Tobogganing Fun

Yesterday we spent the afternoon tobogganing at my mom's!!!! Soooooooooooo much fun!!!! The kids, big and small had a blast!!!

Arren

It was a super foggy day, foggy enough it was hard to see the kids clearly at the bottom of the hill!!  Mark had went from store to store the day before in search of sleds so the kids would have a good variety, and boy did they ever have a variety!!!  No one was ever left waiting!!

Jared

Armin had a huge smile every time, going down and coming back up!!

Go Owen!!

Armin was being a bit of daredevil and kept trying to use one sled as a snowboard!!!  He definitely had the hang of it!!!  I see snowboarding in his future!  The kids had races, we roasted hotdogs and had hot chocolate!! It was such a fun afternoon!!  Cold and foggy but it added to the fun!!

Emry's hair was all frosty!!

Christmas Fun

This has been a very fun filled Christmas!! It started a couple weeks before Christmas when we celebrated with Grandpa Glen!! We all went to see the Holiday Train in Vulcan and listen to the lead singer from Blue Rodeo sing (totally can't remember his name!!) We then went back to Arren and Buck's and had a yummy ham dinner before we headed up to Lomond for Emry's piano recital!  It was a really nice day!

Dad came back to see the kids school Christmas concert, and then the next day came to our Ward Christmas Party!!

On the 22nd we celebrated Christmas with my mom and sister's!  It was fun getting together and laughing and visiting!! We got to meet Mark's son John and his cute little family, his wife Megan and two daughters Rylee and Ella!! The kids had fun entertaining their two little girls who were as cute as buttons!!  Mark had prepared an extra special firework show which most of the kids loved!!  Another fun filled day!

Christmas Eve Jared was off work for the start of his extra long, mandatory Christmas vacation!!  We cleaned up the house and just hung out!  Later that evening the kids opened their Christmas Eve present...the annual pyjamas!!  This year I also put a book inside, they each got a personalized story about the child who lost their name...we have read Armin's to him every night since!!

Then we went down to watch The Christmas Carol, the one with Jim Carey...a little scary but it kept the kids interest throughout the entire show!!  After the movie we put out cookies and carrots and chocolate milk and read Twas' the Night Before Christmas!! The kids sprinkled their reindeer food outside and then it was off to bed!!  I was sure it would be a nightmare getting the boys to fall asleep but surprisingly they were asleep within 10 minutes of their heads hitting their pillow!!  Jared and I watched Love Actually and then set out the kids stocking stuff before heading to bed around 1:30am!!

Calum woke us up at 6am but I was able to distract him with a show until 7:30 before he woke up Emry!!  I put some cinnamon buns in the oven and we got right into opening presents!!  The kids had fun and were very happy with what Santa left and what they got from Mom and Dad and each other!

Emry's speakers she got!!

After everyone was settled with their lego I got busy getting our Christmas dinner ready!! I invited my mom and older sister and her kids over to share our Christmas Prime Rib with us!!  It was really yummy but we were too full for dessert, which was okay because I had to make it still!!  We saved it for Sunday when we had our home teaching families over!! (It was warm gingerbread cake with caramel sauce....pretty yummy!!)

Armin and his cousin Owen!!

Boxing Day we decided to join the rest of my mom's family to visit my Grandma Mary!! The kids were able to thank her for the money she gave them for Christmas!! It was nice to see her and all my aunts and uncles too!! We also decided to brave the Boxing Day shoppers and even got a good deal on a subwoofer speaker for our basement!! Our sound surround is almost complete!! We just need the surround, the little speakers behind us!!  Since we got the subwoofer we have watched the three batman movies because of the awesome sound!!  We scared the kids a little with the second one, we prepared them for the Joker which they were okay with but both Jared and I forgot about Two Face, Emry ended up sleeping with me in our bed that night which left Jared on the couch!! Oops!!!  The kids each picked out something at Toys R Us and paid for it with the money Great Grandma gave them!!

The rest of the week has been going good, more posts to come!!!  It is so nice having Jared home with us, the kids are really enjoying having their dad free to do puzzles, play games, go sledding and just hang out!

A very fun filled Christmas, and to top it off it has been a white Christmas...my favourite!!!!

Firework Fiasco

We celebrated Christmas with my mom and Mark on Tuesday!! It was lots of fun! We got to meet Mark's son, his wife and two cute daughters!! We ate...too much...visited and had some good laughs!! It was good catching up with my older sister and the kids had fun with their cousins!!  Once it was dark we all headed outside to watch Mark's annual firework display!!! They were bigger and better...and more dangerous...than ever!! One of the firework buckets tipped over as Mark was lighting it. One flew towards the shop another right toward our group and exploded right in front of Armin.  He jumped up and screamed and ran. Jared caught up to him and picked him up just as another one exploded right behind them.  All we could see in the dark was what looked like black ash all around his eye. Jared took him inside while I stayed to calm Calum down. He had run around the house and was headed back crying asking if Armin was okay!!  Going inside we checked on Armin and got him a cold cloth for his eye! After having that over his eye for awhile we looked at it again. Now the ash look was gone but the skin was bright pink and a little swollen. We could see where a spark may have hit the skin just under his eye. His eyelashes are singed and part of his eyebrow is gone too.  He is so lucky it didn't get any closer to his eyeball. It was totally a freak accident, we are just happy it wasn't worse. Our boys are totally freaked out of fireworks now...though Calum wasn't fond of them before anyway!!  

Other than the firework fiasco it was a really nice time!!! I love spending time with my mom and sisters!! I'm thankful for our friendship and for special holidays that bring us together!!!!

