"But That Can Only Happen..."

...on the Polar Express!"

My parents are awesome (and I don't use that word lightly...and not just because of this...)

For Christmas, my Mom wanted to do something different for us as a gift. Back in July she booked us tickets to ride the Polar Express train in Arizona (which, of course, has a non-stop trip to the North Pole...)

We were told when it was and that we needed to keep the ride a secret from all of the kids.

On the morning of December 23rd, we drove to my parent's house and loaded into 2 cars. The kids had no idea what was going on.

We arrived at the hotel, and because my kids L.O.V.E. hotels, they thought that was the whole surprise.

My mom passed out wrapped gifts to everyone.

Jammies. Matching jammies.

Then my Mom told the kids that they needed to hurry and change into their jammies because we were going on the Polar Express!

The kids freaked out. It was adorable.

Everyone scrambled to get changed and we headed to the train station.

We settled into our seats.

The train left the station and the chef-dressed staffers passed out hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies.

The conductor came with his special punch and punched each of our tickets.

The chefs walked up and down the aisles reading the Polar Express book.

We sang Christmas songs and before we knew it, we arrived at the North Pole.

Santa Claus stood next to his huge bag of gifts and his elves.

The kids waved and went crazy.

The train turned around to head back to the station and Santa was missing.

The kids were confused.

A few minutes passed and then the door opened and in walked Santa!

It was magical!

He passed out bells to each of the kids and then we spent the remainder of the ride singing Christmas songs at the top of our lungs.

When the ride was over, we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

The next morning, we went to breakfast and then visited the reindeer farm.

Magical memories.

Perfect Christmas Eve Eve.

The Announcement.

The Jammies.

The Snuggles.

The Family.

The Girls.

The Boys.

The Smiles.

The Eyes.

The Kids.

The Big Girls.

The Snow Drippings.

The Left Side.

The Right Side.

The Parents.

The Ticket.

The Wonder.

The Passengers.

The Excitement.

The Story.

The Nana.

The Cousins.

The North Pole.

The Santa.

The Bells.

The Songs.

The Grandpa.

The Momma's Boy.

The Daddy's Girl.

The Snowball Fight.

The Reindeer Farm.

THE END.

Sinterklaas

This is everyone.

All of the Poorts.

Every year we celebrate Sinterklaas

(Dutch Christmas...you know...because Jon is from there and all...).

This year we hosted it at our home.

It was so much fun.

We ate chicken enchiladas (VERY Dutch...not really).

We read our poems to one another and opened gifts.

We changed into jammies and played games.

We made gingerbread houses and filled our shoes with carrots (for Sinterklaas' horses) and placed them on the front porch.

We stayed up until 3:30 (yes...in the a.m.).

Slept for a few hours.

Woke up to candy-filled shoes and breakfast made by Jon.

Lunch by Uncle Oscar.

Spent the day in jammies and laziness.

It was bliss.

Auntie Tee gets the kids matching pjs every year.

This year was Phineas and Ferb for the boys and Tangled for the girls.

Chloe wants hers washed every day so that she can wear them every night.

Our Uncle Weston Fix

My brother, Weston, is an Air Force man.

We are proud but we miss him.

He came home in the middle of December to celebrate Christmas early.

My sister, Amber, typed up an itinerary in late November to ensure that we got the most of our time with him.

We stayed busy!

We started out by having a family dinner together and then going to the Celebration of Lights.

There is something about lights and kids.

It makes them instantly happy and excited.

This year it was held at the race track and it was twice as long as last year's display.

All of us (illegally) piled into my parent's Yukon and turned up the Christmas carols.

Ava taking her turn in the front seat.

dAmber and Kyle run in the Santa Run Race every year and get free tickets to the Magical Forest at Opportunity Village. The kids played a round of golf, ate funnel cakes and hot chocolate and rode the carousel.

We spent Wednesday night of that week at Elizabeth's first band concert (she plays the flute!) and Thursday night we went to Naomi's first dance/voice recital.

Both of these events were must sees, but I think next time I will leave the kids at home.

Nightmare.

Santa Claus Came To Town

Auntie Meghan held her annual shoots with Santa Claus.

It is never a disappointment.

The kid's were thrilled.

Giving Thanks

I am sort of a control freak.

There.

I said it.

I like planning things and having things work out just how I planned them.

There is something to be said for getting what you want, when you want it.

It's nice, right?

This past year has been a year of learning that I am not always in control.

One of my favorite quotes is from the writer Maya Angelou:

"When you encounter a trial in your life, before you do anything, drop to your knees and thank God for what you are about to learn."

Trials are inevitable but how we react is our choice. I have been guilty this year of doing my share of complaining for things not always going as I planned them and in doing so missed so many learning experiences.

I am crazy blessed. Beyond what I ever planned for myself.

But, I think everyone is.

I just think that I am guilty of forgetting that some blessings come in the form of trials.

This Thanksgiving I am grateful that I didn't get exactly everything that I wanted this year, because I know that God, instead, has given me exactly everything that He knows that I need.