Let the festivities begin

December is here and the celebrating began early with a ride on the Polar Express.  Sam was in great spirits as you can see!

The Ross Fam, the Jones', and mom and dad all made it out for the train ride.

All aboard!

After a brief ride we made it to Santa's house.  This cute elf greeted us and Sam just had to sit on his lap.

My kids were a little panicked waiting to visit Santa.  They had no clue what to ask for.  

I suppose that's when you know your kids have everything.

Sam definitely prefers the elves over Santa!

We timed the train ride perfectly because the very next day, we had a huge snowstorm.

In years past, I would spend more time getting the kids all bundled up in their snow clothes than they spent outside in the snow.  Those days are gone!  This particular day, they braved the sub zero temps for hours.  I don't think I've ever seen them play together that long with no fighting.  An early Christmas present for me!

Another early Christmas present...Hank and I agreed on a new hairstyle.  I'm obsessed with his new look.

We've had some pretty intense winter storms already this season.  This particular night, Randy and I made the trek to Salt Lake to say farewell to our dear friends Michele and Elizabeth.

I'm so happy Michele and I reconnected but I'm so sad she's leaving.  Gina and Mindy also made it up to the party and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  We've been friends for 20 years, and those are the friendships I value most in my life.

Elizabeth and Randy recently bonded over a surgical procedure.  Let's just say Randy trusted her to operate on a very sensitive part of his body!  Needless to say, Elizabeth is an excellent surgeon and there will be no more children for the Griffin family.  She hooked him up with a huge ice pack at dinner.  I really hope we can make a trip to New Zealand in the next year to visit them.