Christmas 2013

Christmas seemed to come really fast this last month! The kids were super excited and really got into the Christmas spirit! And most of that spirit came from being home and doing Christmassy type stuff! I only took the kids out shopping once in Vulcan to pick out gifts for their cousins, Jared and I did all the kids shopping online this year! It was much easier and way less stressful! Calum is really into Lego guys, he will dig through all his Lego and pick out the guys and usually pretends they are Jack Sparrow or Luke "Spy-walker"! So we went onto Amazon and found individual Lego guys for sale! We got him Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, Yoda and C3PO (he already had R2D2). We also found a Jack Sparrow set that came with Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, Black Beard and a Skeleton! To go with the pirates we also got him Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan! When Jared and I went out the Friday before Christmas we went into Toys R Us and happened to find a Lego man display case! We put all his new guys inside and wrapped it up for him! He was beyond excited, he was ecstatic!!

Armin has been saying he wanted a Thomas the Train set for months! So that is what he got! He played non stop with it Christmas Day! We hot him the new track master set with the bigger motorized cars! He loves that he can just let them go and usually cheers Thomas on..."go Thomas, go Thomas, go Thomas!!!!!" Grandpa Glen gave the boys a hot wheels race ramp to share and they love it too! Emry was spoiled with the entire Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit books as well as the Anne of Green Gables DVD set from grandma Debbie and grandpa Mark! She also got her much desired Lego Friends Heartlake High set! The kids faired well and were very thankful and happy! Jared bought himself a gun safe from John Deere when the Jeep sold so I really had nothing else to get him! I did find him the Black Keys and Neil Young guitar tab books that he didn't have! I also bought him a couple new John Deere hoodies that he had mentioned! I had hinted at an iPad without any intention of actually getting one! So Christmas morning when I opened it was I ever surprised! Jared actually bought Jared Hague's old one for a fraction of the cost of a new one! It made for one happy wife! The kids gave me a beautiful nativity, one I will always cherish! I honestly don't think you can have too many nativities!


Our Christmas was very quiet this year! Jared and I both worked the morning of Christmas Eve and that afternoon we went to my mom and Mark's for dinner and to celebrate Christmas! It was a nice afternoon with yummy food and super delicious homemade pies (pecan, salted caramel pumpkin and buttermilk! Soooooooo yummy!) Armin opened his present from grandma and grandpa and in his exact words, "YEAH...YEAH, YEAH!" It was an imaginext pirate ship!

We came home and opened our Christmas jammies and a Christmas DVD! We got our pj's on, popped popcorn and watched The Santa Clause! We set cookies out for Santa and sprinkled reindeer food and sparkles outside so Santa could find his way and we got the kids to bed by 9, and they were all fast asleep by 9:15! I cleaned up the kitchen while Jared wrapped the Santa gifts! We filled stockings and were in bed by 11! Calum was in bed with us by 7 and Jared finally had to tell him to go get Emry and Armin up at 8! The kids were excited and we had a nice fun yet quiet morning! My dad stopped by around 11 so we exchanged gifts with him and had some appetizer type food for lunch! Cocktail wieners wrapped in bacon and doused in brown sugar, crackers and cheese, cucumbers and carrots, oranges and lots of Christmassy treats! The afternoon was spent playing board games, building Lego and racing cars! We had a super yummy roast beef dinner and were again in bed nice and early!

Boxing Day was spent at Myrna's with the rest of the Puzey clan! We had a traditional turkey dinner, exceptional as always! We had Christmas pudding for dessert and again lots of Christmassy desserts! The adults visited into the evening while the kids played! And then home to bed for a not so early night!

