the "polar express"

We went with the Shelleys down  to the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven.  At Christmas they decorate the trolley cars and even take trips to the North Pole!  This was a night to remember, and it all started with this guy...

Let's just say our conductor must have been quite confused that night. It's hard to say if this man has ever been lucid, and while explaining the rules he started out with his creepy Halloween voice.  He even threatened to use his wrench (pictured above) to "bash anyone who stood up" over the head.

   Once we approached the "North Pole" we were allowed to get off the trolley and visit Santa!  The North Pole was actually what looked like an abandoned train yard with old trolley cars scattered to and fro.  They were decorated with twinkle lights, and Santa scampered to his seat just as we approached his special car.  The kids got to visit with a noticeably disheveled Santa and were given a gift.  There was hot chocolate and cookies waiting for us which was especially nice since it was FREEZING outside.  We grabbed our goodies and headed back to our trolley only to find an empty track.
   Oooops! I guess our simple conductor forgot to call out "all aboard!" or give any warning at all for that matter.  No head count. He just left our two families alone, in the cold, dark, abandoned train yard. After wandering around for a while, we decided to go back to Santa's car since it was heated.  It was also abandoned, but at least we were warm.
   The next group finally arrived and we jumped onto their trolley and waited for them to finish visiting Santa. Their conductor was equally creepy and didn't seem to notice the 9 extra people on his car.  Back at the station we were too tired to enjoy the historical displays and headed home instead.
In light of an evening that could have been awful, we were with great company who made the experience really fun, and we were able to laugh through all of it.

christmas is in the air

I love the little town of Wallingford that we live in!  They are always putting on festivals and celebrations for almost every holiday.  We walked to town hall for the Christmas festivities this year.  Santa was there! We also enjoyed horse drawn sleigh rides (which were actually carriages, due to the lack of snow), free cookies with hot chocolate, Christmas carolers, and I even got to taste real chestnuts roasted over an open fire! We had a lovely time.

 

Carolers

Christmastime in Wallingford

Laughing at the horse stench on the carriage ride.

 Roasted chestnuts... not my favorite. 

thanksgiving

It is so nice to have great friends out here to celebrate the holidays with. We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Shepards and the Gilbreths. The food was AMAZING! I aspire to one day be able to create fantastic feasts, as they do.

 

 I made some of my mom's rolls and a million pies. I always appreciate a great holiday spread!

When we got home, we put up the tree and decorated it.

                                 

We also found out Crew is not a fan of Santa's hat...

this shut him up real quick

We also started The Elf on the Shelf this year. Landon was skeptical at first and insisted it was fake because, "he's not real". But after some convincing on our part he is SO excited. I don't know how much of it he buys, but he loves searching for "Elfie" every morning. 

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Happy Birthday to Me! I was spoiled rotten by my boys, and family this year.  My birthday fell on a Sunday and it just happened to be the primary program. Landon did a great job, memorized all his parts and made me so proud!

This is what I told Sam to make for my bday cake

This is what I got instead... not a bad swap!

Amidst all the stress, and our never ending car problems, this year I have come to realize I actually enjoy Connecticut! It's weird for me, because AZ is my home and I always just imagined that's where I would be happiest. With only 8 months until Sam graduates, it seems too short! I find myself feeling sad to have to leave. I plan to enjoy the next year and take advantage of our experiences here. A bunch of my friends out here have birthdays in the Fall, so we had a girls lunch at Cheesecake Factory sans kids to celebrate. Thanks everyone for making my birthday special!

who you gonna call?!

Landon became obsessed with the Ghostbusters movie earlier this year. So when we started thinking about Halloween costumes his choice was easy! Coincidentally the youth in Sam's church class have called Crew, "Stay Puft", since we brought him to church for the first time. We got plenty of use out of our costumes at various parties through out the week.Ward Trunk-or-Treat.The Shelley's Halloween partyGoody bags and treats I made for Landon's class party
Since this happened...the Governor tried to tell everybody that Halloween would be cancelled this year, and that nobody was to go trick-or-treating. We rebelled and Landon came home with a nice haul! To end things on a brighter note, this will be our last snowy Halloween!