We had a nice quiet Christmas this year. Jared had the week off between Christmas and New Year's. We relaxed, ate, played games and built model cars. It was heaven!!
On the 23rd of December we went skiing with Buck, Arren, Gil, Lily, Charles, Kirsteen, Marion and Emma!! The kids had a blast, and though it was cold, very cold, it was a bright beautiful sunny day! Charles and Kirsteen were visiting Buck and Arren and their family from Scotland for Christmas!! It was such a great day, an early start but a great day!! Emma and Emry went off together and got themselves in a bit of a pickle!! The trail they had wanted to do ended up being closed because there wasn't enough snow coverage, so they were forced to go down a very steep spot. They got into some trouble when ski patrol came by and took them down in sleds behind their skis!! Emry said it was scary, but not as scary as trying to ski down the slope they were on!!!
Armin and Calum stayed on the magic carpet, not real thrilling but they could do it by themselves and they really seemed to enjoy it! Kirsteen even went there to get her ski legs back and stuck close to Armin, he had fun with her!
After everyone had enough of the skis they all headed over to the tube park where they went down the mountain a few times on inner tubes! Jared said it was a lot more fun than he thought it would be and said every ski hill should invest in a tube park!!
After the tube park we all headed into Banff where we had supper!! We were all wiped from the brisk fresh air but dinner was nice and everyone got full!!
The drive home was a little sketchy. As soon as we were out of the mountains the snow started to fall, and the wind began to blow! It was like that all the way to Calgary then we seemed to come out of it. But again near Okotoks the snow started falling again. There were cars in the ditches, people going slow, it was crazy!! We finally made it home by 11:00pm tired and worn out!
The next day was Christmas Eve, such an exciting day!!! We went to church, but only for an hour, for Sacrament meeting! It was a nice meeting, very spiritual and it really reminded us as to why we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior! After we came home and Emry and I made chicken enchiladas for dinner! Yummy! We watched movies and played games, ate snacks and read T'was the Night Before Christmas!! The kids put out cookies and milk and spread their reindeer food outside, then they got snuggled up tight in their beds while Jared and I watched Love Actually!! It was a wonderful day!
Christmas Day came and went too quickly. The kids weren't allowed to get us up before 8am and they even listened!! I put cinnamon buns in the oven so we could enjoy them warm after opening presents. The kids loved their gifts and were very cute opening them. They were given a gift together from Santa, a Nintendo Switch. Calum was beyond excited, he's been watching youtube videos on how to play games for the switch! My dad was joining us for Christmas dinner, we had our traditional prime rib, mashed potatoes, and carrots. We had a yummy cheesecake for dessert! It was a fantastic day!
The rest of the week we relaxed, we took the kids to Star Wars: the Last Jedi, so good!!!! We played games some more, ate too much and just relaxed!! One night we went out to my moms where Mark had set up some fireworks! As usual they were spectacular he did a great job!! We ate supper with them and the kids watched a movie! It was a nice change to the laying around at home!!
Then Myrna had her family Christmas celebration on the 30th and the 31st! It was snowy and cold so the kids didn't brave the outdoors. But they had fun playing on the switch, building Lego and just goofing off! We had a white elephant gift exchange with everyone, that was fun! The kids opened their gifts from Grandma and played with their new toys!
Sunday was New Year's Eve. Rachel planned activities every hour for the kids to do while they waited to ring in the new year!! We did change the clocks three hours ahead so the little ones could go to bed at a decent time! Calum wasn't aware of this change, and I didn't want him to be because I wanted him to go to bed at a decent hour too! I had other plans for Jared and I to celebrate the new year, and it didn't involve little children!!!! But as soon as we got to our house after ringing in the new year with all the Puzey's he figured it out. So after his melt down we decided we would watch a movie and then ring in the real new year as a family!! It was fun, and I'm glad we were able to do that as a family!!!
Our celebrating didn't end there, we waited a week and then took the kids to see Jumanji, they loved it!! We took Grandma Puzey with us too, they love spending time with her!!! The movie was really funny!!
It was a great couple of weeks off. The kids were good and got along relatively well for getting a new gaming system that they have to share. I love spending time with my little family! They bring joy to my heart!!
