Celebrating Christmas (Week 1 of our Christmas Break)

What a special week we have had.

At this very moment we are sitting by the Christmas tree, watching Lord of the Rings (as per our annual holiday tradition) and thanking our lucky stars that we have another week off of work/school.  

If this past week is any indication, we are in for a fun second half of our Christmas break.

Last Friday we all completed school by 1:00 pm and excitedly dashed home ready to let Christmas officially begin.  We baked and decorated and ended the day by having a cozy family slumber party.  

We moved our mattresses out into the main room and all feel asleep while watching a Christmas movie.   This may become a new tradition for us.  

On Saturday we took a little drive out to Waterton.  I had wanted to hike up Akimina Road but the wind was blowing much too fiercely for that, so we settled for a quick stroll by the dock and then back home where we knew it'd be much warmer. 

Christmas Eve was such a fun day for me.  John had the task of going into Lethbridge with Grandpa to pick up a few things, but the kids and I got to stay at home and play.  Due to the fact that it had not snowed in weeks, we had resigned ourselves to the prospect of a brown Christmas.   At some point that afternoon we decided to embrace the brown and go for a warm weather walk.  I am so glad that we did!   The kids and I found a lot for sale that we now dream about buying, we paused to watch an owl, and we found the coolest spot on Lee Creek for skating.  We slid up and down the creek for quite awhile, determined to bring John back as soon as we could.  

We got back in the house in just enough time to prepare our Christmas Eve feast.  

Steak, Lobster, Crab, Shrimp, Muscles and a lot of other food that nobody ever cares about, at least not when Lobster and Crab are being served.    It was all delicious as always.  

After dinner we did what we always do:

The kids exchanged gifts with each other, we drove around looking at Christmas lights, and we settled in to watch Polar Express before the kids went to bed.

Nate made sure to set out milk and cookies for Santa and I suspect that is the last time he may do so.
One of the funnest things about Christmas has always been watching my kids anticipate Santa.  

It just may be the end of a sweet, deceitful ride.  

It was 2:00 am before John and I were able to crawl into bed, finally having everything assembled, wrapped and filled.  Come to think of it, maybe Christmas will be a lot simpler without the whole Santa part of it to maintain;)

Christmas Day came quickly.  The kids waited as patiently as they could for Grandpa to show up and then they made short work of all the unwrapping there was to do.

I like to think they all got a bit of what they asked for.

Nate got his Labo Robot kit and a sled.

Abby got long jogging pants and art supplies.

Jessica got an artist table and all things "puppy."

Sam got Sports Check gift card, a basketball and a seasons pass at the local golf course.

My hope is that my kids felt not just content, but completely satisfied with this abundant life we get to live. 

Santa was sure good to John this year.
I gifted him with a new suit (so he can look dapper going to those meetings he loves, and boy does he!;) a computer bag, and a book.  His brother trumped all that big time when he gifted John and I with an Alaskan Cruise.    An.Alaskan.Cruise people!  (mic drop)

There will be an entire post about this down the road, I am sure.   I am still just kinda struggling to process and find words.  Some words that come to my mind are: 

undeserving.

unanticipated.

unimaginable.

unable to repay.

unequal.

and undeserving.  

(Oh, did I say that already?)

More on this down the road.  

The rest of Christmas day was a party. 

I had carved out a few hours of time in which we snuck down to our newly discovered outdoor rink with John.  The kids had begged me for some quality time together on Christmas day and it kinda broke my heart that this was even something they begged me for.  Either John and I have been too busy this past month or I have raised complete and utter hermits.  (I think both!)

The creek was just as awesome on Christmas day as it was the day before.  Better in fact, because this time we brought chairs, and skates, and hockey sticks!

That evening John's sister Rachel, brother Ben and their families arrived - and that is when things really got fun!   We had a Christmas Turkey dinner, played games, snacked until way too late, and then did that same thing all over again the next day.   These are some of our cutest little nieces and nephews and they are all smitten with Sam, which always makes for a good laugh. 

  It was really nice to see everyone!

John took the kids out (after company had all left) to practice ice fishing.  It was apparently an awesome fun time, so we will have to fit a return to Payne lake into our incredibly busy week coming up.   Let's hope the sun shines!

John and I celebrated 17 years of marriage this past week.

