Christmas 2010

well now, THAT was fun!!!

here's a picture-walk through our holidays...i hope yours too were enjoyable, and filled with laughter and love!!

Christmas Eve



Karys ~ 5 yrs

Avery ~ 3 yrs


And the stockings were hung...finally!!
(if you're not friends with me on Facebook, you wouldn't know that these things have been talked about getting done for a WHILE now!!)


Jim's parents decided to come and spend the holidays with us, which is an added bonus ~ having all of both families right here!!


It's Jim's family tradition to open all the presents on Christmas Eve, but mine to open them on Christmas morning. SO the compromise we've worked out is: the kids get all his family's presents of Christmas Eve, and my side on Christmas morning...it kind of breaks things up a bit so as to attempt to avoid being completely overwhelmed!


SCOOTERS!!!!!!

Unfortunately i didn't snag a picture of the girls with my Mum, but my lil sis did...so, i guess i'm waiting on her!


~Christmas Morning~

Stockings...

Chapter books!!


a TAD too early for Dado!!

I am quickly realizing that as I found myself completely caught up in the hubbub of it all, i failed to capture many moments of the day on camera :( but here they are setting up one of the several "big toys" the girls got this year...which entailed a LOT of snapping and screwing and batteries - most of which we were completely unprepared for!!

They LOVE "tooling" with Dado!! and now they "can"!!

SO...from here on out you'll simply have to imagine: for brunch we enjoyed a delicious meal of waffles with whip cream, strawberry sauce and bacon...and for dinner, we had a traditional feast of turkey with all the fixings!!

Another year has come and gone...Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year. So much anticipation and excitement building up to a frenzy of food, family and gifts.

We are blessed...and now look forward to the dawning of a New Year and all that comes with that!

::Merry Christmas...::

...to you and yours!! And a very blessed 2011!!

love, US xoxo

{in a nutshell}

so, i'm not too sure if any of you have noticed that this space is lacking in the documenting-of-the-holidays department?! but...it IS!

and as much as i would love to tell you that this is because i have been slaving away over these past weeks on the perfect "holiday post" - i'd be lying!

nope, no witty red-nosed jingle here. not even a frosty tinsel-themed tune!

just a quick re-cap of our holidays...in a nutshell.

we enjoyed our time and our company.

we savoured our family moments, thus prompting us to choose that word for our theme for 2010.

we started things off after the open-house with our first turkey dinner in our new home! with the support of my mum-in-law we had a great Christmas Eve feast!

{pictures in our Christmas best...or attempts, at least}

my compliant first-born *HA*

and then...there's Avery
{cheese face}

{this chick's got spunk}
click on the picture if you want to see true-two-'tude

seriously?!...take 345!

{the best of the worst...i suppose}

and then there's the two of them!

{2 peas in a pod}

{our beauties}

patiently waiting for Oma and Opa's presents on Christmas Eve

this year we were blessed to have jim's family staying with us while my family lives down the road! we stuck to jim's family tradition of presents on Christmas Eve for the first of the girls' 4 Christmases...that's about 3 too many!

Christmas morning
{aprons in their stockings}

{pretty in pink}

Christmas at Gram's!
#3, but who's counting?!

{Christmas princesses}
...yes that IS the complete set of Disney princesses! Anyone wanna come over and help me look for all their stinkin' shoes??

{a very blessed Christmas}

...hope you made it this far! as is plain to see, we enjoyed an incredible amount of family time!

we are 6 days into this new year...a year filled with promise and hope! i completed my first long run of the new year (16k) and it felt great! now to master the snack-monster (read: me after the girls are in bed!)

we are eagerly embarking on this new year...curious to know what it holds for us - faithful that His plan is perfect.

~ and the fog rolled in ~

Christmas morning sunrise

so, on top of an awesome morning with our girls enjoying the excitement of their new gifts, Christmas day gave us another memory to cherish. the sun was out in it's full glory...and the best part of mr. sun showing his face is that because we live on top of a steep hill, mr. sun was shining mainly on us!

in between our small family present-opening and the rest of our afternoon, we paid a visit to gram's house - where the fog had socked everyone in like an air-chilled sauna! my mum didn't even know the sun was shining anywhere!

well...it was shining, and we took some time in this blessed day to enjoy a walk in our back-yard paths...through the sunshine and fog!

and we're off

incredible fog-hugged frosted foliage

~foggy sisters~

~straggler...~

~clear discussion~

~light of hope~

~sun-kissed~

clearly, we've been busy savoring the moments of this Christmas season! so, i will try and get back on here before 2010 to update you with some festive family pictures...but i'm really enjoying this time with my clan! so...if i don't make it back here, know that i'm busy enjoying these last few days of 2009!

may you bring in this new year with friends and family, laughter and love! and may you be blessed in 2010!

{happy holidays}

2 words that basically sum up our past week and a bit! we've been home enjoying time with family and friends. working on the house and just relaxing!

on the 21st we (read: ME) decided that it would be nice to have an "open-house" for the Christmas season, but also to simply have some friends and family come out and see our new home!

so, although it was short notice, we had a great turn-out and enjoyed an incredible evening with great company and good food!

the kids had a great time too...



we're blessed to have great friends and live in a great neighborhood!




a great way to start the season of giving and reflecting on a year almost done!

{gingerbread houses and potty-training}

they go hand-in-hand....right?!?

well, not really, but it's catchy! and they go together in this house! so, in further preparation of all things Christmasy and starting new family traditions, we decided to construct a gingerbread house for the second year in a row! and by construct, i mean just that! no "make-you-feel-good-like-Martha-Stewart-BAKE-your-house-before-you-decorate" kind of construction! just the real simple "pull-it-out-of-the-box-and-stick-together-with-all-provided-goodness" kind of construction!
the girls had a great time...wanting to get the perfect candy to stick in the perfect place! And sometimes...that was even on the house!

{preparing the icing}

{on-site contractor}

{candy-placement}



{family-fun!}

{final product...proud builders}

* * * * * *

as for the potty-training portion of today's post...here's a peek of the leaps and bound we may (or may not) be making...

our Bean is such a joy in so many ways, that's it's hard for us to be hard-nosed about this one little, tiny aspect of life...losing the diapers! So, given the success you've just has the joy of viewing, we're kinda taking a step back, being thankful that she's so bright and fun and loving - in a diaper - and hoping that little Miss may take the lead when she feels "ready." until then...we'll keep enjoying watching these moments of our attemps!

life around here is getting more festive and family-filled by the moment! we're having an open-house tomorrow and our first turkey dinner in the new house on Christmas eve, with the in-laws, followed by a promisingly oh-so-busy-yet-super-fun Christmas day which also involves another turkey dinner! so posts will be sparse, to say the least! but my family is SO worth it!

i wish for you: fun...love-filled moments...priceless family memories...laughter...an understanding of the true JOY this season holds...yummy treats...peaceful nights...a quiet mind...an at-this-moment acceptance of life and self...hope...goals for the New Year...anticipation of things to come...an unexpected present...the sense of Emmanuel - God with Us...comfort...and joy.

{Merry Christmas and blessings to you in 2010}