The past months have been filled with the usual busyness, a whole lot of sickness, and way too much tiredness. I've had these pics downloaded for a very long time. Haha! Christmas pics in January! There is something seriously wrong with that. But it's my life and seeing as I have them here...well, I can't not post them. It would mean the time I spent downloading them onto my blog would be a waste of time...and we can't have that! lol! So here goes....Be warned...there are lots of pics and the post is very long. But I know Kathy and her family will enjoy them...and maybe you will too. :)
The end of November and beginning of December were filled with preparations for Christmas. As usual the kids simply HAD to put up their trees in their rooms. I think it is one of the best Christmas traditions we've started. The kids love seeing all their ornaments and reminiscing.
I had to share this picture. Jackson had to take a break from all the decorating. lol! And I must say he looks mighty cute chillaxin'!
The kids LOVE the train I have for my little village and couldn't get enough of it...all 5 of them!
We had our own little Christmas gathering with Martin's folks prior to heading to BC. Martin's mom has been in and out of the hospital and is not doing well at all. Love that we have this pic!
Saskatchewan has had more than it's fair share of super cold weather. I usually don't mind. It means Martin has the day off. We took advantage of that and did some Christmas baking. All of us! Now that's something that doesn't happen very often!
Our taste testers and little helpers.
Funny how barely touching the beater can make this kid grin from ear to ear!
Alex cooked the ingredients for Peppernuts...
...while Morgun measured the dry ingredients. They turned out perfectly!
We headed to BC on the 11th, making a big loop towards The Bass Pro Shop near Calgary, and then headed towards Edmonton. I was very fortunate to be able to meet up with 2 of my online friends...and what a blessing it was! Thanks Denise and family, and Paige and Silas for taking the time to meet me! I love you gals and wish we lived closer so we could have "coffee" more often! It always amazes me how loving God and loving orphans can bring strangers together and how there is an unexplainable instant connection!
We arrived in Chilliwack in time to attend my nephew Hudson's baby dedication. We felt incredibly blessed to be there. It warmed my heart to see Alison's parents up on the stage showing their support for Ben and Alison. It made me miss my folks, and it made me wish we lived closer so I could offer more "hands on" support. Love you guys!
We rented a cottage right on the shores of Cultus Lake with the most spectacular view of the mountains! It was beautiful!
One day we headed to a tree farm and picked out a small "Charlie Brown" type tree. We strung some lights, some popcorn...
...made paper chains and had the cutest tree ever!
All my kids thought Hudson was pretty special, but Morgun couldn't get enough of his littlest cousin!
We spent the day before the wedding helping Andrew and Lu decorate. It was neat to see so many of my nieces and nephews helping out...
...even Matt and Austin worked...at least for this picture! lol!
...and some of the boys goofed off in between loads of chairs.
The best part was the drinks from Tims! Ahh! That French Vanilla sure hit the spot!
I may be killed for posting this pic...but it's soooo worth it!!! Who would walk down a hallway with only one shelf that has a very BOLD sign on it saying, "WATCH YOUR HEAD", and still somehow manage to smack her head on the shelf?? Only my sister Eve! lol!! ;P
Lu had been praying and dreaming of having a winter white wedding...and God answered! The snow in Chilliwack is so soft and lovely and as you can see the teens kids loved it!
I must admit that my kids looked incredibly beautiful/handsome for the wedding...
Raina was very shy about throwing petals as she walked down the aisle, but then spent the entire length of the service throwing the petals, picking them up, and throwing them again! Love!
My brother Andrew waited a very long to time to meet his perfect match and what a perfect match they are! He was so excited to see his sweetheart walk down the aisle and couldn't help but grin the entire time!
My mom made a quilt for each of us kids when we married. The quilt had a patch with each of the couples' siblings and parents' names and birth dates on it. Thanks to my sisters, Andrew and Lu received a blanket as well! Each patch is hand embroidered and is simply stunning! A piece of art to treasure forever.
(PS: Someone made a baby blanket with the leftover fabric and tossed it over Andrew's head. lol)
After the wedding we spent time with family, celebrated Christmas and relaxed for a few days. We decorated Gingerbread houses, played outside, ....
...exchanged gifts...
...played games with cousins and had a blast!
New pjs for Christmas is a bit of a tradition around here and it's so neat to see the kids appreciate such a simple thing. On Christmas Eve the kids each received a box filled with pjs, a movie, a book, chips, candy, and flavored hot chocolate. Everyone loved their gift and it was perfect entertainment for the evening. I think it may become a family tradition.
Christmas morning the kids each got a gift of Lego. We left the larger gifts at home, to be opened on our return.
We arrived home in the evening of the 28th to a household without water. Somehow during our trip the pump burned out. We spent the better part of 2 days without running water. Thankfully we were able to pump well water into buckets and flush toilets and heat water for bathes and dishes.
We then spent one night sleeping in the basement and had our "Christmas morning" on the first of January.
Jackson couldn't stop grinning when he saw his gift...and all the other kids were jealous...I think we should have bought 5 plasma cars!
I'm not sure if it was the long, drawn out process of receiving gifts or that we bought the right gifts...but for some reason our kids played harder than ever before and they all absolutely LOVED their gifts! And that made this mama smile!!
Here's one last pic to make you smile....
As you know the men in this household are huge Duck Dynasty fans. Martin has been growing his beard since November and it's getting mighty long. Here's his "Jase" look alike photo! lol!
1 comment:
thanks for posting the pics...LOVE, LOVE, LOVED them.
if martin really wants to look like Jase he needs to grow out his hair as well ;)
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