We chose to go to Waterton and hike before dining at Vimy's.

The wind was howling fiercely and made the task more arduous than we would have liked.  We determinedly pressed on.  #17 years

The Salmons popped over on Saturday for a visit and we made sure to show them our favorite Skating spot.   Full disclosure - with the wind whipping around, it didn't seem nearly as magical this time around.  (Nothing a little hot chocolate and banana bread couldn't fix though;)  

I am sure grateful for the friendship of this family.

So ...that brings me to today.  

We are currently experiencing a pretty heavy duty snow storm, watching Return of the King and basking in the glow of our freshly decorated New Years Tree.  

Feeling blessed.

A Christmas kinda feeling...

Never before (never ever before) in the history of my motherhood has my family ever looked forward to a break as much as they are looking forward to this Christmas break. 

  We are tired.  We are burnt out.  We have all gone crazy.

The local Elementary School is currently over run with a bad strain of the flu with 150 kids absent per day, and they are also battling stubborn cases of ringworm and head lice.  Ew!!!!   So far Nate has managed to avoid all of the above, but I feel a sense of urgency to get him and my whole family home isolated for a long stretch of time.   My kids and I wake up each morning and longingly dream of having a a break.   We don't want to leave the house, see anyone, or have to do anything.  

Is this normal?  

I am sure it is not normal, but I certainly can certainly empathize with their longing for some quiet family time, and I intend to deliver.     In four short days my family is going into hibernation.  

We are determined to carve out some family time and spend Christmas break doing only what we want to do.    We are planning on spending two days with John's two siblings and two days with my siblings, which will be fun.  Then - (oooh I'm so excited) THEN we are whisking our kids away for a little getaway.  A bit of a "staycation" because we can't afford to go far, but we completely realize we have to get away from responsibilities here if we are really going to all get to unwind.   

It is going to be dreamy.  (Well- as dreamy as our secret location two mere hours away can be;)

Okay- so aside from our plotting to revolt and turn into a bunch of hermits, we have also been trying to eek some Christmas spirit from any spare minute possible.   

We went skating down at the local rink.  We really should do this more often.  Nate is getting more and more confident, venturing further from the boards every time he skates.  John manages to skate rings around everyone.  Jess and Abby danced and flitted around together. Sam filled the "I'm the kid who is too cool for this" role and sat out in the lobby watching everyone.  That's how he rolls;)

We set up our Christmas tree back in November and it has become a place that we all gravitate to every evening.  The warm light draws us in. We are planning on having a slumber party this weekend to celebrate being finished school.  All 6 of us sleeping under the tree. 

 So long as nobody gets the flu, or ringworm or head lice - it is going to be so dreamy.  haha

I am convinced that whoever invented the whole "Elf on a Shelf" phenomenon has absolutely ruined Christmas.  Seriously - how stressful!  Most days our Buddykins sits around doing nothing like the lame Elf he is, but every now and then Nate finds him getting into trouble:

We are pretty sure that Nate no longer believes in Santa Clause, but Nate doesn't want to tell us that and I certainly don't want to tell him so...so we continue to play along.   In addition to a whole whack of Christmas baking, Nate also wrote his annual Christmas letter to Santa.  

Sigh.... looks like a gooder. #siblingrivalry    #punchingthebrointheface

We had our ward Christmas party last week and Nathan played the part of the very attentive Joseph.  

I think it is safe to say that he magnified that role perfectly!!!!  #payattentionjoseph

This weekend we got together with  a few of the kids and made chocolates.  We were all torn in different directions, but managed to find a two hour window where we could throw a few chocolates together.   It's never Christmas without the chocolates!!!

 Homemade pillowcases from the kid's best Great Auntie EVER!!!  (My Aunt Karen)  

Every year my kids are each given a large bag of 12 gifts to kick off their 12 days to Christmas.

The word SPOILED comes to mind.  

Last week we all decided that we were too tired to go watch Sam play basketball. (We're all a little lame right now, remember?)    While he was at his tournament, we took a little drive out to Waterton.

Winter Wonderland x 10!!!

After several years of observation, I can say with 100% certainty that November and December brings us the most beautiful sunsets of the year.   The past two months haven't brought us any SNOW, but the sunsets have been on point!

