theallennuggets

December was a busy and exciting month this year and when it came to a close I was kinda sad.  I’ll get to that later.  Quick recap….just a couple of weeks late.

This year we bought tickets for the North Pole Express in Grapevine and it was magical.  In all actuality, we could have waited another year for the boys to fully understand the whole concept.  As an adult though, it was so sweet to see all the other children who were SO excited.  Gramma Dee and Scott joined us on the adventure.

The North Pole Express starts at the Vintage Grapevine Railroad.  There were concessions (corn dogs, hot chocolate, steak on a stake (har-har)) to snack on before loading as you need to be there 45-50 minutes prior to your boarding time.  You can also pop into the Vetro Glass Blowing studio and watch them make really gorgeous pieces.  They’ll even allow you to make your own glass ornament.  Maybe we will do that in future years when the $30 ornament won’t be broken by one of the Nuggets about 4 seconds after hanging it on the tree.

We waited in line for about 15 minutes before they loaded us onto the train.  The boys were interested in the actual “choo-choo” but once we were on the train, it wasn’t quite as interesting.  This is why I think it’ll have more of a statement next year.  The train moves east at a pretty slow pace for about 10-12 minutes and everyone is encouraged to sing Christmas carols with the friendly elves.

Mrs. Clause makes and appearance and hands out the silver bells for Christmas spirit.

After the train ride we walked through a beautiful forrest of Christmas trees while SNOW was pumped though the area.  I didn’t get a picture because, although we were supposed to be walking, everyone else was stopping to get pictures and the bottleneck was throwing my anxiety into overdrive.  We proceeded into a large tent with colorful lights and patiently waited for Santa.  We were entertained with singing and dancing elves and finally Santa arrived.  The overall excitement level rose 100% with all of the children (except mine) and it was very sweet.  Afterwards everyone was given chocolate milk from Santa.

Although the boys weren’t totally understanding it all, it was worth it.  I enjoyed myself (and the much needed margarita afterwards) and as usual, look forward to how the boys will grow each year.

Christmas Eve service was crowded (as always) but luckily The Hubs got us great seats and the boys could see the entire re-enactment that the children put on of Christmas night and the birth of Jesus.  I teared up thinking of the Nuggets participating in the future.

Somehow, I managed to not take a single picture of us, or the boys in our Christmas best… #momfail.  Afterwards, we joined good friends, who were in from out of town, for a tradition of making egg rolls.  We went two years ago with the boys and they were only a couple of months old and everyone was just in awe as to much they’ve grown.

Christmas morning was abundant with blessings and waaaay too many toys (thanks Hubs).

Once we had all the present opening completed and cleaned up, we had a quick breakfast and loaded up to go to Gramma’s house.  Again, minimal pictures (some photographer I am). A day filled with lots of family, more presents and tons of food was outstanding.

Christmas (actually the entire holiday season of 2015) seemed to fly by this year, faster than years in the past.  I wasn’t ready to take down the decor (maybe because it took almost the whole month to get my house decorated in the first place). I wasn’t ready to pack up the Christmas attire or get rid of the tree.  Alas, time keeps moving even if I’m not ready for it.

We enjoyed The Hubs being home from work for a solid week and we rang in the new year with great friends in their gorgeous new home.

2015 was a bit sad for me because I was hoping to get another Nugget in the oven and it didn’t happen.  Infertility stands strong in this family and although we were hopeful that the first IVF process would “get things moving”, as Dr. Le put it, no such luck for us.  God has a plan.  God has a plan.  God has a plan.  It’s my manta.  2015 was an incredible year.  We’ve slowly started to complete home improvement projects that we’ve been dreaming about for 2.5 years.  I get to stay home with my Nuggets as a stay at home mama bear, something I never thought we would be able to do and our whole family is healthy.  God is good.

XOXO