Happy New Year!

We spent New Years Eve at my parents.  Since our oven wasn’t working, we’d asked them if we could bring out dinner and snacks and spend the evening with them.  They agreed and then Rachel and Cub decided to join us.  We had Chinese food for dinner and it was delicious!  We then played a bunch of different games while the kids played together.

When it got time for the kids to go to bed, Grandma let them all snuggle up in her bed.  The kids thought it was hilarious and managed to stay still for about two minutes before they were jumping up and off the bed.  They eventually went to sleep and we continued playing games and snacking.

Laura (Rachel & Cub’s exchange student from Spain) wanted to do a Spanish custom.  Apparently the 12 seconds before midnight you try to put 12 grapes into your mouth… We were party poopers and didn’t want to stay up until midnight, so at 12 seconds before 10:00 we attempted it.  Cub made it!  None of the rest of us did though… it made for some entertaining pictures!

We finally decided to call it a night around 10:30.  We were going to load the kids up, but mom encouraged us to leave them there for the night and come get them in the morning.  We didn’t have to be convinced… we knew they would be very sad if they woke up at our house instead of grandma and grandpa’s.  We made it to bed by 11:00… Happy New Year! 

Boxing Day

Every year, for as long as I can remember, my family has got together for a dinner on Boxing Day.  This year we had everyone there.  Our turkey got cooked (in the electric roaster) and there was lots of yummy food to go with it.

It has been nice the last few years getting the church to do our family dinners.  The kids are able to run in the gym while we set up the meal in the RS room.

After dinner is all cleaned up, we have a fish pond for the grandkids to get their presents.  So much fun! 

Benny got a T-ball set and Emma got a stick horse!

We then crashed mom and dad’s house and played games, watched movies and ate (more) goodies! 

Christmas Day

I wish I could have captured the excitement level that Ben had Christmas morning.  He tried charging down the hallway a couple of times before we hauled him back in to our room and explained to him that he had to wait for his sister!  Emma woke up not too much longer after Ben and sort of stumbled into our room – wearing her Santa hat!  It was all I could do to keep them contained until Lennard could get a fire started and the video camera ready.  We started at about 6:30am.  We let them open their stockings and then we had family prayer.

Both kids gravitated to the biggest presents they could find and wanted to open them first.  There were so many presents that they couldn’t stand not having them all opened all at once!

  

We took our time and enjoyed each gift.  They definitely got an overabundance of gifts.  (Thanks B&T for all your thoughtful presents!)

After a nice relaxed afternoon, we headed out to my parents home again and had dinner with everyone there.  It was nice to be able to visit with them.

Christmas Eve

We attempted to find a large enough roaster to cook our 28 pound turkey in… but our biggest roaster wasn’t big enough!  Then we realized that with our oven not working properly, it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to try to cook the turkey in it.  We put the turkey in the laundry sink to brine (as we didn’t have a bucket big enough to fit the turkey in) and decided we’d figure out what to cook it in later.

After a delicious meal of french onion soup, cordon bleu, rice, etc., we headed out to my parents place for our traditional Christmas Eve get-together.  This year we had Shauna’s and Mindy’s families there too.  We sang some songs, read the Christmas story and finished with family prayer.  The kids were slightly excited and Lennard and I were excited to go home to our own beds and not try to get the kids to bed with all their cousins around!

  

Santa’s elves had been busy and left gifts for Emma and Ben under the tree.  They were very happy with their new pajamas.  We put out cookies and milk for Santa and then they headed to bed.  Thankfully, they both went to sleep fairly quickly and Santa was able to make his deliveries earlier than expected!

The kids got thoroughly spoiled with all the presents under the tree… and mom and dad got spoiled with the trailer sitting in the driveway!

Santa made sure to eat his snacks before heading off.  Mom & Dad were glad to crawl in to bed and get a good night’s rest!

Happy 4th Birthday, Emma!

Since Emma’s birthday fell on a Sunday this year, she got to be the ‘Birthday Girl’ everywhere she went!  I just about teared up in Primary when they sang Happy Birthday to her.  She was standing at the front of the room so proud of herself and almost vibrating with excitement.  I just can’t believe she’s already 4 years old!

 

Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner, which ended up being a bit delayed as our oven decided to quit working!  (We couldn’t keep the temperature high enough or consistent… frustrating!)  It all worked out in the end and we had a good dinner together.  Emma was quite insistent that everyone wear their Princess party hats, though I think Grandpa and Daddy skipped out on that pleasure.

 

After dinner we brought Emma into the living room to open her presents!  She was thrilled at every single thing she opened. 

 

To top the evening off, she got a new bike from us.  She was SO excited and proceeded to ride it around the house.  Ben was quite upset that we wouldn’t bring his bike in from the garage so that he could ride with her.

 

It was a fun day celebrating with Emma.  She got 2 Barbies and a Barbie pool from B&T, a Liv doll from Grandpa Nichols, a Dora learning packet from Grandma and Grandpa Murray, a bicycle bell from Benny and a bike from mom & dad!

Emma’s birthday cake this year has an interesting story with it.  While I was out at a Book Club outing in Lethbridge, Lennard decided to take the kids out to dinner at Dairy Queen.  As soon as they got there, both kids raced over to the coolers and were looking at all the cakes.  Emma pointed to this cake and called out to Lennard, “This is the cake I want for my birthday!”  Lennard told her that they weren’t going to be buying any cakes that night and they sat down at a table to eat their dinner.  A lady had been there looking at cakes too and had joked with Lennard a bit.  At one point she asked Emma to come show her which cake she liked.  Emma was only too happy to show her what cake she liked and before Lennard knew what had happened, the lady had bought the cake and presented it to Emma!  He has no idea who she is, but it totally made our day to see the kindness of strangers.  Emma was told that she could pass on the kindness by giving someone a hug when they are having a hard time.  What a wonderful blessing.

 

I added her name onto the cake and she was more than excited to have her special cake for her birthday.  Ben was excited to help blow out the candles, though Emma wasn’t too happy about that.  I love this picture of her trying to elbow him out of the way!  Too funny.  It ended up being Ben that blew out most of the candles… Emma huffed and puffed, but no air came out!

Emma loves to learn, play with stickers, and watch movies.  She loves to ‘draw’ pictures, go to Primary, and read stories.  She can be the happiest little girl, though she definitely knows how to throw a temper tantrum!  We love you, Emma!