Magical

We have been as busy as our elf, David.  He surprised us one morning with a magical gift... tickets and PJ's to ride the Polar Express train!  We couldn't believe our eyes.  David was riding on Daddy's vintage wooden train and had a bell around his neck.  We packed up our bags and headed south for the trip.

 We traveled about 3 hours to Middleton, WI, where we stayed at a hotel with a fun pool.  We swam that afternoon, went to dinner, and then put our pajamas on for our 8:00 departure.  We were SO excited!

When we arrived, they checked us in and gave us our golden tickets to the North Pole.  I was in awe and must've asked my parents at least 20 times if we were REALLY going to the North Pole?!?!  My face might not appear this way, but I was anxious and excited to ride the Polar Express.

 David bought us First Class tickets, so we had nice seats and a little table in our train car.  We received Polar Express mugs (which I insist we use at dinner time now), hot cocoa to sip while on our ride and sugar, polar express train cookies.  Our server sang and danced in the aisle as she served us.

 As we traveled towards the North Pole, we listened to the reading of the story over the speaker system and then we sang carols the rest of the time.

 We were all dressed in pajamas (parents too) and it was a nice and cozy ride.

The gentleman came to punch our tickets.  We didn't notice a word when he did this, just a pattern of some sort.  Maybe it was secret code?!?

 In 30 magical minutes, we were at the North Pole.  We saw Santa and his elf standing outside his workshop waving at us.  We wildly waved back.

 Next thing we knew, we were already heading back to the depot when Santa surprised us by coming into our train car!  I was in shock (and told Daddy at least 5 times that I wasn't sure if he was REAL and if the elf was REAL)... my parents assured me they were, so I went with it.

Santa gave us a special bell from his reindeer's reigns (just like the movie).  Our bells look beautiful on our Xmas tree at home.

 Cooper was just as happy as a lark the entire time.  He sang, he danced, he BELIEVED and didn't ask any questions.

 It was a quick, one hour trip to the North Pole and back.  Of course, I had to analyze this and wondered why it was so fast.  My parents told me, "it was a magical train Caden."  So, I believed them because parents are trustworthy people.  Now, you might wonder was the trip worth it?  It definitely was for YOUNGER kids... but it was a long ride to Middleton, a hotel stay, expensive tickets, and a very short train ride.  Will we do this again?  Probably not, but this magical trip sure will be something we remember forever.

 We didn't drive straight to the hotel either... we made a stop in our favorite town, the WI Dells.  We shopped at the Outlets (Mom's idea) and we ate at our favorite restaurant, Buffalo Phil's.  The restaurant serves your meal and drinks on a train that runs around the entire place.  We were excited for the rootbeer, our parents were excited for the Bloody Mary's.

You can't leave the place without riding the buffalo and bronco.  Lucky for us, we return in 2 weeks for Daddy's extended side's Xmas gathering.

 Cooper is so expressionate

We have been busy looking for our elf, David every morning.  To the point where we like to wake up at 5:30 to find that rascal.  My parents love David but also don't appreciate these super early mornings, especially on the weekends.  In the collages, you can see some of his latest activities.... candy cane hunt, bubble bath, lego tree, Rice Krispie's appearance (he was coming right out of the box), and then a major coffee fix.

We found David on our bookshelf with mustaches all over.  Our pictures all around the house had us wearing mustaches.  It was pretty funny.

He must've had a rough night with the military

Yay, he is potty trained

Grammy bought us matching Santa pajamas.  Since we weren't able to get together with all of our cousins for her Xmas card, we had a mini photo shoot in our living room so we could email her some pictures.  We were in a very silly mood.

 Shepherd Cooper has had LOTS of questions about Jesus, his life, death, you name it.  Mommy is his Sunday School teacher and has to cut him off with his questions at times.  They made adorable gifts for their families, so the kids dressed up :)  Cooper's new dinner time prayer "Christmas Prayer" goes like this, "Dear God, Jesus is Joseph, Jesus is Mary, Jesus is Good. Amen!"  Ok, sure, we go with it.

 Super Cooper had his 4K Christmas Sing.  We were thinking he would sing for ALL to hear, but he was quite shy which surprised us.  He did participate in Tooty Ta, otherwise, he just piped in at times with song lyrics and movement.

Singing and Dancing to the Tooty Ta, our favorite song

 The gym was decorated with artwork. Cooper stood by his reindeer.  It says, "If I had a reindeer, I would give him some power so that he could fly with more power."  Good thinking Coop!

 My two front teeth are SOOOOO wiggly.  Mommy has been joking about me not having front teeth for Xmas so she can sing a silly song to about this.  Well, the first one did fall out, right in my ranch dip as we were eating pizza at dinner.  David brought me some kid's mouthwash and my toothfairy (named Ethan) gave me a tooth receipt and $2 since my tooth was in excellent condition.  My second front tooth, the one still there, COULD be out by Xmas.  Oh my, I am looking like a Jack O' Lantern.  My family can't smiling and giggling over my new smile.

My school doesn't have a Christmas sing.  Instead, we do Deck the Halls.  Families donate winter items, we do raffle basket (fundraiser), play Bingo, eat treats and tour the school which is decorated for the holidays.  My "Snowman at Night" stitchery was hung up in the front entryway.  My parents were very proud of my stitchery skills and creation.  I was very excited about this project.  It took me about 2 weeks to create and complete.  I love art class.

 This past weekend, Mom and Dana (our neighbor) hosted their annual cookie exchange.  It was well attended, over 30+ people came!  The had a beautiful assortment of cookies (the above picture was just Mom and Dana's cookies), the tables were soon covered in amazing varieties.

Mom and Dana are two peas in a pod... they love creative touches and Pinterest :)  They offered snacks and beverages that were festive and yummy.

Everyone also made an adorable tree ornament using a branch and ribbons.  Of course, the best part (besides the social gathering) is we now have plenty of cookies for the holiday season!

And finally, we celebrated Xmas with Papa and Grandma Sharon.  They came home for about 2 weeks from Indiana.  We had a delicious dinner and exchanged presents.  Just think, in just 3 months, we will welcome our next cousin, baby girl Lindell to the bunch.  Lexi will have a little girl to spoil and mentor, lucky for her!

 We were so excited to get rollerblades, complete with safety gear!  Now we can hit the rollerskating rinks in town and our parents can re-live their glory days.

 We now have full sized hockey nets for street hockey too.  Maybe that will help my other front tooth come out.

 I wanted this picture of my fancy bow.  Also, Grandma Woody, if you are reading this... I chose the sweater vest you made me last year and it still fits :)  Look how handsome I am!

Safety first... Cooper wanted to show off his protective skating gear.

We received many wonderful gifts, but another exciting one from Papa and Grandma Sharon was a Wii.  My parents refused to fold with video gaming in our house, but then changed their minds.  This was thanks to Just Dance 4, our favorite game.  We now have dance parties in our basement and Daddy is grooving once again!