All Aboard The Polar Express

Our ward Relief Society Presidency was put in charge of the ward Christmas party this year. Boy! Did we do a good job!!! It was a TON of work, but it turned out wonderfully, so I guess it was worth it.  I have to say that my natural tendency would be to do something as minimal and low key as possible.  My Relief Society president had other ideas.  And honestly, I'm glad she pushed me out of my comfort zone because I think it ended up being a magical night for the kids in our ward and their families.  I have several pictures, but none of them really capture how cool it was.

The entire party revolved around the book (and movie) The Polar Express.   Everyone received an invitation like this:

When they arrived, they received their tickets. The bell in the picture was given to them later.

Somehow, I missed taking a picture of our adorable ticket booth.  Bummer!  Anyway, the price for riding on the Polar Express was an item of food for the food bank.  The Bishopric counselors were the ticket booth operators

Once you got your ticket, you waited for your turn to board the Polar Express.  We transformed one of the hallways into the train.  There were curtains on either end, so it was enclosed. This is one of those pictures that can't capture the coolness of it all!

There were even windows looking out at the wintry scenery.  (I painted those myself)

The conductor (our Bishop) went around and punched every one's tickets.  He was so GREAT as the conductor!  I wish you could hear him yelling "ALL ABOARD!!" and "Ticket's please!"

Once all the tickets were punched, he said, "Is there anyone in need of some refreshment?" and the young women ran in, dressed as waiters carrying silver trays, and performed an amazing dance routine to "Hot Chocolate" down the aisle.  It was choreographed by Nicole and me.

After the train ride, the passengers arrived at the North Pole.  Now there is simply no way to capture the beauty in here. Just know that it was very pretty. Everything was frosty blue. There were dozen and dozens of strings of lights and large paper snowflakes. It was quite an ordeal!  We spent the better part of the day getting it all set up.

 On one side of the gym, we set up a cocoa bar. We also had a cookie contest/exchange so there were trays and trays of cookies as well. This picture was taken while we were setting up, so you can't see the full effect, but it was lovely.

The young men were the baristas so that we didn't have little kids messing with hot liquids.

On the other side of the gym was Santa's workshop. There the kids were allowed to do little crafts like cookie decorating (run by the Primary presidency) or making large fancy snowflakes with the Elders quorum (aka David).

After singing a few carols together, the guest of honor arrived - Santa Claus!  He gave the children a bell and posed for pictures with them.

Photos were also available in this amazing train that a talented man in our ward built for us.

I think the party went really well.  It's hard to say when you're one of the people running it because you're too busy to tell.  I do know that there was a pretty long wait to get onto the train.  I'm not sure how we could have fixed that. And there was a hot chocolate spill or two (at least one was Gee-related) but otherwise, things went pretty smoothly. And we were able to make a nice sized donation to the food bank as well.