David's Birthday and the Polar Express

The highlight of Matthew's year came from riding on the Polar Express. Mama and Papa McLeish flew out for the evening to take him aboard the Polar Express / Heber Creeper in Heber City, UT.

Matthew & David both heard the bells.
David teamed up with the chef to bring us some hot chocolate and delicious Ms. Claus' cookies.

Who's having a better time--Mama or David?

Aboard the train, we read the Polar Express, sang Christmas songs, ate, visited the North Pole, visited Ms. Claus, and Santa surprised everyone at the end.

Here is another example of something I said my child would never do prior to having children.

Before going to the train station, Keri's parents took us to dinner in Heber City. The boys were so excited about these saddles.

We gave the boys the book, The Polar Express, the night before we left for the train. Matthew was so excited! He started dancing and jumping all over the place. It was really sweet and funny at the same time!

While Ryan was moving things over to our storage unit, the seats in the van, along with the car seats, had to be taken out. As a result, Matthew and David, climbed into them while watching a new found favorite, "Ratatoille" or as Mama McLeish says, "Rat-uh-too-lee".

This is David's one-year birthday cake. Many thanks to Stacey for allowing me to borrow the pan. I started in the kitchen, and by the end moved to four different places in order to finish it without the help of little fingers and hands. Although, it's not near professional, I was proud of myself just for finishing the project. These cakes take forever!!!

Matthew came up to me after I had finished the cake and placed it in the fridge to show me that the frosting was still wet and that he liked it. I ran to the refrigerator and sure enough, a huge chunk was taken out of the frosting. He then proceeded to wipe it all over the bathroom floor. David decided to try it at that point.

We were most surprised by David's cake-eating skills. At first, he didn't want to touch it and acted like we were crazy to give him red-frosting cake. Then he dug in and by the end, dumped it everywhere. It was really fun to watch him.

He liked it so much in fact, that when we gave him a bath, we found frosting in his ears, nose, hair, all over his skin, and down his diaper. You funny boy! Happy BIRTHDAY!!!