Raindeer and Trains and Presents, Oh my!

This month has gone by in a flash, and we've done so many exciting things! During December we really tried to get into the Christmas spirit, especially since this year Ellie was really excited about Christmas and really seemed to "get it" more than she has in the past. Also, we decided to have our family Christmas in PA early before we left for New Mexico, so Ellie had some "practice" before the real deal and also so we didn't have to carry the gifts back and forth across the country. Here are some pictures from some of our December adventures before we left for New Mexico for the holidays.
Ellie and Jack-Jack playing together in the kitchen.
Jack-Jack playing in the mess of toys after the PA Christmas experience. He was having a great time, and the kids got so many fun things.
Dan and Ellie playing her "Monkeys on the Bed" game. Every time the timer went off Ellie would laugh and laugh like crazy!!
Ellie laughing at the Monkeys game.

After we opened presents, we met our friends Amber and Christopher and their kids Tanner and Carsyn at a local farm to see a REAL, LIVE reindeer!! It was pretty old, but the kids were thrilled.
The Reindeer!
Ellie didn't want to get too close, but she did enjoy seeing the reindeer and talking about Santa. She loved singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" to the reindeer.
A sweet Daddy and son moment.
The farm also had some BIG horses, so Tanner and Ellie went to see them as well.

Later that afternoon, Ellie played some more with her new Christmas presents. Here she is dressed up in her new Dora the Explorer clothes.

On Sunday evening we had tickets for the Santa Express, which is a special holiday train ride in Bellefonte, PA. The ride lasts about an hour, and has some special visitors...
Here is the train before we got on.
Ellie playing on the curb before we got on the train.
Momma and Jack-Jack waiting in line to get on the train.
Ellie and Tanner in their seats on the train.
Amber and Carsyn having a good time together!
Santa visited!!
Ellie also got to see the "Ginger Baby"! She was so excited! (The book "The Gingerbread Baby" by Jan Brett is one of her favorites right now).
She was also very happy to see Frosty the Snowman. It was a really fun night.