I love this photo.  This little house is only going to be our home for another 6 months and so I want to make sure we remember what Christmas looked like while we lived here.  

Pretty much spending our evenings deep breathing around the tree.    

Christmas break is almost here!!!!

Annual trip to see the elk

Jessica and I were recently lamenting that we had not gotten a chance to watch the elk this fall.  Volleyball, work, callings ...it had all taken priority and Elk watching season had come and gone before we were able to make our annual trip out to Waterton.  

Last Sunday, in a last minute effort, the girls and I crossed our fingers and went for a Sunday drive and were delighted to find that we hadn't missed out at all.   In fact, we saw more elk that evening than we perhaps ever have.   

Sigh....

and now - we are ready to say goodbye to fall.

Volleyball, Falling Leaves and a bit of make believe

We just came out of a busy Volleyball season, but it was a gooder. 

John coached Abby's JV team this year and not only was Abby on the team - our niece Mya was too!

I LOVED watching these two girls stand tall at the net.   They make a good duo.   

The leaves have all fallen and, for the most part, blown on towards Medicine Hat but not before the kids were able to have a little fun with them first.  

It made me laugh one day to find Jess and Nate raking the driveway of a neighbor two houses down.   This initially seemed like a random act of kindness on their part, but it turns out they were actually stealing bags of leaves and dumping them out in our backyard!   The more the merrier, I guess?

Halloween came and went in a flash, with many of us securing our costumes literally the night before.  Why does this have to be so stressful??   Thank goodness I have an abundance of chocolate at the end of days like this;)

Sam went as a "Cereal Killer."   (badda boom)

Jessica was our tacky tourist.

John went as Scott Sterling.  (as in The man, The myth, The legend;)

Abby dressed up as the Mad Hatter and accompanied all of her friends who also went with the Alice in Wonderland theme.

Nate purchased this inflatable blue guy suit all by himself.  On Halloween morning he came upstairs and declared that he was going as a Fat Mexican.   (We shut that one down real fast but he still wore this.   It's just nobody knew what to call him.)

I threw on some Hippie attire and called it good.   This family of mine tuckered me right out that day!

It was about 9:00 at night when we were finally able to wish John a Happy Birthday, but such is to be expected when one dares to be born on halloween.

Shoot your shot!

John and I went on a real live date recently.  

The kind of date where John planned something, invited me to join him, and nothing got in the way of it.   It's been a while since we've enjoyed a date like that. 

We went out to my Uncle George's property and shot John's .22.

I was a little worried about this activity, seeing as neither John or I are very familiar with firearms, but it quickly became apparent that John knew what he was doing. 

It also became apparent that I am a pretty good shot. 

Like, hello?

It was fun to steal away for an hour.   

Can't wait to go out again!

Thanksgiving at Bozeman/Yellowstone

I am so very thankful for the days in my life that remind me to be thankful.

John and I had committed to take Johns Dad down the the Great Falls airport this past Thursday and then to pick him up the following Thursday.   Thanks to a generous offer from John's sister Sarah, we decided to capitalize on the three days sandwiched in between and make a family trip out of it.  I ended up driving Max down early Thursday morning and John came with the kids later that evening so we could continue on to Bozeman together.  

We spent Friday touring Yellowstone National Park where we visited Geysers,  searched for wildlife, visited old Faithful and strolled along the walkways at Prismatic Springs.   At the end of the day my eyes literally hurt because I had spent the day staring so intently at the landscape around me.  On Saturday we got dressed up and attended/watched General Conference.   It was exciting to listen to some of the announcements that were made as we listened to church leaders.   Sunday was a fun day as we watched Ed work all day long preparing a classy take on Thanksgiving dinner.   Quail with mint Chutney, Roasted Veggies and Rabbit Stew.   Yummmmm.....    We met Sarah's friends Nora and Chuck and were introduced to several games that my kids now want  us to buy.   Earlier that day Sarah had taken us up to Palisades Falls, a beautiful waterfall not from from their home.  

It was a beautiful day weekend from start to finish.   

We couldn't have enjoyed this trip without the kind hospitality of Ed and Sarah.  

They opened up their home for us even when they weren't themselves there, they stocked their fridge with food to see us through the weekend and gave us a cozy home away from home where we could just enjoy being together as a family. 

It was a Thanksgiving to be remembered.