PHeather's PHamily: Busy, Busy

We've done lots of fun things already since we've been back from our trip. Last weekend Santa came to the base in a jet again and we went to watch him arrive. There were a bunch of fun activities set up for the kiddos, but unfortunately all of this took place right during naptime so all we did was watch Santa get out of the jet and then go home. The lines for each activity were really long, and we knew that Emmett would not last very long. We did manage to decorate two cookies, though. :)

Here is Jackson running around in the snow (that's all gone now) and eating it at the same time!

Later that afternoon I went and bought our Christmas trees. I was really disappointed to not get to do our annual cut-the-tree-down-in-the-woods trip, but it was just so much easier to buy the trees this year. There's a ton of snow up in the pass right now, and with me being 7 months pregnant and Emmett not able to walk in the snow very well we decided to forgo the trip this year. We did buy our trees from a local high school's FFA and they cut them down in the woods around here, so the trees actually look exactly like ones we would have cut down ourselves. Pictures to come. :)

This past Thursday we took the boys and went downtown to watch our Christmas parade. Our friends saved us a spot right up front and we were all snuggled in and ready to watch a few minutes before the parade started. The weather was perfect - about 40 degrees.... until it started to rain. Yes, rain! YUCK!! Luckily the rain didn't dampen anyone's spirits and the boys didn't seem to mind, so we stayed and watched the 100 floats go by. The boys really enjoyed it and we were surprised that they lasted so long past their bedtimes with no major meltdowns. By the end of the parade the rain had soaked through my puffer coat and I was getting really cold, so we were able to leave at the perfect time. Here are a few pics from that night...

Okay, I know this picture is terrible of me (hello double chin), but I wanted you to see how wet we were! Emmett would NOT keep his hat or hood on. I tried and tried, but then I eventually gave up and just hoped for no sickness!

Then on Saturday we all got to go for a ride on the BNSF Railroad's Holiday Express train! From what I heard, the company takes their Holiday Express train to one state every year and travels around to military bases in the state and gives free holiday train rides to military members and their families. It was really fun! The inside of the train was decorated with greens and lights and we got free snacks, drinks, and hot cocoa. The boys were really excited to be on the train, but they did get a little stir crazy towards the end of the trip. And I got a little queasy on the way back with how warm the train was and the slow rocking from side to side that we were doing. But other than that it was really fun to be on the train with a bunch of our friends. And so nice of the railway to do this special thing for military families.