"The bell still rings for those who truly believe..." How many times have I started a Christmas letter with that? or included it somewhere in my Christmas letter? The bell still rings for us and hope it is ringing in your hearts this Christmas season.
Here we are in Williams, AZ, having completed our 6th Annual trek to the North Pole last night. It was magical as always - we had a very fun elf in our car who kept us entertained the whole way. Every year we seem to run into a family of first timers. It is such fun to see them light up on the train, feel their excitement, share our stories, see their reaction to Santa on the train, then listen to the kids cry and fuss and eventually fall asleep. Makes me happy to be done with babies (this being written as I listen to kids fuss and whine downstairs of the hotel right now and Mom saying, "do you want juice?" "no we're not playing in the snow" "look at the camera! LOOK AT THE CAMERA NOW!" "just one more" "You're gonna fall" "LOOK AT THE CAMERA and SMILE PRETTY" oh and the infamous, "1, 2....3....".) I am highly entertained by just watching and observing other families...and realize that was exactly us not too long ago with our little girls! I just heard the best sound: "OK, there will be no pancakes for ____" followed by what sounded like a whack on the butt and now cries. ahh....precious memories. I am laughing hysterically to myself just listening. Oh, sounds like ____ is going to get pancakes after all. We parents always give in don't we!?
BACK TO THE POLAR EXPRESS! This was our 6th year going on the trip and even though I start out kind of indifferent or maybe with some quiet excitment about it all, we have a really fun time. Carolyn loves singing Christmas songs, Elyse loves jingling her bell and drinking hot cocoa - I might add that this year the cookies were the best I've ever had on the train. Scott and I enjoy people watching and taking family photos for other families and always trying for our perfect family photo. The trip went very fast and we enjoyed the upgrades that have been made on the route and at the North Pole. Santa was especially attentive on our car and that is so special. Carolyn commented, "he had minty breath. Like he chews Trident gum." I assured her it is probably candy cane breath.
Last overheard from the photo op place in the hotel: "_____ stop! I just want the picture. Don't do that. Stand up straight. Smile. C'mon. I just want the picture. Lean towards me. Show your feet. Not up against my boob! No, not there! now look - everybody smile...hold still....smile again....one more...SMILE!" I will not complain about my girls' "automatic photo pose" ever again.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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