Treehouse & Trains...

With a small space heater and all that insulation, the treehouse is still snug and toasty in December. Our special dwelling is now officially decorated for Christmas.

I have a feeling these treehouse lights will be staying up long past Christmas. It's so cozy looking. After mass on Sunday, we took our father in law to Breton Village Mall to see the Christmas train display.

I can't believe how long we've lived in Grand Rapids and we'd never taken the girls.

With multiple trains and such detailed scenery, it's just outstanding. Excuse the blurry cell phone shots.

Chris's father retired from CSX railroad several years ago.

This is a picture taken 10 years ago of Emma and her cousin Quinn. They were almost four years old at the time and were visiting Papa at work.

With all our recent train activity over the last 24 hours, we decided to dig out our miniature CSX railroad train set Sunday evening and set it up on our ping pong table in the basement.

The buildings that you see featured with the trains were goodies that I picked up at the Allegan Antique market for $10 a few summers ago.


The whole family (even our kitten Luna) was excited about the whirling trains in our basement.

There's definitely something magical about trains at Christmas.

Have a wonderful Monday!
The Christmas countdown continues!!

XOXO

♥

Trains - A Tribute to Papa

This video taken at the Frederick Meijer's Gardens yesterday is what started it all at home Monday night.



Chris's father retired from CSX railroad a few years back and gave Chris a CSX model train set. After seeing how excited the girls were with the trains, Chris dug it out and set it up on the dining room table.

This is a picture taken of Emma and her cousin Quinn when they were four years old. They were visiting one of Papa's trains.



While Chris was painstakingly putting the tracks together, Josie set up her own train on the kitchen floor (note the diaper box she's using as a chair).







I'm thinking I might need to sneak out to a toy store and see if I can find any additional train supplies for my husband between now and Christmas (shhhh...our secret).






PS. In Josie recovery news, Josie has a new nickname. Instead of Josephine, she's Josescream with an emphasis on the scream. Whew. She's throwing temper tantrums and swinging that cast (when it's not in her sling) like you wouldn't believe. She's certainly adjusting to being without her hand, but it's not been perfect (which our pictures tend to show otherwise). Josie's been getting up every night between 2-4 times screaming. It feels like her open-heart surgery sleeping all over again. Santa's going to have to be sneaky when dropping off gifts. Josie just might be up when he arrives!!!

Josie's 1st outing since surgery

Between the recent snow storms and Josie's surgery and recovery, the Mommy has been going absolutely stir crazy at home. This afternoon, we headed to one of our favorite places in Grand Rapids...Frederick Meijer Gardens. Each December, they feature decorated trees from around the world, as well as an amazing miniature train display. Emma brought her good friend along and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.





The key to dressing Josie and her cast for outerwear has been to put her in a winter coat that is nearly 3 sizes too big. It's ridiculous looking, but it works for our West Michigan weather.



The best part of our visit at the Gardens was the miniature trains. Josie would have stayed all day watching the trains.





Josie's train obsession has motivated us to set up our own train at home this evening. Stay tuned for more train pictures. Only 3 days until Christmas!!