It was a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Savior and being with family! I am so thankful for all I have, for the blessings of family, health and freedom! I'm thankful for the wonder and joy I was able to witness in our children's eyes Christmas morning! I am thankful for the knowledge they have of the true meaning of Christmas despite the excitement mingled with the magic of Christmas! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Ward Christmas Party

Thursday night was our annual ward Christmas party! The Bishopric had asked Jared and I if we would be in charge of organizing the event! We had fun putting it all together and really tried to involve every auxiliary!  We asked the Relief Society sisters to take care of the kitchen...and the food was delicious! Baked potatoes, corn, salad, buns! The High Priests were in charge of the meat and gravy...again super yummy! And everyone brought a festive type dessert!  I made a cranberry pineapple punch and it too was a hit!  We assigned the Young Men to set up tables and chairs and work with the Young Women to put together treat bags for Santa to give to the children! We asked a member of the Elders Quorum to dress up as Santa and a member of the Bishopric to be the MC for the evening!  I happened to find gingerbread statues and poinsettias stored upstairs at the church that we put on each table! The cultural hall looked very festive in a simple way!! Everything ran so smoothly and without any hiccups!! 

We put together a simple Nativity Program with narration and songs! Emry got to be an angel and Calum a shepherd!! Some songs were sung by the primary children, some by ward members and one instrumental performed by a husband and wife! It was a program that brought the true meaning of Christmas in a simple and concise way! 

After the closing prayer the nursery children did their traditional "Once There Was a Snowman"! It has been tradition since Myrna's first born was in nursery!! For awhile we were sure it would just be Armin up on the stage since he was the only one in nursery! Thankfully the week before the party a new family moved into our ward with four children, two of which are also in nursery!!! As always they stole the show!! 

After the nursery children were done everyone sang Christmas carols to call in Santa!! Calum and Armin both willingly sat on Santa's lap with no tears!! A huge turn around from last year! My dad was able to be there with us which is always so nice! 

I love our Ward! I love how close knit we each are, how we look out for each other and how much fun we can have together! It was a wonderful night and I am grateful for the opportunity Jared and I had to organize such a wonderful event! We couldn't have done it without the help of each member of our ward! 

Armin was helping put chairs away while we were cleaning up and he thought it would be a good idea to put his head through the hole! It took a little work to get him out but surprisingly he didn't panic!! Quite a little character!!

The Jeep

A few months after Jared and I were married we traded my little car in on a jacked up yellow Jeep!  The Jeep happened to belong to Wayne Alder who Jared worked for on the farm!  It was in great condition with few miles on it!  It was something we just couldn't pass up!  We had lots of fun with it!  The front seats were the most comfortable seats I have ever sat on in a car!  In the summer we would take the hard top off and the doors and just be free as the wind blew through our hair!  A couple years later, while I was pregnant with Emry and working at the Champion Kindergarten I got to use the Jeep as my primary vehicle!  I don't think I realized just how bumpy and stiff the suspension was until I drove it pregnant!!  I had Emry in the very early hours on a Monday, the saturday, just a day and a half before, Jared and I drove around the quarter of land in the sand checking to see if seeding grass and alfalfa would be possible!  It was torture!  The doctor said the bumpiness wouldn't generally bring on labour but I beg to differ!  Emry was three weeks early!!  Not quite a year later we bought our Jetta!  Jared started using the Jeep as his primary commuting vehicle.  The car was much more practical for toting a baby around!

We have made many great memories with the Jeep...trips to the lake with the boat being pulled behind us!  Camping trips, Christmas tree hunting trips, fence building, a calf rescue vehicle...and so much more!  When I was the Young Women's President we took the girls camping near Waterton.  Jared came out for a couple of nights and with him he brought the Jeep!  One morning we all awoke to find that two of the girls, Shannon and Kathryn, had toilet papered the Jeep!

I also remember going up to the hills to get our traditional Charlie Brown Christmas tree and we tied our prize to the top of the Jeep!  Jared used the Jeep regularly for Young Men's activities too!  

This past year we made the heartbreaking decision that it was finally time to sell part of our past!  We could no longer take it anywhere as a family since it only had four seat belts and our family had increased to five!  It was once a dream to keep it for our kids once they started driving and then we began to see just how crazy that idea was!  One day we might get another Jeep, preferably a four door one with room for five!  But for now, good bye Jeep and thank you for the memories!

