WhoooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo
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..........._|.The Polar ..|.|.|___|"""""""|♥|[(<
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Sunday, December 19, 2010 7:21 PM, EST

What a magical evening! The Polar Express was fantastic! Ally had so much fun. But let me backtrack.....
Our day began with a quick visit from Grammy and Grampa on their way to Vermont. Today was the family party in Vermont. We were sad to miss it, but the North Pole was calling.
Just after Grammy and Grampa left we got a visit from our neighbor, and then the Christmas Bunny showed up! (Pictures to come later in the week.) Ally was very surprised with the Christmas Bunny, and has lots of theories about her.....
A bit after lunch we headed up to Lincoln and checked into our hotel. Ally explored the room a bit and then was asked to lay down for her nap. After 30 minutes of tossing and turning she confessed that she was just too excited to nap.....oh no! Well....we decided to use our dinner voucher for late lunch/early dinner. It was yummy. After we ate we headed to the Hobo Railroad, for our Polar Express trip!
The trip began with a delicious cup of hot cocoa, followed by a chocolate with a center as white as snow. We arrived at the North Pole and an elf jumped on the train looking for Ally and the other Make-A-Wish child. We got our very own Elf Escort. Ally was so excited she even held the Elf's (whose name was Twinkle Toes) hand. We walked up the path to the theater at the North Pole. There, we met the boy from the story, who is now an old man. He read his story to us, and then Santa came!!!! He made his way around the room, and when he got to Ally he picked her up and said, "Another angel for the tree!" (Ally was not expecting to be picked up, and her whole body went rigid with the surprise of it all.) After Santa was done greeting everyone he chose one boy to give the first gift of Christmas to. The boy chose a bell from Santa's sleigh (just like in the book!). He even asked if ALL the boys and girls could have a bell. When we got back on the train everyone got bells and sang Christmas songs on the way back to the train station. We even had enough time to meet the other Make-A-Wish family (who are also from Concord!). They are super nice and we are going to try to meet up soon, as their kiddos are around Ally's age as well.
Ally had so much fun! The Make-A-Wish organization has been great to us! When we arrived at the hotel there was a bag with some goodies for us, plus they paid for our dinner and trip. We are so glad that Ally was able to participate this year. She is going to be talking about this for a long time.

(P.S. Pictures are not allowed at the North Pole, but we do have some from the train ride...coming later.)

We get HAMA results on Wednesday. If she is negative we head to NYC right after Christmas and stay for 2 weeks: 1 for 3f8 and 1 for scans. If she is negative we have scans planned for DHMC between Christmas and New Years. Scans are ALWAYS nerve-wracking...please pray for clear ones!