In the midst of the craziness....

It was time.

Merry Christmas to Alan and Mom (and you too, sister.)
I want you to know I shed real tears.

We've got a couple of believers...

Love the sparkle in their eyes--they are so in awe of Santa.
The Christmas Wish Lists
Alex: monkey slippers, Batman Leapster game
Will: Peter Pan (we're hoping he means the movie and not the actual boy), ball
Consider it done, boys. I'm confident you will get everything on your lists.

Anticipation

For the past week or so, Will has been begging to go the airport. He's heard lots of talk about our upcoming travels, and his patience has worn thin. He wants to go the airport NOW. Today, he looked at me and in a stern voice said, "Mommy, we go to Grampa-mala RIGHT NOW!" I think he's a little confused about our itinerary, but he definitely knows who he wants to see! We head out a week from tomorrow. Let the packing begin.

Family Photos: The Outakes

Oh the drama.

The Polar Express!

Last Christmas I read an article in the paper about fun things to do in Arizona at Christmas time. At the top of the list was riding The Polar Express, which the Grand Canyon Railway puts on every December. You have to get tickets, like a year in advance. I wrote myself a note to book my tickets in Jan. 2007. Well that didn't happen. And when November rolled around I started hearing about it again, and was so sad that I hadn't purchased tickets. So I started stalking Craigslist and Ebay, and last week I finally was able to get my hands on some tickets!! I have been obsessed with going, so it really was our own little Christmas Miracle that we were able to get tickets sold at face value (most of them are going for at least double the regular price.) So off we went to Williams, AZ, home of the Grand Canyon and not much else. It was a cute little town, and we had the best time riding the train. We sang carols, drank hot chocolate, and rode all they way to the North Pole. The Man Himself (that would be Santa) made an appearance and presented each child with their own Silver Bell. It was magical. And I will be booking my tickets for 2008 tomorrow. Anybody want to come?

Our Version of Winter

So maybe it was 70 degrees outside, but at least it was raining! It has been a great week here- cloudy every single day for most of the day, with some wind and then the icing on the cake: a rainstorm! I have never been happier than when I saw those rain clouds headed my way. The boys had a blast playing in the rain puddles last night while we waited for Alan to pick us up so we could go get pizza. The truth is I would love some snow, but since that isn't going to happen, I'll take the moisture any way I can get it. The weather has put us in the Christmas mood around here: the tree is up, we've been making soup and bread all week, we're about halfway done with Christmas shopping, we hit 2 Christmas parties this weekend and the Christmas music is on non-stop. And it's only December 1st! Much more fun to come- I love this time of year!