Look Who's Three

Last Friday our little Armin turned 3!  We waited until Sunday to celebrate his birthday so more family could come be there!  Jared informs me quite regularly that I am slipping in the homemaker department...I didn't even try to make Armin a fancy cake or a new cupcake recipe!  Instead he got chocolate cupcakes iced with green, blue and purple icing to represent Buzz Lightyear, mind you I did fill them with whipped cream for a little extra pizzazz!  What really mattered was Armin had a great time!  Thank goodness we waited to celebrate, on the day of his actual birthday he ended up getting soap in his mouth for saying mean words and spanked for not staying in bed!  He woke up that morning with a whole new attitude, he turned into a real little stinker over night!

Despite the attitude change he still makes us laugh on a daily basis!  He loves to sing "We built this city on rock and roll" at least a dozen times a day!  He loves to dance and play with trains.  He loves to cuddle with his big sister and will even go to her first when he's hurt or upset!  He doesn't like it when Bubba goes to school, he misses his big brother!  They play batman and robin quite regularly...today I over heard Armin yelling "To the bat cave!"  He has such a cute smile and can make anyone's crummy day turn around just with his smile!  He is a bean pole and yet he's totally addicted to chocolate milk, or as he calls it "choc mik"!! We love our little Armin and we are so thankful for the boy he is...busy, sensitive and loving!  We look forward to what this new year will bring and the changes he will continue to go through!

Let it...Blow?!

Jared informed me Sunday afternoon that a terrible storm was to hit southern Alberta on Monday! Myrna, Emry and I had planned to drive to Picture Butte for their Prelude to Christmas. Jared checked the weather and decided we would be safe! The temperature hovered around 0 degrees, it was so beautiful! The Prelude to Christmas was really beautiful too, lots of great performances! Dave sang a duet with a lady and it was beautiful! Very touching! So we made it there and home again safely without any issues from the weather. I still wasn't convinced that a horrible storm would really hit!! As usual I was wrong!! At around 2am the wind really started to blow but still no snow! It was definitely colder! Monday happened to be a PD day so thankfully the kids didn't have to venture out. Myrna watched them while Jared and I went to work. We took separate vehicles because he was planning to leave work early to take our two nerd cows to be butchered. He didn't end up taking them! 

We both had quite the morning!! Jared took his moms truck to work because he had to take the flat deck trailer back to work. On the way he lost power in the drive gear and had to drive in 2nd gear, the transmission decided to quit!! On my way to work I got a flat tire! We knew the tire was low and Jared filled it up before he left, and it was still good when I left! I didn't notice it right away so I ended up destroying the tire, thankfully I was driving slow enough so I didn't wreck the rim! I called Jared and he came to my rescue!! He started to change the tire when he noticed the spare was flat too! It wasn't when we put it there! So he drove me to work and took the spare to the tire shop to be fixed! It turned out to be the valve stem was leaking so they fixed it for free!! After work Jared replaced the wrecked tire with our newly fixed spare!  I followed Jared home in the van. We drove slow since only second gear worked in the truck and we could only safely travel between 5 and 10 km/hr. We had to look out the side window so we could see the edge of the road! At times we had to stop until the wind would let up a bit!  And then it turned out the spare tire really wasn't fixed!! It went flat about half way home! Jared had me drive it still because he didn't want to leave it in case some one ran into it! Since we were driving so slow I didn't wreck the rim, but another tire is ruined! It took us an hour and a half to get home, it usually takes 20 minutes!! I decided if the busses were going to be cancelled the next morning I wouldn't go into work either. Thankfully the busses were cancelled, so the kids and I are going to decorate our house for Christmas and do some Christmas baking!! It will be a fun day inside our warm and cozy house while the storm rages outside!! Jared unfortunately did make it to work :( he felt like he should at least try!! Maybe he will get to come home early!! But for now the kids and I will enjoy the day off together getting ready for this wonderful Christmas season!

Report Cards

Emry and Calum came home with report cards yesterday and both were exceptional!!  Emry is doing very well in Grade 4, math and science seem to be her strongest subjects!  Her report card said she loves all the science vocabulary and is able to memorize it quite easily!  She is a great reader but could  work harder on her comprehension!  She participates in all activities and comes up with great brainstorming ideas!  She's quiet (HUH?) but has a very sweet and contagious giggle!  She has a new teacher this year, and was totally disappointed about it at the beginning of the year!  But Emry has come to really like Mrs. Scharez and is working consistently at a proficient grade level!  I am so proud of her and of the effort she puts into everything she does!  She is a great example to her brothers.

