How Grandpa saved Christmas

Cookies and milk. . .

AND carrots!

A LOT of carrots.

For several years now we have been leaving carrots for Santa's reindeer. Usually just a couple baby carrots. I always have a bag in the fridge so it's no big deal. Before we go to bed we throw the carrots back into the bag and the kids wake up and all is good.

Well, this year Christian had a new idea. Santa's reindeer MUST have big carrots. They are reindeer after all and reindeer are big. And we couldn't have just one or 2 but we HAD to have 9. (sing the song) This all came about on Christmas Eve. I did not have big carrots. I was NOT traveling 20 minutes into town on busy Christmas Eve for a bag of large carrots to feed reindeer but I had to do something right? (Remember the whole last Santa believing year theory I have going.) SO I called my sweet dad who works at a grocery store here in Cache Valley (but lives in Ogden, long story). This was my second request of him. You see earlier in the morning my sweet children reminded me that Santa always brings one toy for the cat. Well, someone (me) had forgot this major detail so a call was placed to my father to purchase ANY cat toy on the pet aisle of his store. The phone call went like this,

(in a hushed voice in the bedroom with the door closed)

ME: "Dad it's me again."

"Do you have any big carrots left at your store?"

DAD: "Umm ya." (You can imagine my worry that maybe knowing my luck the stores would be sold out of large carrots today)

ME: "Can you buy me some for Santa's reindeer?"

DAD: Chuckling "Yes"

ME: "Oh and there HAS to be 9 carrots in the bag. Can you please make sure there are NINE carrots?"

DAD: "Nine? Why nine?"

I instantly start singing, "Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner Blitzen, Rudolph. Count them Dad. There are nine. And did you still remember the cat toy?"

DAD: (Who at this point is sure I am crazy.) "Yes I remember the cat toy. Let me add NINE big carrots to my mile long list. (My mom had called too) Have fun eating all of them tonight!"

Wouldn't you know it his store was SOLD OUT of cat toys! So my poor father after leaving for work at 2 am made it back into Ogden with my bag of exactly NINE carrots and stopped at Petco just before closing on Christmas Eve and GRABBED the first cat toy he could find off a display next to the cash register. A $5 tiny stuffed mouse. Which the children were AMAZED that it looks identical to the real mice that live here. How did Santa know???

And in case you are wondering Brandon and I did not eat the carrots Christmas Eve night. I had to make them disappear but I couldn't put them back into the fridge like usual. SOOOO I peeled them, sliced them and froze them in baggies in our chest freezer. If you stop by our house for soup or stew in the near future you will be eating reindeer carrots!