The Polar Express

We decided to kick off the month of December with a trip to Heber for the Polar Express! The trip was planned by Danny and his buddy from work, Rob. We were excited to get our families together for some holiday fun.

It took about an hour to get there, but the kids enjoyed the time in the car. We were sure to bundle up since it was going to be a cold night...especially in the North Pole! :) We got our tickets and hopped on board, ready for a night of magical Christmas fun! ;)

Now all of us have read the book and seen the movie at least a dozen times, so we knew the conductor was going to come around to punch our tickets! We were hoping he'd punch cool stuff like Tom Hanks does in the movie, but we were left wanting on that account. :) While tickets were being punched, we sang Christmas Carols with the elfin staff and awaited our hot chocolate and cookie. Again, something we knew had to be a staple of the Polar Express! Both were delicious and the hot chocolate was helpful in keeping us all toasty warm.

It was quite a journey to the North Pole, so we all enjoyed some jokes. Both Claire and Sophie volunteered to read a joke for the whole rail car! I was proud of both their reading skills and their courage! That was until they blew me away by jumping up and joining the congo line! I just love my girls. :)

Finally, we made it to the North Pole and who else was there to greet us but the big man himself! This afforded the kids their first opportunity of the season to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas, and they were so excited. 

After our chat with Santa we made the trek back to Heber. We sang more carols, told more jokes, and enjoyed visiting with our friends. As we were riding along and looking at all the Christmas lights on the houses I started to miss my Lukey. The holidays are such a special time, and while I anticipate that they'll be MUCH easier this year than last, it will never be complete without our Mr. Smiles. My sentimentality got the best of me, and Johnny and I left a little tribute on our frosty cold window. :)

Once our magical trip had ended we were all ready for dinner. Danny had asked around and had heard that Dairy Keen was where we needed to eat. We met the Salmones there, and the entire population of Heber it seemed! We were able to get a few tables next to each other, some food, and definitely some milk shakes. It was all really very good! Worth the hassle, for sure. It didn't take too long for the kids to start showing how tired they were, and it was a school night after all. So we bid our friends farewell with the promise of doing more together in the future and made the drive home.

Johnny didn't even make it to his bed before crashing. That's always a sign that we had a good time!