Calum started Kindergarten this year and I have seriously been worrying that he just wouldn't take to school like Emry has.  He is so busy and I just couldn't see him sitting still long enough to learn much of anything.  Boy was I wrong!! He loves school (once he gets on the bus!!), he too is doing exceptional!  His teacher and him have found a common groove and seem to really mesh!  He really loves to learn, though it was said in his report card that he does like to test his boundaries but if he goes too far he is always very quick to apologize!  Mrs. Kaiser said he is a very sweet, sensitive and compassionate boy, always looking out for others.  He especially likes filling everyone's imaginary bucket with kindness!  He stays focussed on the task at hand and loves reading and being read to!  At his parent teacher interview I told his teacher that I was worried that he might be one of those kids who seem to be labelled as a problem student.  She told me that she has dealt with and seen every label out there and he is most definitely not one of them!  He is like any other five year old boy, BUSY!!!  If he does get distracted he is easily able to find his focus when prompted!  I love this little man so much, though he does exasperate me at times, he also melts my heart with his sensitivity and love!  I am so proud of him too and I think he is following his sister's example!

Time sure does fly!  At supper tonight Jared asked if I could picture what meals will be like when Calum is 16?  Emry will be in College and Armin will be 14!  Crazy how much things can change in such a short time!  I love this little family we have here, even if I do yell at them from time to time (Jared informs me that I turn into Christian Bale as Batman when I yell at the kids!!) I am still very proud of them and I do love them more than words can describe!  In these quiet times at night I can refocus on the joy they bring to our home and that gives me a sense of renewal!  Parenting is hard, harder than I actually thought it was going to be and I am learning each and every day, but it also is the best source of learning I have ever encountered and without these three little spirits I truly would be a lost soul wandering aimlessly though this life of many challenges!  They keep things in perspective for me and I love them soooooooo much!

CHOCOLATE!!!!

Saturday the Puzey girls got together for our annual chocolate dipping extravaganza!! It was a unanimous decision to do way less batches, instead of 22 batches we only did 12!! We were missing Lalainia, and really truly missing her!! Her and her family went to Jason's annual kids christmas party :( but we got it done without her, in fact we were wrapping up at 4:00 pm!! We even stopped for an hour or so for lunch and still got it all done! I tried a new flavor of fondant this year, root beer! It tastes just like root beer, and to keep the root beer flavor we decided to dip it in white chocolate! Sooooooo yummy!  Emry tried her hand at dipping and did a great job! 

It was a great day, I love doing chocolates with the girls and I love how much I learn from Myrna each time we get together! I'm excited to make more batches on my own! I love Christmas! I love the lead up, the decorating, the songs, the friendliness in the air, the lights, I just love all of it!  To me the Christmas season truly starts when we do chocolates!! It really is the most wonderful time of the year!!

The "Closest" Greatest Place on Earth!!

This past weekend all the Puzey's headed up to the great white north to celebrate a milestone birthday for Myrna.  This is the third time we have done this on this particular weekend in November!  And as always it was so much fun!

Ready to go!! This is how we left the farm!

The trip started Thursday morning, we loaded up the van, picked up Grandma and made our first stop in Champion to pick up Emry's Science review, and then onto Vulcan to get a lightbulb for our burnt out signal light.  Finally on our way for real, Calum had to pee!!  So we pulled over on the side of the road!  We made one more stop in High River for lunch and then off again!  The drive up was typical with three kids, quiet spurts between screams of fighting!  But we made it alive and still excited!  We first went to the hotel to unload the van and change into nicer clothes for dinner out at The Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate Myrna's birthday!  All 19 of us were there, it was loud and fun!

Having fun at The Old Spaghetti Factory!

