The North Pole Express

The Christmas Gift from Grandma and Grandpa Beutler was paying for our choosing of a family event. It was the greatest idea ever! We chose to take the kids on the North Pole Express in Heber (patterned after the famous Christmas Story of "Polar Express).  We had such a magical time. It did not disappoint at all! Jackson and Zoey were giddy with excitement from all the details of the decorated train, their personal tickets, a conductor and engineer, cookies and hot cocoa, a personal visit from Santa, and a token bell from his sleigh! It lived up to all their dreams and expectations and made our hearts swell to see them so excited and happy. It truly was an amazing time. We'd do it again in a heartbeat. 

Christmas Traditions

We have some great Christmas Traditions at our house. About 3 years ago, I started the tradition of writing in a Christmas journal each day to record the things we do throughout the month of December. I don't really have to plan anything extraordinary, but each day little wonderful "Christmas Nugget" happens and I have the joy of recording it so that we can remember these times for many Christmases ahead.

 Here is Eli getting into the Christmas ornaments...the bottom half of the tree is pretty sparse because of the kids...but we still enjoy it!

 Enjoying a hot cup of cocoa! The kids' favorite treat!

 Seeing the lights at temple square! so much fun! We ate at the garden restaurant and the view we had was the best in the house! We could see all the lights below!

 It seems to all pass by so fast, the joys of childhood and the special magic that surrounds this time of year. I wish I could stop it in time, but my little journal is what will help me do that. I was reflecting on the week that just passed and how great it was, and then started thinking about the week ahead and how excited I was for each day (we have something fun going on every night this week)! I just really really enjoy soaking up this fun time of year and the closeness I feel with my family.

"Mater Christmas!"

We went shopping for Christmas trees the other weekend. It seems each lot has a big Christmas Display to lure shoppers in...this one had "Mater" and did the trick for us! It was the coolest thing and Jackson was completely amazed by it! Every detail was covered. Mater is even towing a tiny Christmas Tree in the back....

I do have to say, however, we ended up buying our tree from another lot : ( We like the rustic mountain pine trees and they didn't have a great selection of those, but their other trees looked nice!

I'm so happy that December is finally here! There are so many fun Christmas Traditions I always look forward to doing with the kiddos. We wrote letters to Santa (which the elves delivered). We watched the first presidency devotional, sent out Christmas Cards, and began the yearly tradition of the "Elf on the shelf."

In our home, the Elf watches over the kids to see if they are naughty or nice and then reports each night to Santa while the kids are sleeping. The Elves "appear" in a new spot each morning, and the kids enjoy trying to find their Elf. It's a great thing! 

Jackson has grown so fond of his Elf, that we had to get another Elf for Zoey, so they each have their own Elf. 

Last night, Jackson tried a little experiment... He snuck his Elf into his room, shut his door, and went to sleep with him. I think he wanted to see if his El really did leave each night to report to Santa. This morning, when I woke up, I saw his bedroom light on. So I went in to check on him and he was standing over his bed (which was torn apart, sheets thrown everywhere), with this completely dumbfounded look on his face! "Mom, I went to sleep with my Elf last night, and now he's gone!"

 Hmm.... I told him to go look downstairs, and his face lit up with magic! I love this age!  

Here he is, happy to have found his Elf!

Sweet Zoey, giving her Elf a morning hug! Who could really give these kids a lump of coal? I hope those Elves are giving good reports to Santa!