Polar Express 2009

Here we are- Williams, Az. This was our second time (Ella's first) going to on the Polar Express and making a weekend out of it. It's SUCH a cute thing to do and the kids LOVE it!! After a long 6.5 hour drive, we unloaded and headed over to a little Mexican restaurant for some warm coffees.
Jordyn ALWAYS wants to sit next to Ella. She loves her little cousin SO much!! (It's very hard to get Ella to actually look AT the camera).
Jordyn sneaking a kiss to Ella Gracey Girl. :)

All the kiddos bundled up and ready to go outside in the 30 degree weather and 30mph winds! Can you say- FaReeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing?! Brrrr! And that was during the day. At night it got down to 13 degrees!

Sunday we woke up and headed out to Flagstaff, Az. It was a really cute town, I hadn't been there since I was little so didn't remember much of it. We stopped in at this cute restaurant/pub and ate some yummy food and Irish coffees!

Oh yes! I forgot to mention.... my hubby made it out there! :) He wasn't able to go due to the academy, so me and Ella drove out there with my parents. But later that night, Jeff called to say he was on his way! So, he made it for Ella's first time on the Polar Express! We were two very happy girls. :)

Lindsay and Bryan.

Grandma Deb and Grandpa Kent (Bryan's parents)

Nana and Papa (thanks for the Golden Tickets to the Polar Express, Mom and Dad!).

The "big girls" table. Ella sat there and had the BEST time with her cousins! And God forbid any of us walk up to check on her... she'd push us away by our leg and say, "Go away." She was having the time of her life hanging out ALL ALONE with Jordyn & Tyler.

Stretching their legs before the car ride back to Williams. Yes, a little dancing while they're at it, too. ;)

On our way back to the hotel, Nana & Papa wanted to stop at the Grand Canyon Harley dealership, so Jeff and I took Ella over to this little old train sitting all by itself. She had lots of fun on it. We had fun watching her, but our fingers were literally numb 5 minutes into it.

And....she's off!

All the girlies in their matching jammies all cozied up for our 8:00pm train ride on the Polar Express! Off to the North Pole we go........!

The Llewellyn Family

All aboard!! "With comfy seats and lots to eat, boy is this the best! Wish it wouldn't ever have to end. With a little luck we'll be on time. There's no need to stress... Cause that's the way things happen on the Polar Express!"

Daddies on their "daddy duty." :)

Cookies were served (made especially by Mrs. Claus) and so was hot cocoa!

Here we are.... we finally arrived at THE NORTH POLE!!

The girls were SO excited!! It was the cutest thing seeing them like that!! I am so glad we have it all on video, too. Priceless.

This brought some tears to my eyes. Yes....over "Ny Night." :) Ella truly loves her Ny Night with ALL her heart. He goes EVERYWHERE with us. If I accidentally leave him at home while running some errands, my day is ruined! It's like the end of Ella's world. So, her new thing now is, she wants to show Ny Night everything! And she'll point his face towards something and say, "Look it, Ny Night!" So, as well pulled up to The North Pole, all the kids on the train were cheering and screaming! And Ella was SUPER excited, too (not that she really knows what the North Pole is yet). :) And she reached down, grabbed Ny Night off the seat, held his little face to the window and kept saying, "Look it, Ny Night!" Ahhh.... so sweet!

Here he is! The REAL Santa Claus on his sleigh, in the North Pole!!!!!!! He even waved at us as we slowly drove by!

Here is the North Pole, where all the elves live and Santa's house was the 3rd from the left (I think they said).

On our way back to the train station. Now, it's singing time!

Everyone on the Polar Express was given these books so NOBODY had an excuse not to sing Christmas songs! :)

Yes, even Ella joined in! She picked her book up and sang as loud as she could!

Uh oh....who's there??

"Let me get a closer look. I can't believe my eyes." "Mama, HOLD YOU!"

It's Santa Claus! He came on our train and passed out "the first gift of Christmas." Every kid got a bell from his sleigh!

Of course, Ella wasn't too sure. She cried and wouldn't take the bell from him. But, she did A LOT better than I had expected!

And here are all the kiddos with their bells

We kept hearing Williams, Az. was having a blizzard watch. It was supposed to be the "biggest blizzard in 6 years!" So, we all had planned to wake up early and leave by 7:30am today. Well, that all changed when my mom came knocking on our door at 5:50am and suggest we get on the road NOW. We looked outside and the ground was covered with a beautiful blanket of white snow!

So, we had little time before it got worse. We quickly packed up and headed out the door by 6:30am! Good thing we did because it got so much worse in the matter of one hour. The winds picked up and it was snowing so much. Of course...us being girls, my sister and I (and Mom) was really freaked out. We wanted to get out of there before the closed the roads and most importantly, safely!

Here we are, leaving town and following the Bingham's. It snowed all the way to Kingman, Az. And then again once we got to Victorville!! It was a crazy drive home, but we all made it home safely!

It was a WONDEFUL trip and really put us all in the Christmas spirit!!

Here I have posted a couple pictures from the last time we were at the Polar Express. Tyler is almost 2 (same EXACT age as Ella was this year, but 1 week younger). And Jordyn is 4 years old right here.

And right below is me and Jeff and Ella Gracey Girl in my tummy! I had her 6 weeks after this trip!