Time for hot chocolate and cookies!
Visit with Santa where he gave each of the kids their own bell!
The kids pretty much had smiles on their faces the entire time! I think Mike and I did too! It was so much fun watching our kids having so much fun!
The conductor was so neat! He punched the kids tickets and took the time to talk to each one of them!
What an awesome experience and memory for our family! This morning we woke up bright and early and surprised the kids with matching Christmas jammies. They were a little confused wondering why we wanted them to put jammies on first thing in the morning but got them on with excitement in their eyes! They know something was going on, just didn't quite know what! So we told them we were going to go catch a train and go to the North Pole to see Santa! They were so excited! Cole said right away "We're going on the Polar Express aren't we?!!" So we loaded up in the car and after a quick stop for some coffee we were on our way to Hood River where we caught the Polar Express! It was raining so hard when we got there our coats were soaked just from going from our cars to the train station. We patiently waited along with the other 200 people crowded like sardines into the small station for the train to arrive! As soon as we loaded the train we knew it was worth the wait and the crowd! As soon as we started heading North we were served hot chocolate and cookies by the chefs and it actually started snowing outside! Once we got to the North Pole, after having to stop for a herd of Reindeer :) Santa boarded the train and spoke to all of the kids handing each of them a silver bell from his sleigh! When we got back to the station we had a picture taken with Santa and the kids were able to talk to him a little more! Cole was so shell shocked! It cracked me up because he couldn't remember what he was going to ask Santa for and almost panicked until he remembered! Even Eli sat on his lap with no hesitation! The whole experience was amazing! I'm so thankful for the prayers that were going out for our family all week! Joey and Cole got hit pretty hard with some nasty "bug" that took them more than a week to snap out of and I was worried all week that we weren't going to be able to go. But this morning after two days of antibiotics both boys woke up feeling pretty good. A little worn out after being so sick for a week, but so excited to go see Santa! We are so blessed!
Playing in the leaves!
Charlie and Gracie had a piano recital. Actually it's a ribbon festival that they do different things at and earn ribbon! Gracie got 12 ribbons and did great! 
