manufacturing jobs to lose, other than the Gerber Baby Food Factory over in Fremont. Even they rely on the farmers for their product. Although the pay for agricultural work is low (somewhere between $9 and $11 an hour), it's always there. Western/Northern Michigan is much better off than your side of the state. We didn't have the reliance on the auto industry that much of the state has and we're accustomed to the much lower wages. Farmers have struggled for a long time. As you can see by posts like this, we don't have McMansions or nightclubs, just farms and horses and happy children that don't know they're deprived, LOL. My grandkids don't have a single video game, no Wii or x-box, not even a handheld Nintendo. They do have bicycles and a horse to ride and acres of forest with trees to climb and a pond with frogs and turtles, a creek to float homemade boats and people that love them.

So, if you ever feel like you want to play with kids, come on up, I'll lend you Bruvver. That'll cure you of any thoughts that you missed out on anything, LOL, and you can catch some frogs. Gotta let 'em go though, don't want to compromise their slime coats. (grin)

Still, times are difficult everywhere in Michigan. Events that are free are very popular this year, and the same local pilot has been flying Santa into White Cloud for over 20 years. He needs a bigger plane or a shorter Santa, LOL, and we had six wagons this year, and there wasn't a lot of empty space. Next year we'll lobby for a couple more, I know a local guy that has a pair of mules, maybe he'll volunteer.

I was glad to see that all the kids got gloves. My kids tease me and say that if I win the lottery I'd stand in the front yard and give away hats and mittens to all the kids walking to school.

So, Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays to every one of my friends, even the ones that don't know they are friends yes. Hold your family close, and count your blessings and celebrate in your own way, with a happy heart. It should be a season of peace and joy, of forgiveness and tolerance. I know that Dad's watching, so I gotta be good. He's even scarier than Santa Claus, my own personal "Ghost of Christmas".

So, as my good friend Dishesdone tells me, Happy Everything to Everyone.

Annie

Thanks Annie for posting the photos.

I also felt the Magical experience that was felt as a child when Santa would make his entrance at a big family party we participate in! He just would walk through the door.
Our town has a Sinterklaas parade that is fun for the kids.
Sinterklaas in riding in a big old ship. One year our son 16 at the time was one of the helper all dressed in tights, costume and little hat.....it was precious to see a teenage son dressed in the tights handing out candy to the kids.
Without the snow in the photos it just wouldnt of looked the same. Snow is not my favorite thing......but snow did help give your photos that magical CHRISTmas appeal!
Neat idea of handing out gloves. Reminds me of my childhood when we would gather on a Sunday morning before the holidays and each child when bring gloves or mittens for children in Kodiak Alaska. Our family barely had money to buy mittens for my five sibblings.

Talking of snow....we have a Winter Storm Watch for tonight and then more coming on Tuesday!!!

Truly magical memories for all involved. I loved seeing this charming tradition and the darling duo! Thanks for sharing with us!

Annie, I hear what you're saying. The country folks have been more grounded and always will be vs. city people. Not to say there are not good and bad in all people, but there is a lot to be said for catching frogs, riding horses and bikes and enjoying clean country air instead of hours in from of video games. Your pictures usually get me checking real estate sites for farms in your area. I can dream can't I? And if I hit the lottery I would be right there with you handing out those hats and gloves!

Enjoy the holidays. Hug your family and friends. We all know that none of us will be forever so enjoy the simple things like loved ones, a good meal and be thankful that even in hard times we still have it pretty good compared with much of the world.

Duane

photos made me cry and miss my rural Michigan roots. I used to organize a traditional arts fair in GR and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the draft horses and the teamsters! Such magnificent animals. I tried driving but I am too much of a softie and the horses know it!

Annie, what fun! You can see just how much the little ones loved it. DD learned about ten years ago how to drive a team. We do the antique gas and steam engine shows in the summer, and a friend from those has a team with a wagon he built. The first time he let her take the reins, after a number of trips around the fairgrounds giving rides, he let her drive the team in the parade through Norwalk, only taking the reins from her when they went up the BIG hill in town. She loves the big ones. I forget which kind he has. She hasn't gotten to drive for a few years due to work, but he'll let her drive anytime she gets the chance.

You can keep the snow, though. We have just a skiff. The grass is still showing. We had more on Black Friday than we do now. I wish the wind would quit, tho.

I'm working on the hats and mittens. Our knitting group makes them for the local hospital ER to hand out to those who don't have when they come in.

Tami....wishing the blessings of whatever holiday you celebrate to each and every one of you.

oh my gosh, Annie. Those pics are priceless. What wonderful memories - they are at a perfect age.

Oh Annie - what great pictures and memories! I was just waiting for the holiday spirit to "hit" me and it just has, thanks :)

Cindy

How did I miss this thread? Rusty, I'll give you a tour of White Cloud, we can go together, LOL. I'm about due for another visit.

That really brought back memories of my own childhood, growing up on a Dakota farm when my aunt and uncle took me in for a few years. Those were pleasant times but harsh as well.

Uncle had 2 black Belgians that did most of the work on the farm, plus a riding horse, we called "Lady" who was more of an Arabian type, but she pulled her weight too hitched to wagons, sleighs, or plows, right along with the big horses.

Thanks for sharing.

Bejay

Bejay, if I were inclined to farm with horses, Copenhagen would have to pull his own weight too, LOL. Along with a plow!

Cindyny, I'm glad I could help with the Christmas spirit.

Jessica, come any time, you know where I am!

Tami, thanks for the hats and mittens. It's a personal crusade of mine to try to make sure that ever single kid in the state has a hat and mittens, LOL. Duane can start on that side of the state, I'll start over here and we'll meet in the middle.

Stacy, they ARE the perfect age, and so am I! (grin) Gotta take some time to believe in Santa Claus....

L, stop sniffling and get your rear back home.

Happy Everything to Every One.
Annie

Lovely. All of it! Santa still scares me...

That is a very cool post! *no pun intended* Wouldja lookit all that snow? OMG!

What great memories....

Happy Everything to Everyone. Love that.

AB, I wish I could've witnessed the guy in the red suit as he first tried to get into da plane. That would've been just as amusing.
Poor guy, getting himself into a dither in front of an entire town.

And talk about horse power. Those elegant creatures added an element of beauty and magic to the occasion.

But, my favorite picture is the one where Bud's built-up anticipation finally becomes reality. I hope Santa gave him a great big, reassuring hug.

Sol

What a perfect day! Makes me want to be a kid again. Thanks for sharing! Al

Yeah, how did I miss this one??

That was fabulous! I would have given anything if my grandbabies had experienced Santa's arrival via plane. We had to go to the mall.

Annie, the best pictures yet :) What a fantastic day! Lucky kids!

Happy Everything, my friend!

Jessica, I've half a mind to come with you next time!

Great Pix!! What fun for the kiddies!

Really, really cute pictures. It sounds like the grands had a great day. The snow really added to the specialness (at least for me).

Where I live Santa arrives by plane, train, boat, fire engines through the neighborhood and mall. It is so sweet to see how excited the kids are and I get tears in my eyes when I see how excited they get. I don't know - it just brings back very wonderful memories for me being young and "believing."

Great pictures, Annie! Too bad the little munchkin was scared - lots of kids are scared of Santa - when I worked at a mall we ran a breakfast with Santa and breakfast with the Easter Bunny. Most of the kids cried with Santa but never with the Easter Bunny - they loved him/her - just a big fluffy, non-threatening bunny - but Santa is a person - and he's a stranger who smells funny - ugh.