Ward Christmas Party

Our annual Ward Christmas Party was on Thursday and it was, as always, so much fun!!!  The Bishopric took care of everything and the food was super yummy!!  The did roasted mini potatoes....mmmmmm good!! Roast beef, corn and salads!!  Every family was asked to bring a dessert and as usual everyone went above and beyond!!

The program was very well done too!!  The Primary put on the Nativity.  Emry was the most glorious and beautiful angel, Calum was the cutest shepherd ever and Armin was one handsome Wiseman!!  Our choir sang and did a good job.  Jared played the guitar for Emry while she sang "What Child Is This?" And she did amazing!!! Her voice is so true and easy to listen to!!  I was so proud of her, she had been so nervous the entire week leading up to her performance!!  But her voice didn't show even a hint of nervousness!!!  Leah and her friend sang a song together at the School Christmas Concert and were asked to perform at the Ward Party as well, they sang "O Come All Ye Faithful" acepella, and did a great job too!!

While we were eating dessert we got a special visit from Santa!!! The kids were beyond excited!!! Armin asked Santa for lego...totally doable...and a real monster truck, bigger than him....uh..... totally not doable!!!!  Calum asked for an X-box, for the second year in a row....ooops!!!!  Emry sat on Santa's lap with her two best friends, her cousins, and they seemed to have a blast!!!  I love that she is close with her cousins and I hope they always have a strong relationship!!

Santa was tickling Emry!!!

The best part of the night was having my dad there with us!! He's not able to be with us at Christmas so it was nice to celebrate part of the season with him before he had to head off to work.  We had a quick choir practice after the party and when we came out to round up the boys this is what we were greeted with:

12 Days of Christmas

This year as a family we are doing the 12 Days of Christmas, following an outline put out by our church.  It is geared to putting Christ back into Christmas.  We read a couple of verses of the Christmas Story everyday and do a little activity that sort of corresponds to the scripture!  The first day we read a scripture about Mary, the Mother of Jesus and watched the music video of the song "Mary Did You Know".  We have read a scripture proclaiming Christ's birth and then we had to take a family photo and put the caption with our photo..."A Savior is Born, We Rejoice".  We have talked about how music can bring the Christmas Spirit into our lives...talked about each character of the Nativity and their importance....and on the last day we will put all our electronics away and eliminate distractions that would prevent us from drawing closer to Christ!!  We will sing Silent Night.  It is a fun way to more fully invite the Spirit into our home, especially at this special time of the year!!!

Here is our family picture...

A Savior is Born...We Rejoice

And because we were having fun we had to do a funny face picture too!!!

Griswald Tradition

Since before Jared and I were married we have always gone to cut our own Christmas tree in the hills!! I remember our first tree quite vividly!!  We went with Steve and Rachel and after setting it up and decorating it we went to see the Grinch at the movie theatre!!  In the years since we have gone with Buck and Arren and their family, friends from church, with all the Puzey's and even on our own!!  Each year has been a ton of fun with great memories made!!  Never have the trees been elegant or majestic!! But they have always brought a special spirit of Christmas into our home!!  Well, the past two years we have not made it out to the hills, much to Emry's dismay :( She cried when we told her we wouldn't be able to again this year.  We had it all planned out but Jared was needed by a family in our ward to haul some bales to their place, which happened to be the same day we had available to go Christmas tree hunting.  So instead we loaded up in our old van and headed to Lethbridge one evening after school!  I had noticed Home Depot had some nice trees so we went straight there!! In all fairness it was still like hunting in the hills...there was snow and rows of trees!!  I had found one that I was particularly fond of so we found the right row and held a few up before choosing the perfect one!! Not that we could really tell since it was tied up so tight!!!  But it would be perfect for us!!

We paid for it, surprisingly cheap considering we had to buy it!!  And tied it to the roof of our van!!

We set it up when we got home and let it sit for a few days to let the branches open up!  It is a beautiful tree, so full...I can't see through it at all!!  Saturday we decorated it which the kids had a blast doing!  Our home is all trimmed up and ready for the season!!  Oh how I love Christmas, the sights, the sounds, and the smells!!  The kids are excited...each day they have been counting down the days by opening a Lego Advent Calendar I found for them, they are eager for this every morning!!

Birthday Boy

Armin turned 5 on November 29th and due to us all being sick with the flu we "cancelled" his birthday :( The day before his actual birthday Armin and I spent the entire day and night in bed with the flu.  Not a fun way to spend the last day of being 4 years old.  He sure was a trooper though, we cuddled, watched movies and slept.  Sunday came and we were still feeling pretty queasy so we sent a message out to everyone saying not to come for dinner to celebrate Armin's special day.  He was so bummed. We did the best we could with a house full of sickies and I think in the end it turned out to be a not so bad birthday.

I sent cupcakes to school with Armin and all his classmates sang Happy Birthday to him, that made his day.  And after church today we were able to have his birthday dinner of chilli cheese dogs.  He had a blast and it was so nice of family to come and help him celebrate!

He is such a character!  He always has the biggest smile in all his pictures and he loves to be the class clown...he is a natural at getting people to laugh!  He is kind and thoughtful.  He is adventurous and daring.  His sweet little voice melts my heart.  He does have a temper and when he is angry we call him the mini Hulk, there's not usually a lot of warning before he looses it!  But he has a sweet side too, he's a good balance...tonight when I was laying with him at bedtime he said he doesn't know how to follow Jesus because he is a maniac?!! I told him I agree that at times he can be a maniac but he also knows how to be kind and helpful and that is following Jesus.  Oh dear, this being a mother is so hard, harder than I ever thought it would be.  I just hope if I teach him anything its that he is special and I love him so very much...

Happy Birthday to my baby, who is quickly growing into a handsome young man!!  I'm not quite ready for him to grow up but I am slowly starting to realize it is inevitable!!!  I look forward to all this year has in store for him and for the changes that are sure to come!!