The Tomten

The Tomten came to visit us last night!
Gary and I were up kind of late (playing Geo Challenge) and I heard what sounded like the back door opening. Gary went to investigate and came back and told me it was the wind. Later I went into the kitchen for a drink and found a book sitting on the counter, one that I hadn't seen before.
I came back into the bedroom with it and asked Gary where it came from and he just started laughing, telling me it was the wind. Then he asked me if I had seen anything on the floor and we went back into the kitchen and found a trail of tiny footprints.
They led to a surprise - gifts for the boys!
I took some pictures and went to bed so excited for the morning. Jack got up at his usual time, but Daniel slept in until 9! Luckily, Jack was content to play cars in the living room until Daniel woke up. When Dan woke up I told him there was a surprise for him and Jack in the kitchen. I've never seen him get out of bed so fast in his life. He and Jack found the book, then I got them breakfast and we sat down to read it. Now, the Tomten is a little person who lives on a farm in the forest and goes around at night visiting all the animals, talking to them and doing things for them. No one has ever seen him, just his tiny footprints in the snow.
After the reading We went on the hunt for Tomten footprints. (video of the hunt here.) Jack was the first to find them & they both followed them excitedly. They were so excited to find presents at the end. Daniel was equally thrilled that the footprint trail ended up going out the window. They all had fun opening the gifts. Evan especially loved ripping the paper - he didn't even need help to open his!
They each got a darling stuffed animal. Daniel got a reindeer whom he has named Rudolf. Jackson got a penguin whom he has named Santa and Evan got a polar bear (as yet un-named). Jack & Dan also got a workbook each and a set of triangle crayons to share. There was a Hoberman sphere for all of them to play with and treats for the whole family.
It was such a special morning with the boys. It made me feel so good to see them so excited - and the kicker is I had nothing to do with the surprise! (Gary knows who the Tomten is, as someone had to give him/her access to the house, but not me.) Thank you Tomten for a wonderful winter surprise!