Today the Drama Queen presented us with the second gift of Christmas. She has been planning this for over a month and although it didn't go off exactly as planned, it was wonderfully fun and magical!Last night Drama Queen came home to spend Christmas with us. She was so excited to share her gift! She had taken the time to create beautiful red train tickets for each of us and then she announced that tonight we would all be driving to Heber so that we could ride on their Polar Express Christmas train. The kids whooped and hollered and could hardly wait!
At 4:30 we piled in the two vans and began the hour or so trip up the canyon. Just before Park City, Bossy and Gamer's van started having trouble. It was overheating and the engine was thumping. This was so troublesome for us because they lost the transmission in their other van just over a week ago and they had only owned this used van for a few days.We took them some anti-freeze and a quart of oil and they got a few more miles down the road, but it wasn't long before we realized something was seriously wrong. My sweetie ran us into Heber and then drove back the several miles to pick up Bossy and Gamer's family.
When we were all finally at the depot, we picked up our tickets at Will Call and hunkered down to wait for the train. It wasn't long before we were boarding. Baby Doll could hardly sit still! She was jumping up and down in the seats. She was so thrilled to be sharing this adventure with ALL of her siblings except Teach who is still in Texas.
The train finally fired up and we were on our way! We sang songs and the kids danced in the aisles. We were served hot chocolate and cookies as the train made its way across the valley. After about 45 minutes the train stopped. Shortly afterward, we could see what appeared to be the North Pole with Santa waving madly at the passing children.A bit later, Santa appeared in our train car and spoke with each child and gave them a bell. We sang our hearts out all the way back to the depot. The girl with the microphone kept everyone involved, she even had the Gym Rat and Dog Walker running up and down the aisles!
When our ride was over, we piled all 18 of us into the 12-passenger van and drove into town to get something to eat. It was almost 9:30 by then and the kids were hungry. They loved this train-themed hamburger joint! In the meantime, Bossy and Gamer called roadside assistance and arranged to have their van towed. That meant we were all in for a long ride home. The Gym Rat offered to ride in the very back with the boys as we all crowded in.After a fervent prayer for safety, my sweetie drove us slowly home and in spite of the settling fog, we arrived without incident. Tomorrow is our huge extended family party and I still have tons to do. Hope you are having as much fun with your holiday as we are with ours!
3 comments:
So sorry for your daughter and her husbands vehicle, isn't that the way things go when one is anticipating a visit on that Santa Claus Train? But at least you all got to go and Santa did make an appearance and it sounded like you all had a wonderful time together and enjoying the holidays..I will say extra prayers for your daughter and husband so the vehicle does get repaired or replaced and that they are not jammed up for the year end..life is a series of coping with the unexpected, but your daughter Drama Queen was especially nice and loving for the tickets for the train excursion, such a beautiful young lady and beautiful loving family always watching out for their momma & daddy and siblings..You raised and are raising lovely God-filled children who are some of them young adults with their own families - just wonderful human beings, God's blessings at this time of the season and may 2014 be a little less stressful and still full of God's love and always the best from my tiny home to yours, ciao XXXX()()()()()XXXX()()
What a fun gift from your daughter. I do hope they get the van fixed without a lot of expense.
My oldest son lives with his family in Heber City.
At our family party last night I found out that my grandson is the Chef on the train.
Another awesome adventure with your family; I enjoyed reading it.
Blessings!
What a fun experience! Your grown up kids are so wonderful! I hope Bossy and Gamer are able to get the van repaired at a very reasonable price.
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