All Aboard...

It is so hard to believe that it's almost Thanksgiving which means Christmas will be here before we know it.... & I know it makes alot of you sad to start Christmas planning before Thanksgiving and it does me a little bit too however we have had to already kick Christmas time into gear around our house so I thought I'd update you...

All Aboard The Polar Express... Next Stop The North Pole!!

Last year was the first time B was actually big-enough to participate in the Polar Express ride at a local Railroad Museum... and she really seemed to enjoy it. She talks about riding the train EVERY TIME we see a train, which is quite frequently since we live about 2minutes from the tracks. So, tickets went on sale a couple of weeks ago & I was able to snatch us up 3 before they SOLD OUT.

This year, the Railroad Museum added a new car to their collection & we were able to get tickets on it... it is a double decker car with the top deck being enclosed in glass (see picture below... note: this is NOT the train we'll be riding in, just a picture I found online)... & we will be sitting in the top deck.

This year our ride is on Saturday, December 19th so I'll let you know how it goes & will hopefully have pictures to share... if I don't forget the camera again :-) B keeps asking every time we get in the car if we are going to see "CAN CAUSE" (aka: Santa Claus) so maybe this year she won't looked completely terrified in our picture with him... maybe?!

I also helped kick-off the Christmas For Kids season last week with some great volunteers who have become great friends over the years... & will be working hard with them & the community to help provide Christmas for approx 100 underprivilaged families. We are all "members" of the Fire Dept for which hubby works... "members" = wives, sisters, daughters. So, this will consume alot of my time from now until December 20th but it's soooo worth it when you see tears in parents eyes as we present them with the gifts we've gathered for their children... in homes where otherwise there would be no Christmas. Hubby gets a lot of father-daughter time during these couple of weeks which they both REALLY enjoy :-)

So, as you can see - Christmas Season has begun at The Franklin's & so far so good...



Let's Remember The Real Reason For The Season as the hustle & bustle of the season gets started...


Love ~ The F's

P.S. We didn't win the vote for best costume but I did want to say a BIG THANKS to each of you for taking time to give it a shot. THANKS!!!