Thankfully the kids were tired out enough from the ride up that they fell fast asleep in no time!  In the morning we got up and had a nice continental breakfast and then on our way to the Water park!  We got there when it opened and left when it closed!  9 hours of super exhilarating fun!!  The boys couldn't go on many slides but they didn't seem to mind!  We hung out at the kids park, it had three slides, lots of things that shot water and things to climb!  The boys loved it!  There was also a smaller pool with mini slides, the water was shallow but warm enough to just sit in and watch the boys have fun!  Calum and Liam played Batman and Robin quite a bit, the water was poison!  Armin had fun going down these little slides with Jonas!  I hardly saw Emry since she was either riding slides with Leah and Cora or playing in the waves with them!  We finally convinced her to do the zip line with us, it went right over the entire length of the wave pool and past the beach area!  Calum was heavy enough to do it too!  I had to be brave since we were going with our kids, but holey moley....it was scary!  Once I was strapped onto the cable I started to really panic, my heart was beating fast and hard, but as soon as Emry looked at me I changed my face to a look of calm!  Totally not feeling that on the inside!  The guide let each of us go and off we went, it was so much fun! I'm so glad we did it!  The kids really liked it too and were all smiles when we came to a stop!  A new extreme slide had a loop in it, Jared finally was convinced to go on it and after he said it should be illegal, though he did go on it again!  The thrill was exciting!  You had to stand in a canister and then the count down...3,  2, 1...WHOOSH!  The door below opens and down you go!  No thanks!!

Zip Line!

Jason, Ashton and Bowen on the Zip line! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X8AYCL9hdxY

For a cute video that Jared Hague put together click on this link!

That night we ate at the mall food court and then back to the hotel, with very tired kids!  Another easy night of getting everyone to bed!

Totally tuckered out!

The next morning started the same as the one before!  This time we planned on going to Galaxy Land!  Friday, when we walked past Galaxy Land, Armin saw the Merry-go-Round and put both arms in the air and said "that's totally awesome!"  Emry wanted to try out this new thing at the mall called "Ropes Quest", you were harnessed in and attached to a rope that was locked into a track.  There were three levels of different types of bridges.  Jared and Emry did it together and had lots of fun, although she was a little afraid of going higher than the first level she still had a great time!  After they were finished we all headed to Galaxy Land, where our super solid, tough guy was terrified!!  We had to force him on every ride, and the only ones we forced him on were ones that toddlers could ride all by themselves!!  Armin on the other hand loved the rides and wanted to go on every single one!!  One more extreme ride that he was able to go one was the Ocean Motion Ship!  Jared wouldn't even go on it with him, so Grandma took him!  Well, Armin hated it!! When the ship would go up and we could see his face it was a look of sheer panic!!  But he still came off with a huge smile on his face!  Emry did the Space Shot twice!!!  Just seeing her on it the first time made my heart beat hard and fast!  It shoots you up 130 feet super fast and then free falls back down!  She loved it!  Jared did the Mind Bender Roller Coaster with Dave, Rachel and Jared H.  Again we closed out the place!  We decided to eat at Boston Pizza in the mall which was a bit of a wait, but worth it for the yummy food!  One downfall, our coats were taken when someone decided that the cart we rented was left abandoned and not just parked outside the restaurant because we were eating there!!  I'm sure they took it because they needed it, not realizing all our winter coats were inside the basket!  Luckily when they returned the cart they also took our coats to Lost and Found, which we went to the next morning on our way home!

This is how Calum felt about Galaxy Land!

This is how Armin felt about Galaxy Land!! 

That night also brought Armin to his ultimate demise!! Another bump to his head!  While we were waiting for Jared to come back from looking at all the exits for our coats Armin was running back and forth in front of the seats we were sitting on!  As usual he wasn't looking and he ran smack into a metal garbage canister.  The hit flattened him and when I picked him up he had a huge goose egg on his forehead!  Poor guy!

 After breakfast we packed up and headed home!  We made a stop at The Bass Pro Shop to stretch our legs and let the kids look at all the wildlife!  It seems we only get there on our way home from up north since it is totally on the wrong side of Calgary for us!!  Santa was there and it happened to be the day for free photos with him!  Armin was excited until he got closer, and Calum wouldn't go at all!  So Emry sat on Santa's knee, I sat on a stool in front of him with Armin on my lap and Jared stood beside Santa with Calum in his arms!!  It actually turned out to be a cute family photo!!  One more stop for something to eat, Five Guys Burgers and Fries!!  A nice end to a great birthday celebration for a wonderful woman!!